On Instagram, he initially posted: “Dear Robber, I understand we sometimes get excited, maybe influenced by some drinks and do crazy things such as stealing a trash surfboard on a festival @osoldacaparicafestival ... this trash board is more than just a surfboard. It has inspired hundreds of kids around Portugal in the past years, showing how we can celebrate a circular economy and save the ocean. So many people had this piece in their hands (including the ex-minister of seas) to learn about giving trash value again. It has a huge sentimental value for me and the project, but not for you... You can't even surf it, as it has some holes in it - you'd just ruin it in the water... so please think about this message, give it back, we even drink a beer together and laugh about it. We all did some dumb stuff in the past. Um abraço!”.

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A post shared by Andreas Noe / The Trash Traveler (@thetrashtraveler)


And less than 24 hours later Andreas was back on Instagram to share the good news that the board had been returned: “Epaaa! Biggest BEIJO to this wonderful trashy community out there that cared and helped out to find the board. All your shares and beautiful messages made me so happy and it didnt even matter anymore if the board would find it's way back... love was spread. But we made it and the "Dear Robber" just messaged me! 🙃

“I am using this to remind us all to spread hugs and love rather than anger and hate. This world is cruel enough. Positivity, empathy and respect leads to a better place. We tend to judge very quickly nowadays but we always need to take into account that we don’t know the full situation. Sure, stealing is bad but it is also a chance to reflect and forgive.


“Muito obrigado to everyone out there who helped - overwhelmingly beautiful! I will add this incidence to the story of the board tackling an important factor to save the ocean: Only together we can save the ocean, our climate and hence our base to live.🐳🐋🐙”