“If we can’t deal with something as simple as litter, how will we preserve our coast and sea for future generations in the face of even greater man-made challenges – climate change, erosion, marine pollution and eutrophication?” this is the question that the organizers of the “My Sea” Green Expedition ask themselves and others. For several years now, as part of the campaign, anyone interested has been invited to join and measure the path along the sea in order to monitor waste. This year’s results are now known.
Over 550 volunteers participated in the campaign within 30 days. It was concluded that on average 334 pieces of waste are found every 100 meters on Latvian coastal beaches, while on average 36 different types of waste are identified on each beach. This means that the level of pollution has decreased by 11% compared to 2023.
Jānis Ulme, the founder of “Mana jūra”, representative of the Environmental Education Foundation, explains: “Of course, it is a pleasure that after a break of several years we can finally come up with positive news after the conclusion of the summer monitoring program. However, this joy is slightly overshadowed by several facts and considerations. First of all, there is still a lot to be done in order for the coast of Latvia to get closer to the goals of Good Marine Environmental Status. Secondly, although improvements have been introduced at the local level this season, the visible reduction in pollution is mainly related to the legislative norms of the European Union promoting the circular economy and reducing plastic pollution, and not to the actions implemented in Latvia. This raises the question – are prohibitions, restrictions and punishments really the only effective solutions? Are we as a society unable to change even small nuances in our consumer culture? Can’t municipalities more courageously adopt examples of good practices in waste prevention and coastal management that are common in other parts of the world? And, finally, couldn’t the responsible institutions and decision-makers at the national level, when implementing environmental legislation, ever do it in substance, and not just by formally fulfilling the requirements?”
TOP 1 – various plastic products and polymer materials
Of the total amount of waste, evaluating the proportion of materials on the beaches, 75.9% consists of various plastic products and polymer materials, followed by paper and cardboard (8.4%), metal (4.8%), glass and ceramics, food waste, rubber, textiles and clothing, wood and chemicals.
If waste is evaluated according to its type, smoking waste (32.6%), plastic food packaging (8.2%), identifiable pieces of paper and cardboard (7.2%), unidentifiable pieces of plastic (6.3%) rank at the top of the waste list. Of the 15 types of waste most often found on the coast, ten are plastic waste.
Beaches are evaluated by municipalities and individually
Judging by municipalities, the most polluted beaches, as last year, this season are also in the city of Jūrmala (950 pieces of garbage per 100 meters of beach), while the cleanest are in Talsu county (149 pieces of garbage per 100 meters of beach).
This year, when evaluating individual beaches, the list of the cleanest beaches has been supplemented by one beach, reaching a total of six beaches on the almost 500-kilometer long coast of Latvia. However, none of the beaches still meet the EU’s Good Marine Environmental Status criteria. Miķeļtorņi beach of Ventspils county (41 units of waste per 100 meters), followed by Mazirbe (44 units), Lauču stone (57 units), Engure center beach (67 units) and Kaltene (68 units). The list of the cleanest beaches is rounded off by Ziemupes beach in Southern Kurzeme district (73 units).
On the other hand, Lielupe beach in Jūrmala was recognized as the most polluted individual beach this year, where 1400 pieces of garbage were found in 100 meters of beach. Jūrmala’s Majoru beach (1008 units), Daugavgrīva beach in Riga (970 units), Liepāja’s Karosta beach (862 units) and Liepāja’s center beach (754 units) are also at the top of the list of the dirtiest beaches. www.manajura.lv posted information.
Prepared by Paula Karkluvalka
/Photo: www.manajura.lv/
2024-08-21 07:38:37