As part of the ‘Keep Our Sand and Sea Plastic Free‘ project, TUI Care Foundation, CSTI and the Travel Foundation launched the first plastic free beach in Cyprus on 4th August 2021.
Ayia Triada in Paralimni is the first beach in Cyprus that encourages and facilitates the avoidance of single-use plastic.
The launch event was attended by more than 60 people, along with Deputy Minister of Tourism Mr. Savvas Perdios and the Mayor of Paralimni Mr. Theodoros Pyrillis.
The idea is that the beach is set up to enable users to avoid pointless single-use plastic, with the following additions:
It is hoped these changes will encourage tourists to get on board and choose alternatives to single-use plastic.
The plastic waste used to create ‘CALYPSO’ was collected during beach and sea clean-up campaigns which were part of ‘Keep Our Sand and Sea Plastic Free‘ and undertaken with the cooperation of organised groups, local authorities and businesses.
The sea clean-ups were carried out as part of GPM-HENKEL and Dixan’s initiative “Clean In Depth” environmental campaign, where divers collected waste from the sea floor to the surface.
‘CALYPSO’ was inspired and created by the artist Vangelis Evangelou, who used the plastic waste to stress the longevity of plastic as a material, since plastic can remain in the environment for hundreds of years.
The Travel Foundation, the TUI Care Foundation and Cyprus Sustainable Tourism Initiative’s (CSTI) joint project “Keep Our Sand and Sea Plastic Free” was launched in 2019 to cut the consumption of single use plastic in the Famagusta district. Local hotels, bars and restaurants are being supported with training and guidance to find alternatives to purchasing plastic items such as straws, cups, cutlery, bottles, bags and take-away food containers.
For more information on how to support the campaign, visit www.sandseaplasticfree.org or use hashtag #SandSeaPlasticFree.