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First smoke-free beach in Attica is underway in Rafina

Th first smoke-free beach in Attica is getting ready to welcome swimmers and sunbathers, the mayor of Rafina-Pikermi and the CEO of the Rafina Port Authority announced on Thursday. The smoke-free beach is part of an environmental program “Small acts, Big Crimes” that authorities implement in the area of eastern Attica, some 50 km away from Athens.

Preparations for the smoke-free beach Marikes will start as soon the Port Authority passes over beach jurisdiction to Rafina Municipality, mayor Evangelos Bournous said.

According to local media irafina.gr, beach Marikes will be the second smoke-free beach in Greece after the one on the island of Serifos, where smoking is allowed in a specific zone only.

Th smoke-free beach is just one of the environment-friendly projects of the program.

Good six months ago, a pilot program regarding cigarette butts started in the port and the beaches of Rafina

The program started in October 2021 by the Aegean Rebreath organization in cooperation with Rafina local authorities and funded by a private company, kathimerini.com reported.

Special bins have been placed in the areas where cigarette butts can be disposed.

Furthermore, an artificial intelligence algorithm uses images from the Copernicus satellite and tracks problem areas.

Studies have shown that cigarette butts make 30%-40% of the trash landing at Greek beaches and that with the right information campaign and infrastructure, such rubbish can be reduced by up to 60 percent.

 

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4 comments

  1. To suggest that 30 to 40 % of rubbish on greek beaches is cigarette butts is just ludicrous, and makes the whole article ridiculous. Rubbish on beaches consists of plastic bags, wine bottles, beer cans, coffee cups etc. Cigarettes are an infinitesimal part of the problem.

  2. A smoking ban because of a litter problem?
    ” cigarette butts make 30%-40% of the trash landing at Greek beaches”
    The other 60% of the garbage is what?
    And what are they doing about banning the people who use those products?

  3. A large portion of rubbish is COVID masks – let’s ban mask wearing from the beach also. In fact, why stop there? Ban dog walkers, cat lovers, AEK fans and anyone else frothing-out-the-mouth faceless bureaucrats and nameless NGOs hate.

  4. I am not a smoker and I find this idea of smoke free beach a nonsense. This is just to separate people. If rubbish is a problem then employ people so clean it. People who stand behind such ideas should be jailed for dividing society and treating others unequally.