National Coastal and Underwater Cleanup Day

Modern technology
Owes ecology
An apology.

Alan M. Eddison

On September 20th 2008, an energetic team of five ACS students "scuba divers" and one teacher took action in becoming part of a global solution.

Every year, on the third Saturday of September, in more than 75 countries, Project AWARE Foundation coordinates underwater cleanup events, where thousands of people take part in cleaning not only underwater but also coastal areas close to seas, lakes and rivers. This event is the largest single day volunteer event on behalf of our underwater and coastal environment.

Divers are the guardians of our underwater world. So, ACS students Olympia Filippeli, AJ Ginnis, Max Ginnis, George Papandreou and ACS science teacher Mr. John Sutfin decided to take on this role and become part of this event by making a difference and joining a group of scuba divers and participating in the underwater cleanup of Kavouri beach. The things they found were truly astonishing from the ability to fully dress a human being with underwear, socks, shorts, a shirt and a hat, to providing him with a range of daily activities, like drinking some kind of beverage, or flying a kite or even equipping him with a set of new tires.

We have taken advantage of the hospitality offered on our short stay on planet earth and even though at some point we check out, we leave our own individual fossils behind. We forget its offerings and neglect its needs. Two- thirds of earth's surface is covered with water, oceans function as an engine for regulating our climate and provides the oxygen we breathe, the food we eat and acts as a home for 97% of all life. We many times are overwhelmed with our obsession to maintain a certain level of hygiene on the top floor of apartment earth that we sometimes neglect the down floor turning it into our own personal basement where we tend to store unwanted stuff.

It time to act and join a common cause. Because in order to go green, we must live blue.