An interview with Ryan Taylor Murphy. You might know Ryan as the goofy toe walking vibrant sock moustache wearing surfer/cyclists/gym instructor/fitness lover/vegan from Mingara One Fitness but there is much more that drives this fellas love of the ocean and passion to protect it.
When did you first fall in love with the ocean?
From day dot I remember Mum taking me down to Avoca Beach rock pool where I would spend all day as a young child enjoying the wonders of the ocean, its beauty and all the amazing wildlife that live within it. As the years progressed I naturally developed into a passion for water sports, everything from snorkelling, paddle boarding, surfing or a simple dip in the morning before work, I’d like to think that I’m half dolphin and often times friend will say I’ve got saltwater in my brain #tapnose.
What is Take 3 for the Sea and why is it so important?
I literally stumbled across the Take 3 concept when I saw a poster suggesting that an individual should pick up three pieces of rubbish when the next at the beach, nothing more just three little pieces of rubbish. At the time as a young individual, I thought “Oh that’s kind of cool, pretty simple hey?” From that day every time I went for a surf, I’ve looked for my three pieces of rubbish. Sadly, you still don’t have to look to hard to find at least three pieces.
How has Take 3 for the Sea changed the way you take care of the environment?
It was many years ago that I stumbled across the Take 3 concept however it’s become bigger than just picking up three pieces of rubbish every time I go for a surf for me.
Those first three pieces have now led to me reducing my overall waste, riding my bike to work rather than using my car, turning off all the lights in my household, carrying around metal cutlery and a keep cup wherever I go!
How can just 3 pieces make a difference?
My friends and I will often walk on the Boudi National Park Trail and there is also a favourite little surfing spot of mine right near Maitland Bay. One day after turning the corner to get to the surfing spot my jaw dropped to see there was at least 300 plastic bottles, fishing line, Styrofoam boxes and multitudes of various plastics right near Maitland Bay. The rubbish had drifted onto the rock platform. I can still hear the sound of plastic bottles rattling along the rocks with the waves.
I felt small and I felt helpless. Here I was standing in one of the most pristine parts of the Central Coast, in the middle of a marine reserve surrounded by more plastic waste than I had ever seen before. It pained me to know that I could only carry out what I could fit in my backpack and hands!
I’m yet to meet a person that doesn’t love the ocean, everyone’s reason is different, some love to just sit at the beach and look out at the sea, some love to only go for a frolic in summer when the water warms up and some dare to brave it on a cold winters morning. There’s something deep in our essence that draws us to the sea.
Take 3 believes in simple actions to address complex problems.
How can we stop plastic pollution from killing wildlife and suffocating our planet?
What I love about this concept is that it planted the seed for me to consider my environmental impact as an individual and how I can do my bit for our planet Earth and the oceans I so love.
It’s never too late to start
It’s not all bleak however as this has inspired me to become an advocate to inspire others to create positive change in their lives. Hopefully, my story may have done this for you!
The top three things that I do to create change
1. Reduce
This has been my biggest one. I bought myself a metal drink bottle and some metal cutlery, yes it takes an extra couple minutes to clean, however, it means that I don’t need to use single-use plastic every time I want to have a drink or eat my lunch.
2. Reuse
I love my Thai food and I’d be lying if I said I never order takeaway. I have limited how often I do have a takeaway and I will always wash out the takeaway containers and reuse them for my work lunches! Same goes for drink bottles, plastic cutlery and scrap paper!
3. Recycle
We all hear plenty about this one but definitely the biggest thing you actually start to change about your behaviour to have an impact is making sure that anything you can recycle makes it to the recycling bin and that it definitely can be recycled, often times when waste is mixed with recycled goods it ends up in landfill.
Check out the link below for some helpful tips on how you can effectively manage your recycling http://www.netwaste.org.au/recycle-it/what-can-be-recycled/.
What can be recycled often differs from local council to council dependent on who manages their waste and recycling? Always check with your local council on how best to recycle in your local area.
Walking the walk – how can you practice this every day?
I know for me that I needed to change my mindset from one of single-use plastic convenience (saving 3 seconds) to Taking 3 for the Sea.
An extra 3 seconds to get my keep cup from my bag, taking 3 cotton shopping bags to woollies and taking extra 3 minutes to pick up rubbish on a bushwalk.