In March 2021 around 100 volunteers gathered to clean one of the most beautiful spots of the Sardinian coast, Mari Pintau, collecting half a ton of waste.

Mari Pintau (Mare Dipinto in Italian), in the local language means “the painted sea” and refers to the amazing colour of this gem of the Sardinian coast in the municipality of Quartu Sant’Elena, in the province of Cagliari. I once asked a friend from the USA to help me define it in English. She came up with robin blue, which perfectly describes its unusual shade.

On March 7, volunteers arriving from all the neighbouring towns and villages joined the forces to clean this beautiful spot. The beach seemed relatively clean but when we spread along the hill covered with thick Mediterranean bush, we soon discovered all types of waste stuck in the vegetation and buried deep in the sand. Some of it must have been there for decades. The source of the waste also varied, from the common “summer season leftovers” like plastic bottles, plastic cutlery and cups, food wrappers and flip-flops abandoned on the spot, to the waste that must have been blown up from the fishing ships (i.e. EPS cooler boxes) and carried by the wind to end up in the middle of the juniper bush, about 30 meters above the sea level.

In two hours 97 volunteers of all ages collected 560 kg of waste from the area of about 33000 square meters. This included 80 kg of plastic, 260 kg of glass ( beer and wine bottles), 200 kg of unsorted waste ( i.e. garment, shoes and deckchairs) and 20 kg of metal scrape. 55 bags were filled and carried away to the local waste collection company.

Special thanks to Marina Makova, Juliana Amato, Marco Murgioni and other volunteers for the beautiful photos of the event.

Watch the video made during the event on our YouTube channel!