On Monday, January 24th, the Municipality of Sali on the island Dugi Otok, in cooperation with the Association Sunce, organized a forum and public event as part of the project For Plastic Free Croatian Islands .
At the city fish market, a stand has been set up in order to educate the public and raise awareness about harmful impact of plastics on the marine environment while offering alternative solutions for single-use plastic products. For this purpose, reusable items have been presented and distributed to the locals as an alternative solutions for single-use plastic. In addition to educational brochures about harmful impact of plastic, they could have taken reusable glasses, glass bottles, metal, silicone or glass straws, as well as cleaning utensils, cutlery, bags, backpacks and metal containers for preparing food and meals.
On the same day, an educational beeswax wraps workshop was held for higher grades in Elementary school Petar Lorini in Municipality of Sali. Employees of the Association Sunce showed students how to make beeswax wraps which are a substitute for single–use plastic foils. These reusable foils are made on cotton fabric and they are completely natural, environmentally friendly and biodegradable. They last up to a year and they can replace plastic and aluminum foil, plastic bags and food containers, and when they are worn out, they can actually be “refreshed” with a new layer of wax.
This event and workshop are part of the activities carried out by the Association Sunce as part of the project of which the project partner is the Municipality of Sali. The great interest of citizens and the positive attitude they have shared with us regarding the reduction of plastics on the island and the introduction of alternative solutions into their everyday life, has shown us that the desire for change among citizens exists but needs to be encouraged, and this is precisely the goal of the For Plastic Free Croatian Islands project and its national campaign Together Without Plastic.
In addition to these activities, a meeting was held with project partners and utility company Mulić d.o.o. where we discussed the obligations and results of the Municipality of Sali from the Decision on limiting the use of single-use plastics and the signed Action Plan. The Municipality of Sali reported that they are working together with the utility company to introduce a door-to-door system, which so far covers the majority of residents while other ones will be introduced in the coming period. The composters have been ordered and interested citizens have already applied to take them. Also, the documentation for a recycling yard on the island Dugi otok is being prepared, while the mobile recycling yard is already in use. In accordance with the adopted Decision, the separate waste collection in public institutions owned/co-owned by the Municipality will also be introduced.
At the meeting, it was agreed to continue the activities of the project For Plastic Free Croatian Islands in the Municipality of Sali. The project leader is the Association Sunce, partners are the City of Stari Grad (Hvar Island), the Municipality of Sali (Dugi Otok) and Friends of the Earth Croatia (ZA), and the associates are SMILO, The Zlarin Plastic-Free Initiative.
The project is supported by World Wide Fund for Nature and financed by the Beyond Med Association.