Alexandra is 17 years old, lives in Burgas and loves the environment. The sun, the sand and the sea are like a prosperity talisman for her and she keeps and values them. Alexandra is not alone – millions of people around the world take care of our planet, each in their own way.
Among those people are the young participants in the Blue Researchers Eco-club, who collected 840 liters of plastic from the beach of Sarafovo on Saturday. Despite the rainy weather, together with several enthusiastic parents and passers-by, they conducted a campaign to clean up the beach. Their idea was to show their neighbors that we need to be more careful with the environment and that there is always something to be done, at least for a cleaner beach! As Alexandra says, our planet is not a garbage can and the kilos of cigarette butts on the beach did not end up there by themselves. Symbiosis, as it describes our coexistence with nature, requires more responsible behavior – “earth feeds us, but it also needs us to protect and take care of it.”
The “Chance for Children and Nature of Bulgaria” Foundation has long opposed plastic waste because of its damage to nature and our health. According to the chairwoman of the foundation Liliana Slavova, it is important for children not only to know how not protect the environment, but also to apply this knowledge in their daily lives. “I hope that more grown-up volunteers will be involved in future events”, she added.
The initiative is part of the project “Implementation of measures to reduce marine litter in the Burgas Bay”, funded by the EEA FM 2014-2021. Burgas Municipality, “Chance for Children and Nature of Bulgaria” Foundation and the Blue Army Foundation from Icelandic have also planned to organize professional diving in several spots in the Burgas Bay for waste fishing and a fisherman’s boat competition. The collected waste will be recycled, sorted and disposed of.
