Short summary: Cleanup day was held on the Novkhani coast of the Caspian Sea which was organized by the European Union Delegation in Azerbaijan, in collaboration with the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources, with the support of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and Ecosphere Social-Ecological Center. Representatives of the EU Delegation in Azerbaijan, embassies of foreign countries, including foreign and Azerbaijani volunteers joined the event.
This story was developed as a part of an OPEN Media Hub production worlkshop for young journalists.
Author: Elvin Abdulqadirov
Media: Azvision
Date of publication: 17.09.2018
Link to original publication (in Azerbaijani)
Story translation :
September 15, being World Cleanup Day was weekend. However, it was not a usual one. This time the roles were changed. People were the one that working, the sea was chilling.
Cleanup day was held on the Novkhani coast of the Caspian Sea which was organized by the European Union Delegation in Azerbaijan, in collaboration with the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources, with the support of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and Ecosphere Social-Ecological Center. Representatives of the EU Delegation in Azerbaijan, embassies of foreign countries, including foreign and Azerbaijani volunteers joined the event. As a participant of the Open Media Hub project for young journalists, I was there too, with my 16 colleagues.
In my opinion, this event was highly important from several aspects. First of all, the Caspian Sea was cleaned from hazardous waste for human life. Besides, this has been done by hundreds of people where they collaborated voluntarily regardless of religion, race, nationality, age, and sex just to preserve the mother nature. People by cleaning coast as if were saying “if we want, we can come together for the sake of the same purpose” by their action. The view was too pleasing, but litter on the coast were sad to the same extent where you could find basically anything from the beer bottles to cigarette sticks, diapers buried under the sand, plastic bags, glass crumbs, fishing nets, corn stalks, melons, watermelons… . These are all done by people. Over 5 hectares are has been cleaned that day, but that does not imply that those areas will not be polluted again.
What should be done to keep the sea and its coast clean?
Simply educate. I have seen the Duartell family and Carol Krofts – the British ambassador to our country doing so. Ivana, Paulino, Elisa and Sofia worked together voluntarily. Mrs. Carol Krofts cleared the coast along with her friend, who came to visit her in Baku. It is for sure that all good conventions should start from the family, continuing in the kindergarten and at school. In schools, children should be taught that the plastic bags are hazardous for the nature. Both children and adults need to know bag that it takes about 450-500 years for a plastic bag mix with the soil. They need to know that the sea brings only 5 % of the contaminants that it has ever been polluted with. The rest of them (95%) are getting back to our tables by the mixing to sea products. They should know that the waste we have left on the sea shore does not remain there, it is getting back to ourselves. If we know and instill these realities to others, we could foster a generation valuing the nature and environment. A generation which doesn’t love sea for only their goodness, but also cares about future generations.
