The initiative “Elafonisos: no plastic bags” aims to change the mindset of the inhabitants of the island of Elafonisos, the many tourists who visit it, and to teach shoppers about the threat that plastic waste poses to the Mediterranean Sea and its environment as a whole.
The initiative will start with an action in the 4 supermarkets of the island that have agreed to participate in the project. These supermarkets will stop buying plastic bags from their suppliers, and will no longer give plastic bags to customers. Instead, they will be replaced with larger, solid, eco-friendly bags and cotton bags. Some of these cotton bags will be sewn by locals with reused local hotel sheets, accompanied by a campaign to educate them about the impact of single-use plastic bags and their effects on the island. The whole process is also accompanied by awareness-raising activities, starting with a campaign in the various media to sensitize locals and visitors to the current environmental problems related to single-use plastics and the consequences they could have on the island in the future.
During the summer season, tourists will receive a cotton bag when shopping in participating stores. Awareness activities will be organized in the harbor, so that the first interaction of tourists with the island will be related to this project.
A promotion and training plan for the employees of the participating stores will be implemented during a 4-month period with a dedicated resource. These trainings will be carried out by a PhD student from the Open University of Catalonia supervised by a professor from the University of Piraeus in different spaces for a large number of locals (including workers, students, school teachers and the local population in general). The school will also be involved as the director will organize specific lectures for the 83 students.
