The “Typhoon” that saves the Greek coasts from garbage

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A “Typhoon” sweeps the Greek coasts, taking with it garbage and waste, from Styrofoam and tiny pieces of plastic, to full sportfishing nets, immense tires and full household appliances.

This is the 72-meter operational vessel that for six years has virtually “washed away” contamination from the country’s beaches, successful bid to escaped them from this toxic load and reconstruct them to their pristine earthy state.

The “Typhoon” of the Athanasios K. Public Benefit Foundation Laskaridis is the spearhead of the “Typhoon Project”, which was launched successful 2019 with the purpose of cleaning the full Greek coastline and making the beaches cleaner for residents and visitors of the country.

To date, it has cleaned implicit 3,748 beaches, collected implicit 17.8 cardinal pieces of waste, and removed 768 tons of garbage, amounting to 35,670 cubic meters.

Indicative of this tremendous wide of discarded that has been accumulated is the information that, arsenic reflected successful graphs published by the Foundation, the full magnitude of garbage collected by December 2024 exceeds successful measurement well-known European monuments - specified arsenic Big Ben, the Leaning Tower of Pisa and "our" White Tower - intelligibly showing the grade of contamination connected the Greek coasts.

The footprint of the "Typhon" task was evident from the 2nd rhythm of repeated cleanings that began successful February 2023, since the aforesaid coasts that it cleaned for the 2nd clip showed an awesome betterment rate, connected average, 80%.

The 2nd sojourn of the "Typhoon" took spot successful the pursuing areas: Crete, the Cyclades (Kea, Kythnos, Serifos, Sifnos, Milos, Kimolos, Polyegos, Sikinos, Amorgos, Santorini, Iraklia, Schinoussa, Ios, Kato Koufonissi and Paros-Antiparos), Skiathos, Thassos, the Ionian (Ithaca, Kefalonia, Lefkada, Zakynthos, Corfu, Paxos-Antipaxos), the Argosaronic (Dokos, Spetses, Hydra, Aegina, Agios Georgios, Patroklos) and the Peloponnese (Messinia, Laconia, Argolida, Arcadia).

“Typhoon” precocious completed its 2nd circular of cleanups connected the Athos peninsula, Mount Athos, wherever it showed an 88% betterment complaint of the coasts. Its travel continues to Lemnos – a landmark land for the program, since successful the past its squad remained determination for 122 days.

In summation to the nonstop cleaning of the coasts, the “Typhoon Project” has revealed a invaluable wealthiness of data. All discarded is weighed, recorded, and included successful a database maintained by the Foundation. This database, which is among the astir implicit internationally, has already attracted the involvement of the technological community, with collaborations specified arsenic those with the Universities of Patras and the Aegean, the Technical University of Crete, and soon with Imperial College London.

The Athanasios K. Public Benefit Foundation Laskaridis Foundation was created successful 2016 with the purpose of acting arsenic a catalyst connected important issues concerning Greece and Hellenism. Its activities absorption connected biology protection, strengthening employment and micro-entrepreneurship, arsenic good arsenic supporting actions for the communal good.

The Foundation has an “umbrella” of programs that code marine and terrestrial pollution, enactment world research, beforehand consciousness of the request to support the environment, and amended young people.