Do you know that an average person swallows up to 5 grams of plastic every week? This is equal to the weight of a credit card! Plastics that end up in nature pass into the food chain and return to us. To deal with this we need to know this cycle. One way to achieve this is by recording and monitoring coastal areas. That is why we “adopt” a local beach! Katheti, as a member of the Ec(h)o consortium, takes action so that beaches in our area participate in WWF’s program “Adopt a beach“. In our area, the beaches that were adopted are Vagionia on Poros and Agia Sotira in Galatas. And the action starts on June 5^th and 11^th, 2021 respectively! The program “Adopt a beach” is innovative and was treated very positively by the Municipalities of Poros and Troizinia-Methana. It is based on voluntary contribution and operates in the context of “citizens’ science”. In other words, it is an action with which adults and children come in contact with the scientific methodology.  

Knowledge is power 

We “adopt” a local beach and record the waste with a very simple process. Ideally, groups of 5-6 people with one coordinator are needed. Participants are informed of both the methodology and the safety rules. The beach should be easily accessible and exposed to the open sea. Monitoring is done four times a year: December or January, April, June or July, September or October. The collected data is entered into the open database located on the program’s website. The knowledge of the volume, the origin, the composition and the seasonality of the waste found on the beaches constitutes a background for research, but also for informing citizens and competent state bodies. Besides the recording, our aim is to clean the beaches, in collaboration with local bodies, such as the Centre of Creative Activities for Children. Clean-up partnerships will be implemented when anti-pandemic measures allow.  

Let’s take a step forward! 

WWF’s project manager Konstantinos Tsoukalas tells us: “The most important thing right now for the success of the project is the contribution of the volunteer teams throughout this process. Without the teams that practically go to the beaches we would not have any results, because we could not spread all over Greece. Therefore, it is very important to thank the participating teams, that are the key to the whole program.” We “adopt” a local beach starting from Vagionia, because it is located very close to the demarcated area for the establishment of industrial scale fish farms. Agia Sotira was also included, because the goal of the Ec(h)o consortium is to highlight the entire area of Poros and Troizinia-Methana as a destination for sustainable tourism. The sea and the coasts are main components of our area and their pollution concerns us all! Katheti, with the help of its volunteers, actively supports the sustainable development of the area. That’s why we took the first step, together with the Ec(h)o team! A step that we can all strengthen with our participation in order to preserve the natural wealth of the area!   Main photo credits: Ivi Gabrielides