29 July, 2019 by Juan Carlos Díaz Lorenzo

Learning to Be Responsible with Ecomar and Trasmediterránea

Cigarette butts, many cigarette butts, but also plastic bottles, cans, caps, and bags have been some of the main waste that the children from the sailing school at Port Turístic - Esportiu Alcudiamar found and collected on the beach of Alcúdia this Monday morning. A cleaning day in which more than twenty children participated and which was organized by the Ecomar Foundation together with Trasmediterránea.

An environmental action and social responsibility initiative that began with a workshop at 10 in the morning at the sailing school. Afterwards, the participants traveled by catamaran to the collection point, located about two kilometers from the port.

Throughout the morning, the children learned about the need to keep our seas and coasts clean, and the importance of properly sorting and recycling thanks to the workshop led by sailor and two-time Olympic gold medalist Theresa Zabell, president of the Ecomar Foundation.

All of this with a very clear objective: “to raise awareness and sensitize society, and specifically children, about the serious problem posed by plastic waste and waste in general in the sea and its coasts,” declared Eva González, Business Development Director of Trasmediterránea in the Balearic Islands. For us, she added, “it is very important to participate and an honor to be here today contributing our grain of sand.”

“Plastic is a material that takes hundreds of years to biodegrade and severely affects the species that live in the sea and its coastline,” explained Eva González, and for this reason, she concluded, “from the Armas Trasmediterránea Group, we have initiated a plan to become the first Plastic Free shipping group, and we are implementing a series of measures to virtually eliminate the consumption of disposable plastics on all our ships, maritime terminals, and offices.”

Finally, Eva González explained to those present on the beach of Alcudiamar that “we are particularly excited that this type of event takes place in destinations like Alcúdia, which is a strategic port for us, as we have a route connecting Alcúdia with Ciutadella, where we are making two departures every day, both to and from.”

For her part, Theresa Zabell explained that the entire team at the Ecomar Foundation is “very happy to have been able to carry out an activity with the support of the Armas Trasmediterránea Group and with the children from the sailing school at Port Turístic - Esportiu Alcudiamar, as the foundation's philosophy aims to raise awareness among as many children as possible about the reasons behind the situation of our seas and coasts.” “We love to see,” she concluded, “how more and more companies are adopting the blue philosophy that Ecomar has been implementing for 20 years and making it their own, as in the case of Armas Trasmediterránea, whose ships have become more sustainable.”

The General Director and CEO of Alcudiamar, Bartolomé Bestard, stated that “at Alcudiamar, we understand that our seas and coasts are not something we have inherited; they are a loan made to us by our children.” Thus, Bestard explained, “it is good for them, the younger ones, to know this as soon as possible and to get to work with us. I am sure that actions like today’s put us on the path of optimism.”

It is worth noting that during the months of September and October, other beach cleaning days will be held, but this time in the Canary Islands and Ibiza.