Blue Bag: Yearly Clean-up on Krk Organized by Ponikve Eko Otok Krk
The Consortium’s member Ponikve Eko Otok Krk from the Croatian island of Krk has a long-standing tradition of organizing clean-up events. One of the actions that is becoming a yearly project is the ”Blue Bag” yearly clean-up on Krk, held in May every year.
The initiative is based on the idea of distributing blue bags to residents, tourists, fishermen and boat owners, and inviting them to contribute to an ecological venture through cleaning the part of the coast while they visit the beach. The aim is to go a step further from the simple invitation to the general public not to dispose of the waste in nature, and to get them involved in cleaning the debris found on the island’s beaches. It is often thought that no one is responsible for the marine litter, as brought by the sea currents.
Why is a yearly clean-up on Krk needed?
“The Blue Bag initiative encourages people to do something environmentally friendly, as they can fill at least one bag with plastic debris in only five minutes and thus contribute to a cleaner environment. If every boat owner, tourist, resident or any visitor at the beach in general would fill just one blue bag, we are sure that even the sea itself would thank them,” – says Iva Labas from Ponikve Eko Otok.
The beaches of Krk island are very crowded in the summer months, and are mostly composed of pebble, sand and rock. Krk is estimated to produce more than 7% of Croatian tourism in total, so the sea has a significant role as a source of income. With more than 2,500 sunny hours per year and sea water temperatures between 23 and 25 degrees Celsius, Krk is considered one of the sunniest parts of Europe, and therefore is almost constantly among the “top” destinations for travellers from around the world.
For this reason, residents of the island, volunteers, associations, sport clubs (such as diving clubs) and schools are working hard to keep Krk’s beaches pristine and preserved. Extensive beach clean-ups like the Blue Bag initiative help immensely to free these shores and the sea bed from marine litter.
October 2020 Clean-up
As continuation of the Blue Bag action, two clean-up events were held on the island of Krk on October 27 and 28, 2020, focused on the sandy beach St. Marak and pebble beach Madona of Plavnik. Besides the employees of Krk utility company Ponikve Eko Otok Krk, representatives of the City of Krk and members of NGO Sunce took part in the marine litter cleaning and monitoring activity, with the following results:
Marak beach (Island Krk):
- Plastic: 1167 pieces of plastic (4,03 kg)
- Wood (treated): 43 pieces of wood (3,84 kg)
- Metal: 20 bullet patrons (8,73 kg)
Madona beach (Municipality of Krk):
- Plastic: 1353 pieces of plastic (10,83kg)
- Glass & Ceramics: 12 pieces (0,55kg)
- Wood (treated): 60 pieces of wood (17,07 kg)
- Metal: 22 metal bullet patrons (0,26 kg)
- Medical waste: various items (0,2 kg)
The above clean-ups were part of a massive cleaning action organized in seven coastal counties in Croatia that led to the removal of 4,5 tons of marine litter stranded on beaches and laying on the sea bed. DeFishGear project offered the methodology and protocol for the monitoring and surveying of the litter.
Based on the experience of these cleaning actions, the Republic of Croatia has prepared a Proposal for National Protocol for Sea Cleaning Actions. This document is intended as a guideline for future marine clean-up activities in Croatia at the service of citizens, associations and public bodies engaged on cleaning up campaigns.