This Grant project has been completed .We continue to showcase this project’s outcomes on our website because we are proud of the impact it has made and the continues to have in the local community. While this grant project has been archived, we think you might be interested to read on….

The challenge 

As inhabitants and admirers of the pristine Cyclades, we are acutely aware of the damaging proliferation of plastic pollution. With 700kT of plastic waste being discarded each year into landfill and seas, and only 8% of it getting recycled, the toxic impacts on humans, animals, waterways, oceans, and the environment as a whole are innumerable. 

The vast tourism industry which hits our islands in the summer months, coupled with a fractured public recycling system, means that there is a 26% rise in the level of waste generated in the summer.

The solution 

Clean Blue Paros was an inspiring pilot project which supported Paros in becoming the first plastic-waste free Mediterranean island and a global leader in the fight against plastics in our seas. Our partner in this endeavour, Common Seas, lead the Clean Blue Alliance, which supports islands in accelerating solutions that eliminate plastic from entering surrounding seas and oceans. 

What does the project deliver in practice?

In practice, this project was a groundbreaking collaboration between Paros Municipality, the Cyclades Preservation Fund, WATT, WWF Greece, the University of Aegean, the HERRCO, and pioneering local Paros businesses and stakeholders who pledged to cut back their plastic consumption.

COVID-19 changed the course of this project, but we remained resilient.  The team at Common Seas continued their great work on different levels: conducting marine-waste audits to better understand plastic pollution on the islands and evaluate impact, certifying businesses that reduced single-use plastics, disseminating information about the project’s guidelines, designing tote bags, providing reusable bottles, and piloting plastic collections. 

You can keep up with the initiative’s progress here.

Latest updates 

Our partners at Common Seas continue to implement their three-step approach: Investigate, Intervene and Influence. They have a clear objective to radically reduce the consumption of single-use plastics on the islands. With the support of the CPF, Common Seas has managed to engage 100 local businesses in Paros. 

They continue their efforts by creating new material to engage hospitality businesses, guide them in reducing their use of plastic, and support them in communicating their efforts to customers. Well done Clean Blue Paros team!

A bit about the organisation

Common Seas is an organisation on a mission to quickly and significantly reduce the amount of plastic produced and stop it polluting rivers and seas.

The Clean Blue Alliance is a methodology of practice which aims to take action on the research and theory available to us about how to solve the plastic pollution crisis. Delivering practical, on-the-ground demonstrations of circular economy solutions, Clean Blue projects run in Greece, the Maldives and Indonesia, where a local team works with partners to drive new policy, invest in the circular economy and embed a cultural shift in how communities make, use and dispose of plastic.