Novo Verde encourages recycling at Portuguese beaches

Recycling is our beach

30 days, 30 beaches, 940 km of coastline.

Novo Verde launches an initiative to raise awareness among Portuguese people about the pollution of the seas and oceans. “Recycling is our beach” is the campaign that this summer will raise awareness of correct waste disposal at 30 beaches from the north to the south of the country to protect one of the most important assets we have: Water.

The initiative is supported by the Portuguese Environment Agency. It will begin on June 21st at Afife beach in Viana do Castelo and then stretch 940 km of coastline to Monte Gordo beach in Vila Real de Santo António, where it will arrive on July 24th.

In collaboration with the non-profit association Sailors for the Sea Portugal, Novo Verde aims to educate young people in particular about the behaviour they should adopt to prevent pollution of marine ecosystems by their packaging waste. The awareness and environmental education activities will consist of fun and educational activities. In parallel, the community will be invited to participate in beach clean-ups to ensure the proper treatment of the various wastes collected on the beach.

As part of the initiative, on some beaches, there will be personalities connected to the world of surfing and therefore have a close connection with the sea.

Ricardo Neto, Novo Verde President, added that “this action intends, in addition to bringing us closer to the population, to continue environmental education, which has been one of our pillars since the beginning of Novo Verde. It is essential that we continue to mobilize citizens for active participation in the treatment and recycling waste process that cannot, at all, be abandoned indiscriminately, which can contaminate ecosystems and our health and harm the Environment, of which we are a part. Focusing on packaging recycling, in particular, the main objective is to emphasize that the seas and oceans are the destinations of a large part of the waste that is not correctly disposed of, a reality that we want to combat, replacing it with adequate, simple, easy and accessible behaviour of each citizen.”

Bernardo Corrêa de Barros, Sailors for the Sea Portugal President, recognizes that “embracing the ‘Recycling is our Beach’ project represents an excellent opportunity for Sailors for the Sea Portugal, as it will be possible to reach more children and young people so that they can be agents of changing the sad reality that our Ocean is facing. Promoting a generation with greater awareness and capable of taking more conscious measures is one of the main focuses of our mission. Through playful and educational activities, we will seek to sow in each child the sense of responsibility that we all have a duty to assume for the protection of the Ocean and marine resources.”

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