A big part of this story is the volunteers themselves. What did you learn about what actually drives people to spend months in Arctic conditions collecting other people's waste?

I’ve always been interested in why people do what they do. In this case I didn't want to only document plastic pollution in the Arctic, but what it means to live within it. And embedding as a volunteer allowed me to live the day-to-day of that work. This led to me asking myself, several times, “why am I here?”. And I figured I wasn't the only one. That brought me to focus even more on the human side of the story, and investigate the motivations behind young volunteers dedicating months of their lives to picking up someone else's trash.

The reasons for volunteers to join are several, ranging from plastic pollution awareness, exploration, eco-anxiety. But below the surface there often is a deep care for the planet and a sense of something that recalls the “ecosophy” described by Arne Naess.

Image 1:

2025/05/28 - Arctic Ocean
Emma - 25, France - volunteer and chemical engineer, on watch in the navigation cabin of Qilak - an expedition vessel of In The Same Boat.

“I’m an engineer so I did a lot of research, on bioplastic, recycled plastic...and it feels like okay the solutions exist... but picking up trash outside here, it’s simpler but it feels way better. Because it’s real, it has a tangible effect.”

Image 2:

2025/05/05 - Nordland, Norway
The workboat Nemo fully loaded after a day of cleanup. In The Same Boat’s volunteers on deck smile despite the cold and rain.