0 Plastic Menorca

From 11 to 15 August 2020 Alongside took part in 0 Plastic Menorca, a beach clean-up and awareness-raising event organised by YouSocial Volunteer. During these 5 days, a team of 30 volunteers toured the coves and beaches of northern Menorca to remove all the plastic accumulated on the coast and that pose a threat to the Mediterranean Sea and all its inhabitants.

0 Plastic Menorca Days 

The conference took place from 17:00h to 20:30h where different activities were carried out with the aim of raising awareness and putting an end to the problem of plastics present on all the coasts of the Balearic Islands.

Beach cleaning

The first day of the expedition 0 Plastic Menorca was dedicated to removing the microplastics found on the beach of Cavallería. We marked out an area of 40 square metres divided into 2x2 plots in order to record the results of the plastic collection. The data obtained will be used to analyse the concentration of microplastics on the beaches over time. In just 40m2 of beach we removed 10,000 pieces of microplastics, most of them pellets from the Tarragona refinery.

The rest of the days, every afternoon we spent more than 2 hours removing the plastics that had accumulated on the beaches. With boats we were able to access those places that are more difficult to access by land, which, despite not being frequented by humans, are full of plastics dragged by the currents and waves.

A total of 330.68kg of plastics were collected in just 5 days of beach clean-ups in Menorca.

Formative talks and group dynamics

The 0 Plastic Menorca days always ended with talks to raise awareness of the environmental problems posed by plastics today, and to discuss possible solutions to put an end to the threat posed by plastics to the environment and the oceans.

More than beach clean-ups

0 Plastic Menorca shares the same values as Alongside, which is why from the first moment we heard about this initiative we wanted to join in. Beyond these 5 days of volunteering to clean beaches, what we both want is to involve more people every day who, aware of the environmental problems we face, want to be part of the change to reverse the situation.

You can have a look at the 0 Plastic website where you will find more information about the movement, and what we are all waiting for... a new date for the 2nd edition.