Earth day 2019

Did you know that the Great Pacific Garbage Patch covers an estimated surface area of 1.6 million square kilometres? Did you know that 1,6 million square kilometres is an area nearly the size of France, Germany, Poland and Spain taken together?

Would the global problem of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch ever arise if it were not for waste dumped in rivers by people? Unfortunately, the problem grows worse every day, with tonnes of waste ending up in the seas and oceans, killing the flora and fauna in them.

While not underscoring the importance of global plans aimed at solving the issue, we, at MAEM, believe that the problem stems from human mentality, bad habits and it is where an effective solution should be sought. One plastic bottle dumped in the river does not make a problem, but when one million people dump one bottle, we have a disaster. One plastic bottle fished out from the river does not make much difference, but when one million people fish out one bottle, we have a local success. Environmental education is the first, basic tool to be used to prevent waste from entering rivers and woods. And what if it is already there?

Each of us can help save the world seas and oceans! MAEM employees have also joined the world clean up action this year.

Living in Krakow and its surroundings, we are lucky to enjoy the view of Poland’s longest river, the Vistula, flowing through the area. The Vistula crosses the whole country and enters the Baltic Sea. The quality of water and the condition of river banks have improved significantly over the past decades, but there is still a lot to do. As part of the celebration of this year’s Earth Day, we decided to clean up at least a small part of its bankline.

It took us a few hours to collect 60 kg of all kinds of wastes. We are happy that instead of ending up in the sea they will be dumped in the landfill, where they belong.