2nd of January 2017, on the way to the office I can see that people have really celebrated the New Year’s evening. There are used fireworks laying here and there. In BLASTIC project we will do our best to make sure this sight is not a sign of how the year 2017 will look like.
For a long time, we in the City of Turku have been ambitiously developing our waste management practices. We have always made surveys related to waste management. During the last years the research focus has turned a bit more towards marine littering. We have done field studies on micro litter in the sea area in front of Turku as well as in waste waters. Latest study concerned micro litters in storm waters.
All the litter lying on streets and yards, including used fireworks, end up to storm water sewer together with sand. It seems like macro litter is smashed into micro litter very effectively in storm water sewers before entering water bodies. That is one reason why the marine littering stays away from our sight – and so away from our mind.
This year, in BLASTIC we will start active research and media campaign together with participatory cleaning events to make the problem visible. Aim is to raise the general awareness of how marine littering is actually caused by our daily activities and what each one of us can do to change the situation.
We will do our best to see as many active citizens as possible working together for the Litter Free Year 2017. We hope to meet You in our upcoming campaign evets and spreading the word of mouth about the urgent need of stopping the marine littering.
Clean Beach Campaign in Turku 2016.
Photo: Arto Takala.
We wish you a Litter Free Year 2017!
Pekka Salminen, City of Turku, Finland
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