Every year, more than eight million tons of plastics are dumped into the ocean, which makes of this residue a major problem for the marine ecosystem. Puerto Portals Sailing School along with the organization Mar de Fondo have arranged throughout this summer several cleaning sessions of the sea bottom, shore and beaches.
The port has made available to the volunteers all the Sailing School equipment to facilitate the waste removal. Altogether during this season, 342 kg of plastic have been collected, coming from several areas of the Mediterranean; specially noteworthy are the microplastics, bottles, swabs, shoes, metal or fibre objects, among many others.
On Friday’s session 103kg of waste were removed. Pol Gehring, Deputy of the Association Mar de Fondo and Marte Reynés, Director of Puerto Portals Sailing School were present and have stated the importance of the work accomplished in this season, as well as the significance of looking at the future and being constant and committed to this matter.
The Sailing School has performed a great work in educating and raising awareness with its Multi Activity classes, transmitting to the kids, week after week, the problem that sea plastic pollution carries, exposing the main facts so that they perceive the severe importance of this matter and, finally, providing the ways to solve it: reducing, reusing, recycling and repairing.
During the course week, several days of sea waste collection are organized at Oratorio beach, and the variety of marine life in areas of the Mediterranean Sea is explained, as well as the consequences of pollution for its biodiversity.
Puerto Portals stands out for its social and environmental commitment, through the various initiatives that take place along the year, like the firm intent during the annual regatta, along with 52 SUPER SERIES, of removing residues found in the Bay of Palma, plus raising awareness of this problem among the population. Noteworthy are the non-profit events that aim to raise funds for different associations of the island, like SOS Animal Party; or the stands that are granted to organizations like Mallorca Sens Fam in its famous markets, who raised more than 5000€ in the sixth edition of The Sunset Market.