Northern Cyprus – Recycling or
ignoring waste
By Chris Elliott…….
We see people reacting to postings about North Cyprus and rubbish with quotes about so called tourists who say they will never come again due to the rubbish on the beaches and elsewhere.
OK let’s just look for a moment at the question of rubbish on beaches. Should we assume that it was placed there by the locals or not? No doubt some people do spend their time on the beach and walk away leaving their rubbish behind like they do in the UK at drive-in restaurants where it’s often left strewn across the car parks.
So what happens to our beach rubbish? Does it stay there forever, is it collected by caring people or even washed away by the sea to perhaps a beach somewhere else and perhaps even on a beach of another country.
Let’s just think for a moment about beaches as we react to what we first see and that is rubbish on beaches which is discarded by people from boats, of course rubbish left on that beach and other beaches or even windblown from other areas.
So what can be done. It’s almost an impossible task and it is no use blaming others as we can all make a start and a difference by recycling rubbish, keeping our gardens and business outside areas clear of discarded material even if it is windblown. Look out for and report those who tip illegal rubbish where they wish to the local municipalities with photographic evidence.
The latter is perhaps a hard line approach but consider the video below that was released on Facebook by Greenpeace UK and shows what we are allowing to get into the Mediterranean Sea to end up where?
In Esentepe the Marina and beaches were a disgrace and tourists complain about it BUT things are looking up we are now getting more care about litter on the beaches but the marina is still terrible. It’s such a shame as its such a beautiful area.
Thank you for the news update Julie, if you have more information perhaps you would like published, you can contact cyprusscene via our about page us page
On the last day of our visit to TRNC we went up into the Kyrenian mountains. We parked at a picnic place where families were having lunch and a bbq. It was truly horrible to see how the adults just threw the rubbish on the ground, and the children followed suit. No one bothered to pick up the bags although there were adequate bins. This beautiful place looked more like a rubbish dump. I really don’t understand why the simple message of pick up your rubbish isn’t part of the culture over there. Your country is beautiful, but we won’t be coming back, and the rubbish is one of the reasons why….
Thank you Chrissie Honour for sharing your sad experience.
As we have said in other postings it takes someone to show an example. Can you imagine the impact of a visitor in a situation like yours, if with a smile they were seen to pick up rubbish dropped by others and placed it in a bin.
No words are necessary if we want encourage change. By the way what about all the rubbish left in the car parks in the UK that have drive in restaurants? It’s no different there!
I cannot understand that mentality either and it is horrendous the amount of rubbish everywhere but all I can say it is improving. I pick it up when ever I can.
Thank you Julie and if more people like you start to show by example then the situation will improve.
Keep up the good work.
Couple of comments.
On the south side there are notices all around the place that littering may incur a fine of up to about (cannot remember exact) 900 Euros, it is time for similar here.
Second, I agree that a lot of rubbish is washed up onto beaches around the world but that is no excuse for leaving it there. Maybe a task for Belidiye employees to walk the beaches once a week instead of the endless cutting of grass verges with strimmers.
Finally, it is good to see recycling bins appearing around the country. Sah Marketplace appears very prominently but I have seen a number of collecting points in Girne plus read of initiatives starting in Lefkosa. Just needs a bit more prominent advertising of these facilities and if foreigners who are used to recycling start to use them regularly then local population will understand why it is so important. Remember there is money to be earned from plastic, aluminium cans, old iron etc!!!!!!
Thank you David for your thoughts on this subject.
To encourage changes it needs someone by example showing others what can be done and I hope you are now making efforts to recycle and encouraging your friends and neighbours to do the same.
We are on the case and will write more on this subject shortly.
Chris I am sure you will remember the rag n’ bone man (Steptoe & Son) coming around when we were kids. Nothing changes, there has always been money in “scrap” of all sorts, just now it can be a big earner for local authorities or charities.
I remember it well David. We used to have a horse and cart come round collecting rags and they would give a goldfish in a jam jar.
Recycling rubbish and keeping the environment tidy is a big issue. When I am walking or on the beaches I collect floating plastic from the water (it is a risk to turtles and other marine life), Efes bottles (they pose a fire risk, yet are discarded even when Efes reuse them), plastic bottle tops (are now collected by a charity to raise money for disabled children). I have even taken plastic bottles and squashed tins back to the UK when I have luggage space. People need to be continually educated about the impact on the environment of litter. Southern Cyprus recycle, so it should be no different for the north. I welcome the Sah marketplace for prominently displaying information about plastic bags and providing recycling deposits for plastic, metal, paper, batteries and plastic bags. Presumably this recycling waste is taken to Turkey in wagons which have brought goods in – there must be plenty of empty wagons going back on ferries. Recycling need not be costly to anyone; glass and metal in particular are valuable resources, it costs far more to produce newly from scratch. Perhaps some of the large hotels, casinos, restaurants etc could also take a lead…?
Thank you Clare Alderson for your comments.
We are currently looking closer at recycling in the TRNC and this may be the subject of perhaps 2 articles which will be published shortly on cyprusscene.com.
Hello Just to say that we have visited Northern Cyprus for the last two years and love the friendliness of the people, the cleanliness of the restaurants and the country. However as we have to holiday in the high season due to work commitments and like secluded beaches we did find that the only ones we could find were litter strewn (and unfortunately a smell from what we think is a power station near Algaldi) which although we collected the rubbish we did find extremely off putting (especially baby nappies on the shoreline). We would love to return this year but the rubbish issue has made us rethink. Are there any secluded beaches (don’t mind paying but these were crowded) that we may have missed or we did wonder if the tide pattern around the area causes some of the rubbish.
Many thanks for any advice
Kind regards
Margaret
Hello Margaret,
Sorry to read your comments about rubbish and you only have to visit an area that could be described as a public beach and the surrounding area will be littered by wind blown paper etc. Where did it come from?
As for litter on the beaches yes a lot of this is left by the beach visitors but when you walk a beach you can see plastics that are well worn and you may wonder where did it come from. Passing ships of perhaps other beaches or even countries. Please click here to find out about moving rubbish in the Med area.
For visitors to North Cyprus, if they want a very clean beach that is maintained, then many hotels offer that and of course they have to keep it clean whereas those distant coves where few people go may have rubbish on the beaches.
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I hope that helps you decide the the TRNC is not a bad choice for a holiday