On 14 May, we were delighted to welcome 35 project leaders from across the Mediterranean basin to Larnaca (Cyprus) for our annual Community Day.
Each year, this event is a special opportunity to strengthen ties within our community, share experiences from the field and develop new synergies in order to move forward together towards a common goal: reducing plastic pollution in the Mediterranean.
The highlight of the day was a series of collaborative workshops on adapting our methodology developed for the hotel sector, which aims to limit the use of single-use plastics.
Together, we reflected on how to transfer this approach to other key sectors:
So many different contexts, driven by the same goal: building a world without single-use plastics.
These discussions pave the way for new collaborations that will strengthen the impact of local initiatives across the Mediterranean basin.
On 15 May, we were delighted to reconnect with our community during a field visit to Ayia Napa. On this occasion, the municipality and the Cyprus Sustainable Tourism Initiative (CSTI) presented their ‘Plastic-Free Beach’ project, carried out as part of the ‘Keep Our Sand & Sea Plastic Free’ campaign supported by BeMed.
This initiative aims to prevent plastic pollution through concrete actions implemented directly on the beach: installation of a filtered water fountain offering a free and accessible alternative to plastic bottles, creation of a smoking area to dedicate to limiting the dispersion of cigarette butts, deployment of recycling bins and educational signage encouraging good behaviour.
Beyond the coastline, the project also involves local hotel stakeholder through training sessions and the development of action plans to reduce the use of single-use plastics. Finally, a new concept of ‘beach influencers’ invites beach users to become ambassadors for responsible practices. We are proud to support this inspiring project, which has already resulted in the creation of ten plastic-free beaches across Cyprus.
We would like to warmly thank all participants for their commitment, as well as the Cyprus Sustainable Tourism Initiative (CSTI) for its support in organising the event and the Lordos Beach Hotel for its warm welcome in Larnaca.
