BEach CLEAN, a decalogue for a cleaner sea
The Port Museum of Tricase, in accordance with its Charter of Principles and with its mission “to invest in culture and nature“, adheres to BEach CLEAN, the awareness campaign on the problem of waste that every year ends up beached on the Mediterranean coasts, especially during the summer season.
The campaign, launched on 30 June and presented in Italy by Legambiente as part of Goletta Verde, is one of the awareness-raising activities that the COMMON project (COastal Management and MOnitoring Network for tackling marine litter in Mediterranean Sea) will implement in 5 different areas of the Mediterranean: Maremma and Salento in Italy, Kuriat and Monastir Island in Tunisia and the Tire Coastal Nature Reserve in Lebanon.
The European COMMON project, funded by the ENI CBC Med program, sees CIHEAM Bari directly involved in the project activities, also through its headquarters, MARE Outpost, in the Port Museum of Tricase.
The BEach CLEAN campaign, which will be activated in the marine and coastal belt between the Adriatic and Ionian coast of the Salento peninsula, provides for the sharing of ten good practices to be followed for a correct waste management and to raise awareness on the consequences of bad separate collection and abandonment.
The BEach CLEAN decalogue
Mediterranean health depends on our behaviour and on our daily choices!
Remember the Beach Code: “take only memories, leave only footprints”
1. Be a trash bins lover
Never abandon waste at the beach and be careful to not let it go into the water. The land-based activities are responsible of around 70% of marine litter.
2. Reuse. Reduce. Recycle
The better your separate collection, the better the recycling of waste. If done properly, it can lead to an estimated 35% reduction of marine litter.
3. Disposable products? No, thanks!
Disposable plates, cutlery, and straws are used for few seconds, but they can pollute for centuries. Say no to ‘single use’: it represents more than half of the beach litter.
4. The sea starts from your toilet
Nothing should be thrown into the toilet: cotton buds, blister packs of medicines, sanitary towels… The drains could take them directly to the sea!
5. No waste in your shopping list
Buy bulk goods and prefer fresh food or packaged without plastics. Use only eco-friendly bags: plastic bags are one of the most common and dangerous marine waste!
6. Butts out
Cigarette butts are the forgotten plastic pollution: they contaminate beaches all over the world. Keep your butts off the beach, the sand is not your ashtray!
7. Manholes, not baskets
Butts, candy wrappers, all kinds of objects: what you throw on the street dirty your city, and is highly likely to end up in waterways and at sea.
8. Drink Green
Use metal or glass bottles instead of plastic ones. In any case, never leave them in the environment. Beware of caps: they are one of the most common plastic waste in our seas!
9. Stop toxic beauty
Do not use cosmetics with microplastics inside. Read the label: if you find, for example, Polyethylene, Polymethyl methacrylate, Nylon, Polyethylene terephthalate, Polypropylene there is plastic inside!
10. Let’s be an example
Encourage everyone to protect and respect nature. Through your example, influence your child, friends, and family for cleaner beaches and healthier seas!
Remember: gloves, masks, and other Personal Protective Equipments (PPEs) must not be left in the environment!
