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HEPCA 2011 Review - A Year of Cleanups

In 2011, the cleanliness of cities along the Red Sea changed a lot. This is not only due to HEPCA undertaking solid waste management of the southern Egyptian Red Sea and Hurghada, but also thanks to the many volunteers that helped out in various community cleanups throughout this past year. 23 community cleanups took place within 2011, only counting those organised by HEPCA. 951 pairs of hands helped picking up rubbish from the ground, from beaches, from islands and from underwater, collecting a total of 1174 bags full of rubbish, which amounts to about 23,480kg of waste. Waste, which might have otherwise ended up in our precious Red Sea, killing thousands of marine inhabitants and sea birds. In addition to HEPCA cleanups there have also been a lot of independently organised cleanups. Most of us will remember the cleanup movement in February, where everybody, old and young, foreign and Egyptian, all of the sudden was on the street and cleaning together. Also Gorgonia Beach Resort continued with their bimonthly cleanups supported by their guests. Every other week the Gorgonia team, including around 50-60 guests, conduct a cleanup at Marsa Fugera, a beach south Marsa Alam, to keep it clean. And they are not the only ones: the Red Sea is lucky to have a caring community all along its coast, where cleanups are organized on a regular basis by dive centres, hotels and other groups and companies benefitting us not only aesthetically but also improving the living conditions of life above and under water. The HEPCA team would like to thank everyone, who was involved in the cleanups this year and hopes for an even stronger involvement in the year 2012.