\n
Water
\ninfesting waste, mainly plastics, has become a very serious problem
\nglobally, including Romania. More and more environmental organization
\nare trying to clean up waters with methods both user friendly and
\nmore on the edge, but also to raise awareness with the public at
\nlarge and local authorities about the perils of this type of
\npollution. One of these organizations is called Act for Tomorrow,
\nwhich runs the Acting for Waters project. According to most experts,
\nplastics are 90% of human waste, including in marine systems.
\nAccording to UN data, 1 million marine birds and 100,000 marine
\nanimals die each year from plastic pollution alone. We asked what the
\nsituation was in Romania. We found out that, even though Romania has
\nlittle official data, most likely it is in line with the global
\ntrend. Andreea Petrut, with the Act for Tomorrow organization, gave
\nus some details:
\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
In
\nterms of waste polluting waters, Romania is short on statistical
\ndata. We don’t have official figures from the Ministry of the
\nEnvironment, or other public institutions that could tell us how much
\nmacro-waste pollution there is in waters across the country. There
\nare some European level statistics, some that say that the Black Sea
\nis the second most polluted in Europe with man-made waste, others
\nthat it is the first. What I can tell you, statistically speaking,
\nbased on research we have run early this year, is that in all sweet
\nwaters in Romania, as well as in the Black Sea, there are
\nmicroplastics. These are tiny plastic fragments, nanometric, which
\ncome from decaying plastics. These microplastic fragments are found
\nin absolutely every body of sweet water in Romania. We should
\nabsolutely worry about them, because they are dangerous both for
\necosystems and our own health.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The
\nabove mentioned organization acts on several directions: prevention,
\nawareness, collection, and recycling. Obviously, such a grave and
\ncomplex problem cannot be solved by a single NGO, but their
\ninitiatives can be replicated by other organizations, as well as by
\nthe authorities. Also, raising awareness among the public about the
\ndangers of plastic littering pollution is essential, and every effort
\nto this end is paramount. In fact, Act for Tomorrow is just one of
\nthe organizations dealing with water conservation in Romania, and we
\nhave already mentioned some in previous installments. Andreea Petrut
\ntold us about the main coordinates of the Acting for Waters program:
\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
We
\nact on four main directions in this project. The first is in the
\neducation and training for prevention, meaning the generation of
\nplastic waste that ends up in waters. Then we have the intervention
\nand cleaning element, then the community mobilization and advocacy,
\nincluding research, then, last but not least, exploiting plastic and
\nother kinds of waste we collect from waters, putting them back in the
\neconomic circuit, as part of the circular economy. Last year we
\nbrought to Romania the first infrastructure for collecting waste in
\nthe shape of giant marine animals, which had not been seen on
\nRomanian beaches. This year we opted for eight animals we set up on
\nthe beach, which are meant to ring the alarm for tourists in terms of
\nthe waste they generate, which end up in the water. We have an
\noriginal project we developed, the first sea faring ship in Romania
\nfor waste collection that is 100% electric, actually the first in
\nEurope. It is a craft we developed from scratch in Romania, together
\nwith our partners. Last year we ran a campaign for information and
\neducation called ‘Faced with Water Waste’, which got awards for
\nenvironmentalism and communication. Basically, we compared all
\nendangered and protected species with their exposure to waste,
\ncomparing their life expectancy with the fact that waste is basically
\nthere to stay forever. Aquatic fauna has a life expectancy that is
\nmuch, much lower. In Constanta we put up the largest mural painting
\nin the world that actually purifies the air, in an attempt to raise
\nawareness on our marine pollution. In addition to these campaigns, we
\nare laying a lot of emphasis on cleaning up. We ran a lot of programs
\nfor cleaning up waters, either with our waste collection craft, or
\nwith boats and other small craft manned by volunteers.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The
\nresults of the campaign were beyond expectations, say the organizers.
\nIn only 5 months, they collected almost 19 tons of waste, both from
\nthe sea shore and from the most polluted waterways and lakes in the
\ncountry. All the selected waste was recycled to be turned into
\nresources. In total, 400 volunteers took part in the events,
\ndedicating their time and energy to cleaning up waste that piled up
\nin waters and on the shores. Over a million people visualized online
\nthe campaign for raising awareness called Facing Water Waste, which
\nwe mentioned above. Local public institutions mobilized to offer
\nsupport, and became partners in the activities. Numerous local NGOs
\ntook the message further to other communities, contributing to the
\nmobilization of volunteers.
\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Water infesting waste, mainly plastics, has become a very serious problem globally<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":104,"featured_media":153254,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[44315],"tags":[44412,43778,33439,43485],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-153427","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-green-planet","tag-microplastics","tag-plastic","tag-pollution","tag-volunteering"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n