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Thousands of sailors visit Greece every year, generating huge amounts of plastic, domestic and food waste, all of which are impacting the coastal communities’ infrastructure as well as the environment. We all need to take responsibility to reduce our litter output and make sure we leave these waters cleaner than when we encountered them.

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

• Do not leave rubbish or recycling on smaller islands: The smaller islands do not have facilities to deal with the large amounts of waste the charter boats bring in, so try to keep your rubbish (at least the dry recycling items) on board until you reach a marina or larger port.
• Dispose of rubbish and recycling carefully: No waste should be thrown overboard, not even ‘organic’ matter. In Greece there are big blue recycling bins for all packaging items (aluminium, tins, plastic bottles, containers and paper and others for general waste (the colour varies by area).
• Keep a tidy boat: Always ensure that any items that might blow away are safely stowed in the galley, and rubbish is secured below deck in your waste/recycling bin to avoid it going into the sea.
• Never stub a cigarette out on a beach or throw overboard: Cigarette butts are non-biodegradable litter and the single most collected item in beach clean-ups.
• Pick up litter you see on beaches or in the sea (check it is safe to do so, and wear gloves if needed), volunteer for a beach clean-up day or make a donation to a local environmental organization (for some ideas see the list in the ‘resources’ section of our website).
• Avoid buying bottled water: Keep your reusable bottle with you and ask for refills when you are ashore. At restaurants and bars, ask for their own filtered water rather than water in plastic bottles. Although Greece does not currently have a wide network of public water refill fountains, there are programmes starting to introduce them, and many places do have good quality water – ask locally. If you need to buy potable water, look for recyclable cartons.
• Reduce your use of plastic by reusing bottles, bags and containers. Avoid drink takeaways in single use plastic cups. Purchase products with minimal packaging (eg loose fruit) and take reusable bags to carry shopping.