Garbage Island. Clean Odra Campaign

On Saturday at noon on the bank of the Oder at Grobla Street in Szczecin, several dozen volunteers and members of the Wywrotka Association were cleaning up the rubbish that the river permanently throws up on the shore of Dębina Island. All it takes is high water or a wave caused by ships passing by on the Oder.

The event was organized by the Institute of Marine and Environmental Sciences of the University of Szczecin and the Wywrotka Association. The volunteers were transported to the island by a catamaran, also owned by the University of Szczecin. On Dębina Island, where garbage carried by the current of the river regularly stops, volunteers, but also residents interested in the subject, could see with their own eyes how much garbage and various types of waste the Odra washes up on the shore of the island.

- Dębina Island is a protected landscape area, it is a valuable area - Małgorzata Bąk, a volunteer and employee of the Institute of Marine and Environmental Sciences at the University of Szczecin, told us. - However, there are large amounts of garbage there, which arrives with high water or is carried by waves caused by ships. The images we see on the Internet, for example from the Philippines, Indonesia or Bangladesh, where children bathe in plastic, would be similar here, on Dębina Island. This island is literally strewn with garbage, mainly plastic. This is probably the most polluted section of the Oder, taking into account its entire course. I had the opportunity to sail down the Oder from Ostrava in the Czech Republic all the way to Szczecin and I could see it for myself - she added.

Together with a group of volunteers on board the university catamaran, we sailed to Dębina Island. Each participant received a garbage bag and then got to work. All they had to do was bend down to pull out plastic or even metal waste from under the fresh greenery.

- Our friends told us about this campaign and we gladly took part in it to do something good for our planet and also to promote caring for it - Mrs. Łucja told us.

- I like being surrounded by nature. So if I'm here, I'd rather be in a friendly space, without trash - added Mr. Marcin.

The Clean Odra Campaign is not just about periodically cleaning up rubbish on the Odra bank. It is also a campaign that is supposed to appeal to people to take care of their surroundings, including the natural environment, to simply take nature seriously.

- People are divided into those who litter and those who clean up - concludes Małgorzata Bąk. - We have the other half here. The participants of this campaign have such a need to do something for the Oder of their own free will. These are different people, including my students, PhD students, people who simply love water, including those who surf on the Oder. So the motivations are different. For example, there is a student of the Jagiellonian University who is writing a thesis on the anthropology of the river. Everyone has their own motivation... - she added. Last year, the organizers ordered a waste container with a capacity of 5 cubic meters. In total, three times as much was collected. This year, as a precaution, a container with a capacity of 15 cubic meters has already been ordered.

The coordinator of the action was Krzysztof Sowa from the Wywrotka Association. It was the last Clean Odra Action this year in Szczecin.

(CK)