On Sunday morning we did a Clean Walk at Santa Teresa Bay.

 

In a few hours we collected several kilos of waste on the beach and the rocks, mostly plastic, cigarette butts and glass. During our walk on the rocks we ‘disturbed’ some people who were sunbathing who asked about the ongoing activity and the Smart Bay Santa Teresa Project. We explained that the success of the Project – having a natural, healthy and sustainable bay – is based on daily actions, involving the community as a whole, especially those citizens who live the bay an oasis of peace and of well-being. So, in few minutes, several sunbathers joined us in the cleaning, demonstrating their care to Nature and marine and terrestrial ecosystems of Santa Teresa bay.

 

After spending few minutes to collect rubbish from the natural environments, we immediately realize how much has to be done and, above all, can be done for helping Nature. Our active behaviors are fundamental. We ware all responsible for our actions – never leaving our waste in the environment, sorting it and disposing of it at home or in collection and recycling areas – but also in correcting someone else actions by picking up waste from the ocean – such as plastic nets, polystyrene, glass,…- and from the ground, such as cigarette butts, cans…. It is no longer time to call for somone else responsibility. Even if we act for limiting pollution, ‘active’ and virtuous behaviors (collection, sorting and disposal of waste) areneeded for reducing our carbon footprint, also determined by untreated waste that, persisting in different environments over time, will cause permanent damages on natural ecosystems.

 

For providing you a concrete example, see below the expected time of degradation in the ocean of some waste types (e.g. plastic bottles, one use cutlery, cigarettes, glass, cans,…) if they would not have been collected during the Clean Walk last Sunday.

Help us reduce the carbon footprint in Smart Bay Santa Teresa by participating in the Clean Walk project. The Clean Walk project is an initiative open to all users of the bay who want to contribute to achieving the goals of Smart Bay Santa Teresa: regeneration of ecosystems, both marine and terrestrial, and reduction of the carbon footprint. The clean walkers, under the guidance of Smart Bay researchers, will be the main actors in the project. Divided into small groups, the clean walkers will explore different areas of the bay, including small beaches, rocks and boulders, paths leading to the bay, and vegetated areas, carrying out a ‘scientific’ collection of waste, again under the guidance of the researchers. Equipped with gloves, bags and containers, the volunteers will collect waste in defined areas (2m 2 ) in a limited time interval (15′), dividing the waste by type (e.g. glass, plastic, mix, reusable materials). At the end of the collection, the different categories of waste collected in the explored areas will be weighed to estimate which categories of waste were most abundant and, through a discussion, an attempt will be made to analyse the causes (what are the sources?), analysing possible future solutions, both from the point of view of research and monitoring programmes, and from the point of view of individual behaviour. At the end of the activity, data will be collected on a paper form that will be processed by the researchers and will be used to monitor the presence of litter in the bay over time.

We look forward to seeing you on Sunday 31 July from 9.00 to 11.00 a.m. in Santa Teresa Bay: together with Smart Bay researchers, come and explore the different areas of the bay, to carry out a ‘scientific’ collection of waste, sorting and disposing of it, helping to spread sustainable behaviour, protecting natural resources and raising awareness about keeping the bay clean.

https://lericicoast.it/event/clean-walk-a-santa-teresa/

Scuola di Mare in collaboration with Verdeacqua (https://www.verdeacqua.org) and WWF Travel (https://www.wwftravel.it/campiestivi/) hosts summer campus “Young marine biologists”. About twenty children have the opportunity to learn how to ‘live the sea’ in a sustainable way, by sailing and doing snorkelling, in harmony with the surrounding nature.

Being part of Smart Bay community, the young marine biologists will contribute to reduce the carbon footprint on the bay by selective removal of the waste from the natural environment through weekly Clean Walk. In addition, the children have the opportunity to discuss the impact the plastic in causing to the ocean (degradability, species impacted by plastic…) in a playful way, around a game.

Finally, young marine biologists will take active part to a ‘restoration project’ by creating substrates based on re-using oysters shells from the local shell farming, normally treated as waste, thus contributing to regenerate the marine biodiversity of the bay.

Clean Walk

 

While lying on the rocks or climbing them looking for your special sun spot in the Bay, either close to the sea or close the bushes, you probably came across to cigarette butts, plastic objects and bottles, woods, or pieces of glass…And, disgusted, you have been complaining about someone else “bad behaviour”.

 

Do you know how much the waste – produced by human activities – is impacting the environment and the Bay you are frequenting? Waste is the fourth largest source sector of emissions, accounting for 3% of total greenhouse gas emissions in 2019. Most emissions come from combusting fuels (77%), followed by agriculture (10%) and industrial processes (8%) (source: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/products-eurostat-news/-/DDN-20200123-1) .Changing the treatment of waste is just one example of how creating a more »circular economy » (source : https://ec.europa.eu/environment/topics/circular-economy/first-circular-economy-action-plan_en) helps to reduce emissions and fight climate change.

 

It is not always someone else responsibility. Smart Bay is everybody’s Bay and it is everybody’s duty to protect it and its ecosystems by reducing the impact that human activities are creating.

Do you know that our impact as GHG emissions is measurable? Carbon Foot Print is the total amount of greenhouse gases (including carbon dioxide and methane) that are generated by our actions such as food, shopping, travels, home…(calculate yours: https://www.nature.org/en-us/get-involved/how-to-help/carbon-footprint-calculator/). And, globally, we are expected to became sustainable and reduce our carbon foot print by adopting sustainable actions including ‘limiting and recycling the waste’ (Source: https://europa.eu/youth/get-involved/sustainable-development/how-reduce-my-carbon-footprint_en).

 

Help us to reduce carbon foot print in Smart Bay Santa Teresa by joining the weekly “Clean Walk”.

The Clean Walk is a weekly initiative open to all Bay users to take a concrete action against the problem of marine litter and helping to reach Smart Bay goal: regeneration of its Natural Ecosystems and reducing the user’s carbon food print.

Under the guidance of a Smart Bay researchers, participants will be introduced to Bay activities, its ecosystems and to the Clean Walk activity. Divided into small groups, volunteers will explore some areas in the Bay, that will include beach, rocks, bushes and paths, and, supervised by a Smart Bay researcher, will follow a scientific protocol for collecting the waste. Participants will work in teams and be equipped with gloves and a bin liner to collect the waste safely. Once the waste will be collected and divided by re-cycling type (i.e. glass, wood, plastic,…), it will be weighed to evaluate how much has been found and where in the bay.

 

A concreate action to reduce the carbon food print. In order to limit and recycle the waste, it will be required to each participant to bring back a bag of collected waste to his/her bins or to deliver it to the Waste Collection Centre (Scoglietti) on the way home. The actions of removal and recycling is the one that produce a reduction of the carbon foot print on the Bay as well as the direct protection of its ecosystems.

 

Became a Smart Bay Ambassador. At the end of the activity, a discussion on the impact of each waste type will be done with Smart Bay researcher and the calculation of the reduction of the carbon foot print thank to the action of the participants will be provided and published on Smart Bay Web Site. The volunteers will become ambassadors of Smart Bay, by removing, recycling and then limiting the waste in the Bay.

 

Join the Clean Walk with your family or friends and help make the reduce the carbon foot print and protect the ecosystems in Smart Bay!