Voices of Galaxy: Meet the Fisherman’s Son Turning Ocean Plastic into Hope

Voices of Galaxy is a series of real stories spotlighting Samsung Galaxy users who use their passion, creativity and determination along with technology, to make a positive impact on their own lives and their communities, and the world around them.

Lefteris Arapakis grew up near the Greek port of Piraeus, in a family of fishermen whose connection to the sea spans five generations. He was raised on the belief that the ocean would always provide. But one day, out on the water, he saw something that changed him: plastic tangled in the nets, hauled in, then thrown right back into the sea.

He couldn’t unsee it. And he refused to accept it.

So he founded Enaleia, an organization that began with a simple idea: collect what doesn’t belong in the sea, and give it a second life.

What started small has grown into a Mediterranean-wide movement. Today, more than 3,000 fishermen are working with Enaleia to remove plastic from the ocean and transform it into something new: raw material, usable products, and hope.

Lefteris is doing more than cleaning the ocean. He’s reimagining our relationship with it, turning waste into resources, and skeptics into believers. With a Galaxy device in hand, he documents the fishermen’s progress and opens the story to the wider world — because change, like the sea, belongs to everyone.

The vision Lefteris is pursuing—a cleaner, more sustainable planet—aligns with Samsung’s own commitment to environmental responsibility. That shared purpose is why his story is featured in our Voices of Galaxy series.

He believes the ocean can heal. And he’s showing us how.