Events and News

At the end of the evening there will be over 80 kilos of waste collected in the port of Torregrande, Cabras: lots of cigarette butts, plastic of all kinds, polystyrene, glass, cans, a rusty tube, ropes and fishing nets. Everything seems perfectly in order to the distracted eye. Rarely is it when you go hunting.

"We want to make the community aware, find new allies among fishermen and boaters",  explains Antonio Ricciu, coordinator of CEAS Oristano to the platoon of volunteers gathered in the shade of the gazebo. "The clean-up of  Torregrande’s port is the first action of a larger project, "Let’s sail a clean sea". Throughout the summer Ricciu and his collaborators will beat the coast on a sailing boat, with the tender they will get closer to boaters at the anchor and try to sensitize them to the theme of sustainable navigation, handing them over the "sustainable navigator kit" that Ricciu shows to the volunteers: the sticker with the decalogue of the sailor, a set of biodegradable plates and glasses, the cloth that absorbs bilge oil, an aluminum bottle, the loofah sponge, a non-polluting soap. Listening to Ricciu, carefully distance, many of the supporters of the project (including the MEDSEA Foundation) and fishermen from the Santa Giusta Cooperative.

After the presentation gloves and bags are distributed, and the volunteers spread throughout the port area, under the fierce July sun. “Canoeing activities take place in the Cabras pond, but sailing and rowing are based here. Who more than us should help keep the marina tidy? We could not miss the date" says Cecilia Tola, secretary of the Nautical Center of Oristano, while together with her companions she peers through the ravines of the great breakwater barrier.

“Among boaters and fishermen, categories that are not easy to bring together in a project, the marina hosts over 400 boats. They must become our allies, the ecosystem of this stretch of sea also depends on them" says Massimo Marras, director of the Sinis-Isola di Mal di Ventre Marine Protected Area, also armed with gloves and a sack.

The hunt for refusal, thanks to the support of the Port Captaincy and to "Sea Scout", is also underwater. The divers of the Oristanese association wear wetsuits and prepare the scuba tanks on the edge of the pier: "In the past, the environmentalist discourse belonged to a niche. Now, for many reasons, it has become a necessity. Today is a magnificent opportunity to raise awareness. We have to do everything we can to go beyond associations and involve as many people as possible", says Riccardo la Porta, president of Sea Scout.