Santa Claus with garbage bags leads holiday cleanup on Bulgarian beaches
For Christmas, dozens of volunteers decided to give nature its most precious gift: a cleaner shore. In Bulgaria, the "Clean Christmas" initiative celebrated its eighth consecutive year, bringing together people of all ages on the Black Sea coast with a clear message: pollution can no longer be ignored.
Volunteers came together under the motto "The storage system does not tolerate delays" to help reduce the amount of plastic that ends up in the ocean. They advocated for transforming bottles from waste into valuable resources. The atmosphere was festive, with participants donning hats, sweaters, and even Santa Claus costumes. Instead of leaving gifts under the tree, they focused on leaving behind clean beaches.
On the sand in Ahtopol, Elena, one of the volunteers, explained why every small action matters.
"There is a significant amount of polystyrene and microplastic here. I collect even the tiniest pieces. This microplastic enters the sea, breaks down, and then gets into the fish we eat. Just as we clean our homes, we should also clean up our environment. Everyone needs to take care,” says Elena.
The dissatisfaction with the carelessness is also echoed by Desi, another participant in the initiative, who bluntly states, “Everyone left something behind—absolutely irresponsible and careless!”
The organizers emphasize that the issue extends beyond individual actions. Nikola Bobcev, the coordinator of the initiative, claims that without systemic changes, the situation will not improve.
“We discovered large items such as chairs and deck chairs, along with a significant amount of bulky waste, including packages from Turkey. The authorities need to implement a storage system as soon as possible to prevent plastic bottles from ending up in nature and on our beaches,” asserts Nikola Bobcev.
Volunteers on the beaches of Arkutino and Ahtopol collected hundreds of kilograms of waste, including plastic bottles, packaging, car tires, and abandoned furniture. In total, nearly 5 tons of garbage were gathered during the Christmas cleanup, highlighting the urgent pollution problem that persists even during the holidays.
