Change a little, help a lot Tips From Kids

Young Sustainability Advocates Offer Tips on How to Save the Planet

Salina, Andri, Noé, Allegra, Mia and Vital live quite an extraordinary life: together with their parents they are part of the TOPtoTOP climate expedition. They travel the world on their wind and solar-powered sailboat, helping people around the globe to save the planet. Because Victorinox also cares deeply about protecting our environment, we are one of the official sponsors of the TOPtoTOP expedition.

Discover their fascinating life and let them inspire you to take action.

Get to know an adventurous family

One big family

Dario and Sabine Schwoerer and their six children live on board the Pachamama, their 15 meter long sailing boat.

A life of traveling and teaching

The family travels the world, teaching people how to live more sustainably. They visit schools, talk about their adventures and give tips on how to protect the environment. Pictured here is their trip to a school in Liverpool.

Salina was born 2005 in Chile

She is the oldest of all children. She says she learned to respect nature: “If it’s getting dark earlier, I just go to bed earlier. If an island has no garbage disposal, I wrap my sandwich in a leaf instead of in tin foil or plastic wrap.”

Andri was born 2006 in Patagonia

When he and his family are not on board their boat, they ride their bicycles to wherever they want to go. The family's goal is to rely only on renewable energies – for example their own muscle power on their bikes.

Noé was born 2009 in Australia

In this picture, we see him celebrate his 7th birthday at home – on the Pachamama sailing boat. Since space is limited on board, he and his siblings share a room. But Andri doesn’t mind. “Less cold at night” he says.

Alegra was born 2011 in Singapore

Alegra, like her brothers and sisters, is full of energy. In order to make sure that none of the kids ever fall overboard, there is a safety net encircling the deck of the boat. The children are also safely harnessed when the seas are rough.

Mia was born in 2015 in Switzerland

She is the youngest person on the planet to have sailed the Arctic Channel. By doing so, the family aims to draw attention to global warming – climate change has resulted in thinning summer ice, making the historically impassable Northwest Passage navigable.

Vital was born 2017 in Island

Save the world
Change something today

Salina, Andri, Noe, Alegra and Mia have seen many of the devastating effects climate change has had. That’s why they are on a mission to help save the planet.

Learn from them and join their quest.

Don’t replace it, fix it

“When we break something, there usually isn’t a shop nearby to replace it. That’s why we fix almost everything. Flat tire? We take care of it ourselves. The teddy lost an eye? We carve a new one. Jacket has a hole? We sew it shut,” says Salina, the oldest TOPtoTOP sibling.

Less stuff, more freedom

“Our home is small. That’s why we can’t have too many toys. We each get one box for our own toys. If someone gives us a new toy, we have to give another one away because of the limited space. But are we ever bored? Actually – no!” says junior climate activist Noé.

Everything is a toy

“When we planned to cross the Arctic Ocean, we were worried the kids would be bored,” Dario recalls. But Andri just laughs. “We don’t get bored! We just invent toys and games: water bottles turn into music instruments, a rope becomes a swing.”

A bottle is a rattle is a jar

“We have made it a hobby to find several uses for everything. Take a plastic bottle – it starts life as a refillable container for drinking water, then we fill it with coins to serve as a rattle for the baby and finally we cut it open and turn it into a pen holder,” Alegra explains.

Grow strong, change the world

“Our days are never the same. When we’re on the boat, we are outside in the fresh air helping to sail. When we’re on land, we help teaching. That’s why we eat a lot!” the kids tell us. They eat plenty of fruit and vegetables for the best possible nutrition.

No car, more fun

“I prefer taking the bike over the car, because I get to see more of the world,” Noé tells us. He also likes it that he can stop his bicycle any time and talk to people or take a break. "But riding a bike is not only more fun," he says. "It’s also a lot better for our planet."

Learn to cook and reduce waste

Salina doesn’t like disposable dishes. “Prepare your own food and you can use your plates many times,” she says. “Unless of course you happen to live on a Pacific island. Then you just use banana leaves, which are bio-degradable,” she laughs.

Get out there

Mama Sabine also has a tip: “Go outside and get dirty. Hug a tree, dig in the soil, catch a worm.” Because only by being in nature do we learn how precious it is. She has learned “that’s the best way to develop the willingness to save our planet”.

Let’s ask some questions

We talked to Salina (15), Andri (14), Noé (11) and Alegra (9) about their work as climate activists and their life aboard their sailing boat.

Why do we have to take care of our planet?
Noé: Because we want to have a healthy planet when we are old.

Could you give us some examples of where our planet is in danger?
Andri: In Bali, there was plastic everywhere in the mangrove forests. That's a breeding station for many different types of animals and fish. They eat the plastic and die.
Noé: In big cities, there are too many cars and poor public transportation. It’s too noisy for the birds.
Salina: In the Arctic, the ice is melting much earlier now and freezing much later. This change causes huge problems for the Inuit and their ability to hunt and get food.

Could you also give us some examples of where our planet is still doing well?
Noé: There are parks where they protect nature.
Salina: They are planting trees to reforest.
Andri: Once we were cycling along a field full of solar panels. It was so huge we rode for an hour before we got to the end of the field.

Tell us about your work. What do you do within TOPtoTOP?
Andri: We try to stop global warming. We help teach our class.
Noé: We also give tours on the boat and explain how we live.

When you visit schools, what do you tell the pupils?
Andri: We explain how we live with technology that produces renewable energy.
Salina: We offer them examples of how to do better – in particular examples taken from our journey.

How do the pupils react when they meet you?
Salina: They’d like to join us!

Which are the five most important things that can help save the planet?
Andri: Solar and wind power, owning fewer things, reusing your clothes, repairing things yourself, not throwing away so much.
Alegra: Don’t drive a car or fly a plane, don’t use plastic and don’t use things only once, like throwing your cup away after drinking a glass of water.

What do you like more? Living on water or on land?
Alegra: I slightly prefer the water because of all the beautiful sea creatures I can see.
Noé: Both.
Andri: Both.
Salina: Both.

Do you have duties?
Noé: I love birds and like to share my knowledge about birds with others. I am also our observer on board: I look out for other boats, upcoming storms; I watch the cloud formations, spot animals – but also plastic debris.
Alegra: I’m responsible for turning on the boat’s light at night, so the other boats can see us. In schools, I talk about polar bears. I am also good at collecting plastic.
Andri: I am the navigating assistant.
Salina: I talk about our expedition. I help take care of my youngest siblings and I like to cook.
Don’t you have to go to school?
Salina: There is a teacher with us on our expedition. When we’re at sea, we go to boat school. When we’re hiking up a mountain, we go to tent school. When we’re on land, we also go to regular school.

What do you like most about your adventurous life?
Alegra: I love to watch the dolphins.
Noé: I like it when we see whales and birds. Once we had a sea lion live on our boat for a whole week.
Salina: What I like most is experiencing different cultures and countries

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