Mini Eco Fest at Tbilisi Sea: Environment Activists Clean Nature
On Saturday, September 26, Tbilisi Sea Cleaning Day took place, hosted by Precious Plastic Georgia, restaurant Cheers wine and pizza, Tbilisi’s Skateboarding school Rampa.ge and UGMB brewery.
The event, aimed at cleaning the environment from rubbish and also encouraging others to clean and protect it in the future, lasted two days and brought together environmental activists and ordinary citizens.
This time, over 100 participants took part in the mini eco fest. Just like the previous event, they showed great enthusiasm and motivation during the cleaning activities.
“People kept coming after the end of the cleaning session after 5 PM and almost demanded bags and gloves. Some called before the event, saying they can't make it early and are "worried about no rubbish being left for them," says one of the organizers of the event, Yuliya Kuzina, founder of Precious Plastic Georgia.
“We collaborated with artists - photographers, videographers and modern art enthusiasts - that created an art wall to expose how much rubbish was left by those who come to enjoy the sea only around quite a small area. We are still working on a photo album, which we will share soon, and a sign which we will install in the area,” she adds.
Yuliya notes that people were grateful to have a chance to participate in such an initiative and meet many like-minded people.
“A lot of them were saying: "thank you for the organization. It is a great initiative." We are always very pleased to hear such things,” she says.
Regarding the future plans of Precious Plastic Georgia in terms of cleaning the environment from rubbish, Yuliya claims that the organization will take a break from big clean ups for winter, especially now with the COVID uncertainty.
“We want to analyze, think through and make it better next time. A lot of mistakes were made as we are just starting. Hopefully, we can start cleaning activities along with fun and art events next spring 2021. Until then, we will do a few movie sessions and work on our future collaboration with artists. We loved creative people being involved in this event,” she elaborated.
Precious Plastic Georgia is a group of specialists in the areas of engineering, architecture, and sustainable development, amongst others. They collect plastic labels 2, 4 and 5, and recycle it themselves.
“We started this project just several months ago, so we’re still exploring possibilities to contribute. We started installing collection bins in businesses (cafes, restaurants, offices) and promoting our initiative among locals. With this project, we aim to minimize the amount of plastic that has the potential to be recycled sitting in landfills for the next few hundred years. Instead, we want that precious plastic to have a second life as street furniture. We would be happy to connect with any business or individuals and help them to be a little more sustainable,” says the Founder of Precious Plastic Georgia.
By Ana Dumbadze