The Cleaningans

On Sunday, March 2, more than 30 volunteers, with gloves and bags in their hands, decided to welcome March, not by wearing “martakia”, but by cleaning the beach of Aretsou. With the particularly sunny weather, volunteers from “The Cleaningans” teamed up with the TEDxAUTH youth community to achieve a great goal.

The goal of the environmental action was to “unload” the coast as much as possible from the various types of waste. The result was more than impressive, since almost 3,000 liters of waste were collected in just an hour and a half!

But what are “The Cleaningans”? The organization started as a “quarantine individual initiative” of Panagiotis, one of the group members, who decided to clean an area near his home. Just one photo capturing the amount of waste from his first attempt was enough to convince friends and acquaintances to help him with each subsequent one.

Because all the big projects were once small, Cleaningans from one person became many and from actions in neighboring places became actions in large areas and beaches, such as Glarokavos beach in Halkidiki, Prespes and the coastline of Pylaia. This time, we had the honor to find ourselves among those many people and to become for a while a part of a better world, a brighter world, a world that makes even a small difference. After all, all these admirable actions are the result of cooperation and mutual assistance of many people with common goals and ambitions.

Cleaning up a coast is much harder than someone might imagine but at the same time extremely liberating. The gradual discharge of the environment creates a feeling of satisfaction and fulfillment. A small sense of control in a frantic and uncertain environmental reality, which we decide to face.

The only thing that is certain is that, when you look back again, the landscape will be even more beautiful. This is something that not only you notice, but also all your fellow human beings. Those who walk with their children or exercise, those who, observing you, will think twice about throwing a small or large piece of garbage on a beach in the future, those who look at you with a look of admiration and compassion. At that moment, they become your driving force and give you courage to continue fighting for your environment, their environment, our environment!

Author: Marianthi Pitti