6 years after the emblematic Plastic bag free Alonissos campaign, implemented by the MEDITERRANEAN SOS Network and the MOm Hellenic Society for the Study and Protection of the Monk Seal, with the support of the Thalassa Foundation and on the occasion of the World Plastic Bag Free Day, Thalassa Foundation organized a two-day anniversary event in Alonissos, aiminng at evaluating the course of the island and reflecting the current situation in relation to its independence from plastic bags as well as the tabling of proposals for the day after.
At the same time, cleanup activities were organisesd on islets of the National Marine Park of Alonissos N. Sporades, with severe litter problem. In particular, Thalassa Foundation with the help the Municipality of Alonissos, the Cultural Association of Alonissos, MOm and the 1st Scout System of Alonissos distributed door-to-door 1.000 cotton bags, in order to renew the packaging alternatives for all the houeslods of the island. Along with the cotton bag, brief questionnaires were distributed, aiming to investigate the opinion of the local community with regard to the legacy of the campaign Alonissos without plastic bags in the environmental and socio-economic development of the island, and also to map out suggestions and ideas for an Alonissos with less litter.
This goal was also the compass and the clean up actions that were organized on the World Plastic Bag Free Day on Saturday, July 3, with the full suport of the diving clubs of Alonissos, the volunteers of the Thalassa Foundation, MOm and other organizations of the island. More specifically, divers of the diving centers Alonissos Triton, Ikion Diving and Sea Colours carried out underwater clean ups in the Planitis area of the islet Kyra Panagia and they drugged out from the seaded cans of soft drinks, tires, glass bottles, fishing tools and much more litter. Equally important was the pollution load on the island of Peristera, where the rest of the volunteers carried out coastal clean up on the beaches of Vasilikos. The beaches visited by the volunteers, although accessible only by boat, had all kinds of liter, which took a lot of effort to collect and a total of 23 large garbage bags.
In addition to the specific anniversary activities, Thalassa Foundation continues to play an active role in initiatives that contribute to the preservation of the Marine Park, to the sustainable and mild development of Alonissos. In this context, it supports the project implemented by the MOm Conservation of the Mediterranean monk seal at the wider area of the National Marine Park of Alonissos Northern Sporades focusing on the conservation of the Marine Park and the transfer Alonissos good practices as well as the project of the company terraSolutions under the title First study of mesophotic coral gardens at the Sporades Archipelago with regard to the coral forests in the National Marine Park of Alonissos V. Sporades.
The underwater and coastal clean-ups were carried out thanks to the kind co-funding of The Swedish Club.