Waste management is a massive challenge for the small island nation of the Maldives. With a local population of 430,000 spread across 1,200 islands and 1.4 million visitors annually, in a country lacking any recycling facilities or space for large processing plants, it’s easy to see how waste can be mismanaged and end up in the ocean.

Here at Six Senses we host a weekly reef clean that guests can join free of charge. What’s more, our fellow hosts engage in reef cleans and island cleans on a weekly basis. Within the larger Laamu community we host regular clean-ups and are delighted to see the amount of participants who join. This has encouraged regular cleans ups and functions as an education on how waste should be managed, working towards a plastic-free atoll.