Community in action on World Cleanup Day: over 1,300 cigarette butts and 18 kg of waste removed to fight invisible pollution
A new beach cleanup led by the Bluewave Alliance and ISDIN mobilized volunteers along the coast once again for World Cleanup Day. In just over an hour of coordinated work, the team removed over 18.5 kg of waste and more than 1,300 cigarette butts, highlighting the threat posed by small-scale waste contaminating beaches and marine ecosystems.
As part of the coastal conservation commitments driven by the Bluewave Alliance, we organized a new beach cleanup alongside ISDIN to mark World Cleanup Day. The initiative, which featured the active participation of ISDIN Lovers, joins our ongoing program of periodic activations developed throughout the year to mitigate the impact of waste on the Mediterranean coast.
In just over an hour of coordinated work, the team successfully removed more than 18.5 kg of waste, consisting mostly of microplastics, alongside collecting over 1,300 cigarette butts. While these items are small in size, their environmental impact is long-lasting: a single cigarette butt can take up to 10 years to decompose in nature, whereas a wet wipe requires up to a century to fully degrade.
Small actions against invisible pollution
At the Bluewave Alliance, we drive these direct actions to highlight the severity of small-format pollution, whose debris quickly fragments and is ingested by marine wildlife. Through these mitigation events, we aim to prevent the degradation of our coastal ecosystems and raise awareness about the urgency of keeping waste out of the sea.
This cleanup reinforces the Alliance's ongoing commitment and aligns with ISDIN’s Love Your Planet program, consolidating a strategic partnership that proves how joint action and community engagement are key tools to protect the health and biodiversity of our beaches.
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