A group of environmental protection friends around oeoo members Ralf and Tina organised a really big cleanup in the Northwest Peloponnese region in Greece on 28 January 2021. While the weather in Germany was a wintery mess, the group of about 40 motorhomers and helpers, who had arranged to meet via Whatsapp, set off in beautiful weather, highly motivated to collect the rubbish from the 3.5-kilometre-long stretch of beach and the dunes. The goal: to fill 150 large rubbish bags in one day.

The president of the local cultural association helped out, as did the deputy mayor of the region. A Dutchman and an Estonian (#frontseatstories) captured everything professionally on camera. Thanks to swift communication, also via the Greek authorities, even a Greek TV station was there in the end. At the end of the day and thanks to the great commitment of all the helpers, 250 rubbish bags full of plastic and other rubbish were collected! An enormous success!

See the video of the cleanup here.

Ralf, a member of oeoo, told the deputy mayor about the work of oeoo, who informed the mayor of Pyrgos, who is responsible for the whole region of Northwest Peloponnese, by phone. There was a press meeting and a short conversation the next day. A service point for oeoo was formally established there. This means that the group now has unrestricted freedom of movement in the region despite the corona-related travel ban. All helpers are oeoo volunteers, so to speak. This helps with the next actions that are currently being planned. The beach is to be cleaned even further. In the future, the municipality will not only provide all the necessary materials, but also local helpers and take care of the removal of the plastic waste by tractor. Unfortunately, in Greece all the rubbish is dumped, there is neither a rubbish incineration nor a recycling or bottle deposit system.