Trash talking: Cyprus drowning in rubbish
I refer to the article “Trash talking: Cyprus drowning in rubbish” (Sunday Mail, May 28) in which Andreas Yiannaki described the excellent work that he is doing to get the rubbish, which litters everywhere in Cyprus, cleared up and also to educate people to respect and protect their environment.
In the article Andreas mentioned the rubbish that he found on the Akamas Peninsula. It may interest your readers to know that there is a group of volunteers – the Akamas Cleanup Team (ACT) – who have since 2012 organised 53 cleanups of rubbish from this remote coastal area. The following statistics illustrate what the ACT volunteers have achieved during those 11 years:
Total number of volunteers who participated in 53 ACT cleanups = 928
Total number of bags of rubbish collected in 53 ACT cleanups = 2,852
Average number of bags of rubbish collected by ACT/cleanup = 53.8
Weight of rubbish collected:This is impossible to document accurately, however each bag of rubbish would probably weigh between 5 and 10kg – although some are much heavier!
Usually around 15 to 25 and often more, volunteers turn up for a few hours and rubbish is collected into large bags, donated by Papantoniou supermarket, Polis, which are then deposited, along with a wide range of larger items, at a nearby pre-arranged collection point for subsequent disposal by the Forestry Department, Drouseia.
All of the ACT cleanups have so far been on the coast since there is a high concentration of flotsam and jetsam deposited on the beaches and blown inland from the seashore. This rubbish includes plastic bottles/tops, plastic containers and other objects, metal cans, glass bottles, broken glass, ropes, nets, fishing line, pipes, footwear, plastic and wooden crates, polystyrene and even the occasional mattress, refrigerator and television! Some of this rubbish has unfortunately been left behind by extremely inconsiderate people when visiting the Akamas Peninsula!
ACT always needs new volunteers, and those with 4WD vehicles and open flatbed pickup trucks are especially appreciated. The next (54th) cleanup will be held on Sunday, June 11 and full details will be posted on ACT’s public community Facebook page (www.facebook.com/AkamasCleanupTeam).
Keith Watkins
Neo Chorio, Paphos