It’s staggering to say that there are billions of pounds of plastic in the world’s oceans. There’s so much that about 40 percent of our oceans’ surface is plastic.
Plastic waste also sinks to the ocean floors, where it sits, hidden, but still polluting. Figuring out ways to capture this unseen problem hasn’t always been easy.
Enaleia is figuring it out though.
Working with fisherman in the Mediterranean
Enaleia is an organization focused on creating a sustainable marine ecosystem in the Mediterranean. The non-profit targets two central issues in the area — the reduction of fish stocks and plastic sea pollution.
To chip away at these issues, Enaleia focuses on the fishermen.
Founded by an environmental leader
Founded in 2016, at the head of Enaleia is Lefteris Arapakis. His vision of saving the seas has allowed him to make a difference when it comes to plastic and fishing supply waste in the Mediterranean. His dedication to education has also helped fishermen fish less but make more.
Arapakis is considered one of Greece’s top dynamic environmentalists. He even earned the honorary title of Ambassador for the Mediterranean Coast. Both accolades stem from efforts to inspire locals to better understand, and protect their environment.
Removing plastic from the sea
Enaleia targets fishermen as their workers to remove plastic from the Mediterranean. By educating and incentivizing their efforts, local, professional fishermen bring back the plastic they “catch” at sea. Rather than toss it back, they deliver it to port for recycling and upcycling.
Working with 1,300 fishermen on 229 different fishing boats in Greece and Italy, Enaleia has removed over 396,800 pounds of plastic from the sea.
Collecting old fishing equipment
The other ask Enaleia makes of its fishermen is for their used fishing equipment. Especially fishing nets. At the end of each season, fishermen donate their used fishing nets, which are then recycled into useful products, like socks.
Over 20,000 fishing nets have currently been recycled to produce 260,000 pairs of socks.
Without having a place to hand over their used equipment, most nets and other fishing items end up as waste in the water, adding to the pollution.
Teaching the next generation
To help educate fishermen to fish smarter, Enaleia offers two different programs. Fishing School reaches out to the community of young, unemployed fishermen in Greece. The program then teaches them about sustainable fishing methods.
For those already fishing, there’s Fish Smarter. This program trains professional fishermen how to increase their income while fishing less. While they also learn about sustainable fishing techniques, this program explores how fishing tourism can be a great income alternative.
Accomplishing so much more
In addition to Fishing School, Fish Smarter, and Mediterranean Clean Up, the program that removes plastic from the Mediterranean, Enaleia is involved in a variety of other projects that align with their vision of a cleaner sea.
- Bahari Safi is a collaboration between organizations in Kenya and Greece. They work to collect plastic and discarded fishing gear from the waters in both areas of the world.
- Clean Seas Campaign manages port and land cleanup in eight different locations throughout Greece. The program removes marine plastic and other materials.
- Journey to Ithaca is restoring the beauty of the Greek Island of Ithaca through its sea clean-up efforts. To date, they’ve removed over 167,551 pounds of debris.
A true plastic impact partner
As one of the four main tenets of IMPACT COLLECTIVE, Enaleia and IMPACT are united in their desire to reduce plastic impact around the world. IMPACT also works to reduce the world’s carbon and waste impact while also supporting more usage of renewable energy sources.
Supporting the efforts of Enaleia helps IMPACT, and its members, get closer to their environmental goals. Visit us online to learn more about all the work IMPACT does, and get to know our partners.