The fourth edition of the Mega Beach-Cleaning, managed to collect five tons of waste from 14 beaches in the country.This initiative, carried out to celebrate World Volunteer Day, was held on Sunday, December 5th, on the beaches of: Jacó, Hermosa, El Cocal de Puntarenas, El Manglar in Puntarenas, Guacalillo, Bajamar, Cieneguita, Puerto Viejo, Pavones , Espadilla, Tamarindo, Flamingo, Grande and Montezuma.
“We firmly believe that these activities are a means of raising awareness to improve our behaviors. For example, when volunteers see how much plastic is deposited on our shores, they are often inspired to reduce their dependence on this material and, most importantly, they become ambassadors seeking to decrease the use of these types of materials and the conservation of natural environments”, stated Andrea Barba, one of the organizers of the event.
A positive contribution
The mega marathon has the objective of making a positive contribution to the environment by keeping the beaches clean, but it also seeks to make people aware of the importance of reducing the consumption of single-use plastics and taking responsibility for the waste that we generate by make a proper arrangement of them.
“At Grupo ACOS, we are aware of the problem of plastic pollution in our seas and we know that public-private alliances are a way to create awareness and enhance our impact, for this reason each year we seek to add more allies to the mega marathon of beach cleaning”, commented Victor Arce, president of the Surf Coast Association.
For this 2021, the initiative was also carried out in countries such as: Mexico, Colombia and El Salvador, and had the participation of more than 300 volunteers. In the case of Costa Rica, through the four collection days, more than 18.5 tons of waste have been collected.
The mega marathon also has the support of the Ministry of Environment and Energy of Costa Rica (MINAE), different municipalities of the country and organizations such as: BlueTech, Asociación de Desarrollo Integral de Rio Claro, Jaco Impact, Waves and Smiles, Montezuma Surf Club, The Clean Wave and Pedregal.
