One of the key topics of this year’s Elafonisos Eco Week was “Waste and Water Management.” During the conferences on the first day, Claire Richard, Coordinator at Beyond Plastic Med (BeMed), and Zana Kontomanoli, Waste and Plastic Project Manager at Elafonisos Eco, shared a joint presentation on innovative grassroots initiatives and regional collaboration to combat plastic pollution in the Mediterranean.
Claire Richard began by introducing BeMed, an NGO based in Monaco and founded in 2015 by major organizations such as the Prince Albert II Foundation and Surfrider Foundation. Its mission is to fund local projects that offer concrete solutions to the plastic crisis in the Mediterranean. Claire emphasized the importance of supporting local actors, who understand their communities and can drive long-term behavioral change. One such initiative is the Elafonisos Eco project, which BeMed funded in 2023.
The first project aimed to make Elafonisos a plastic bag-free island. This was achieved by involving all local supermarkets in distributing free, reusable bags made from upcycled bedsheets and leftover fabrics. These bags were not only environmentally friendly but also produced locally, with the involvement of women and children, promoting community engagement and skills transmission like sewing. The project also focused on awareness-raising campaigns and educating consumers about the importance of reusing bags instead of relying on single-use plastic.
Zana Kontomanoli then introduced the second phase of their collaboration with BeMed. Inspired by a network she met in Athens, the new project focuses entirely on education in schools. In partnership with the Children’s Rights Network, the initiative will introduce interactive environmental education to the children of Elafonisos. Through workshops, storytelling, and hands-on activities, children will learn how to sew tote bags from discarded hotel bedsheets, a widespread but underused resource due to European legislation preventing hotels from reusing slightly damaged linens.
Beyond making bags, the school will receive its first library, a water filtering system to eliminate plastic bottles, and a composting unit to manage organic waste. The project will begin with a plastic inventory, where students will identify and analyze their daily plastic use, conduct interviews in their community, and reflect on how to reduce or eliminate unnecessary plastics. This exercise will be repeated at the end of the school year to measure progress.
Both Claire and Zana highlighted that education, collaboration, and persistence are key to creating long-lasting change. Thanks to BeMed’s support and the vision of local actors, Elafonisos is becoming a beacon of sustainability, showing that even small islands can have a big impact when communities come together.