When I woke this morning, I could hear the pitter patter of the rain on the windows and I must say the last thing I felt like doing was heading off to Durres to pick up litter. But, I dragged myself out of bed, got caffeinated, put one foot in front of the other and headed off to our meeting place.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BkpimydHyWJ/?taken-by=thebalkanista
There I was met by a wonderful group of smiling faces who had decided to brave the weather and help out in our task. Comprising of Albanian, English, Australian, Welsh, American, Swiss and even Colombian people, ageing from 14 to, well quite a bit older than 14, we were a mixed group. From diplomats to bloggers, teachers to news readers, and everything in between, we set off with high hopes.
After arriving in Durres and meeting up with the other volunteers to drink more coffee and plan a strategy we decided to split into two groups and take each part of the Vollka section of Durres beach. Armed with bin bags, gloves, and a big dose of motivation, we stomped off to start our litter pick.
Over the next two hours, we filled around 60 bags (ranging between 60l and 120l) full of rubbish. These bags were extremely heavy and we have estimated that we collected a very, very conservative weight of 500kg in total. That is half a tonne of rubbish from less than 1km of the beach, and we didn’t get it all either- but unfortunately, we ran out of bags and energy as the sun got higher in the sky.
A few people stopped and stared at us, one elderly gentleman said we shouldn’t waste our time, and one or two people even joined in- all in all it was a successful day.
These are the top 5 most picked up items in order of frequency
- Plastic bottle caps
- Straws
- Plastic forks/spoons
- Fishing nets and fishing equipment
- Clothing
These are the weirdest/grossest thing we found in order of weirdness/grossness
- Used syringes
- Used sanitary products
- Used condoms
- The arm of a toy doll
- A handbag
We know that the beach will be messed up again in a week or so. We know that the rubbish we sent to recycle probably won’t get recycled. We know that lots of people couldn’t care less and will continue throwing their trash on the floor. We also know that to really tackle the problem, we need to move inland and work on the rivers as well. We know all this, and what we did today is just the beginning of our movement. It is about raising awareness, visibility, and challenging people to think about the consequences of their actions. It’s about showing people that people- both locals and expats- care about the country they live in and their surroundings. Today is just one part of the process of educating the public for change.
After a day of social responsibility, the mood was euphoric amongst us all. As we sat for some much-deserved wine and food, the ideas on what we can do next and in addition to today’s efforts were coming in thick and fast. Whilst we may not have the answer to Albania’s or even the world’s litter problem, we aim to change peoples minds, to educate, and to do our bit in keeping this country beautiful.
Well done to all involved. Te dua!
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