School project aims to fight plastic pollution on Cyprus beaches
The Eco School and Blue School accredited PASCAL Private Secondary School and PASCAL Private Greek School have launched a project called reBLUE, aiming to promote students’ awareness of the circular economy and the issue of plastic waste.
It has been identified that many tourists purchase plastic beach toys during their stay in Cyprus, and discard them later, as they no longer need them. Our objective is to raise awareness about the careless production and use of plastic by our society and to show the pupils and community that they can act to help solve this issue.
As plastic is difficult to break down, our primary emphasis lies in advocating for a reduction in plastic production to tackle the issue effectively.
The environmental objective of this project is to reduce the plastic waste produced on Cypriot beaches, by encouraging tourists to reuse beach toys that they can find in our hand-made wooden boxes and where they can leave their own at the end of their beach visit. Supporting sustainable actions helps protect our ecosystems.
On the 21st of June, seven boxes will be placed on the beaches of Konnos, Madd, Malama, Vathi Gonia, Gliko Nero, Makronisos and Landa. All these beaches are Blue Flag beaches and our project will contribute towards keeping this title.
Pupils will continuously monitor the boxes and analyse the feedback received by users and the municipalities we are collaborating with. In the process, the Cypriot community will learn about plastic pollution and the students participating will understand circular economy.
The project has be recognised at a local and international level. Last year funding was provided by the Foundation for Environmental Education under the program ‘Litter Less’, and this year it has been chosen by Cymepa as a good practice project.
This project has been developed as part of the Blue Schools programme coordinated by the Network of European Blue Schools.
It is supported by CYMEPA (National Agency coordinating Eco Schools in Cyprus) and the municipalities of Ayia Napa (Mr. Pateras, responsible for Blue Flag in Ayia Napa) and Paralimni (Mr. George Economou, responsible for Blue Flag in Paralimni).
Also, on the date we will promoting the European efforts towards: European Maritime Day In My Country.