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From plastic packaging, cigarette butts and batteries found along the coast to animated characters – the figures from the Environmental Education Foundation’s exhibition “Sea Villains Laboratory” have come to life in the animated series “A Clean Sea Starts with You!”, which has been airing on TV3 Mini since 1 August.

The animated series was created as a continuation of the well-received travelling exhibition “Sea Villains Laboratory”, which has toured several Latvian cities since 2025 and has so far attracted more than 35,000 visitors. The exhibition is currently on display at the National Library of Latvia until the end of August, where it has been expanded with new interactive activities and where visitors can also watch all six of the newly created animations. After its run in Riga, the exhibition will continue travelling across Latvia, visiting Valmiera, Jūrmala, Saldus and other locations, reaching an increasingly wide audience.

Data on waste pollution along the Latvian coast remain concerning. Although increasingly strict restrictions on the use of plastic products are being introduced across the European Union, the amount of waste found in nature remains high. This demonstrates that, alongside regulatory measures, raising public awareness is also essential, particularly among children and young people.

With this very aim in mind, the Environmental Education Foundation created the travelling exhibition “Sea Villains Laboratory”, drawing on coastal waste monitoring data collected as part of the “My Sea” campaign. The most commonly found types of coastal litter have been transformed into engaging and witty characters for children, helping them understand how seemingly insignificant everyday habits can affect the sea and its inhabitants.

The exhibition’s strong public response inspired the next step – bringing its characters to life through animation. Created by artist Aivars Baranovs, the animated series “A Clean Sea Starts with You!” consists of six short films that explain, in a child-friendly and visually engaging way, some of the most common sources of marine pollution – plastic waste and microplastics, single-use products, used batteries, cigarette butts, balloons and their strings, as well as pollution caused by confetti. In each animation, one of the characters from the “Sea Villains Laboratory” explains how a particular type of waste ends up in the environment, how it affects the marine ecosystem, and what each of us can do to prevent it.

“The exhibition has shown that children want to learn about environmental protection through stories, play and emotions. The animated series is a natural continuation of this story – it allows us to reach even more children and families across Latvia and encourages them to reflect on how even a seemingly small everyday habit can have a significant impact on the marine environment. We hope these animations will spark conversations within families and help build habits that contribute to a cleaner Baltic Sea,” says project manager Ilze Grēvele.

Together, the animations and the exhibition tell a unified story: marine pollution is not a distant or abstract problem – it begins with our own everyday choices. That is why the initiative’s main message is simple, yet especially important: A Clean Sea Starts with YOU!