Over 200 volunteers descended on Votsalakia Beach in Piraeus, Greece in May to take part in a cleanup organized by the MedSOS under the auspices of UNEP/Mediterranean Action Plan (MAP).

The volunteers ranged from nearby soccer club players, private sector employees and other regional environmental and voluntary organizations, to local inhabitants of the area and even various beach guests, who decided to leave their deckchairs to give a hand as well.

This year, eight staff members from UNEP/MAP took part to the campaign. Upon their arrival at the beach at around 10 am, they were handed huge plastic bags and gloves with a list on which they had to record the different types of litter found.

The trash found included pieces of paper, metal, wood, glass and countless cigarette buds carelessly left in the sand. Ten divers from the nearby diving school of Piraeus also took part in the clean-up by collecting floating and seabed litter.

The event formed part of the ‘Clean up the Mediterranean 2016’ campaign ‘ΚΑΘΑΡΙΣΤΕ ΤΗ ΜΕΣΟΓΕΙΟ 2016,’ organized annually by the UNEP/MAP partner MEdSOS. The 2016 campaign focused on increasing awareness on the dangers and effects of microplastics, which experts agree is the number one problem and emerging risk to coastal and marine environments.

For more information please write to hoda.elturk@unep.org