An initiative on Donoussa Island in the Cyclades has made the small island a model for environmentalism and sustainability. A year ago officials on the island said plastics would no longer be used.
As part of the program SEA CHANGE GREEK ISLANDS of the Lazaridi Foundation, Donoussa has already reduced the use of plastic glass use on the island by half. Under the auspices of Naxos and Small Cyclades islands municipality, and with the support of the community of Donoussa, the effort has made great strides toward replacing many plastic products with biodegradable ones.
According to ANA, the president of the professionals on the island of Donoussa Logothetis Koveos has said that the island’s professionals engaged last year not to use plastics in their businesses.
According to Koveos in 2018 the association of the island’s professionals had conducted research that showed that approximately 45,000 drinking plastic glasses were used on the island. This number dropped to half in 2019 when the plastic drinking glasses were replaced by biodegradable ones.
The news tells of 95 percent of all businesses and professionals on the island accepting the move away from plastic. Biodegradable drinking glasses were offered free of charge by the Lazaridi Foundation to spur effort forward.
Last year the Sea Change team initiated a “multi-tiered intervention”, which presented activities including an educational program for kids, cleaning of beaches, as well as the underwater cleaning of the main port. Donoussa became the first destination in Greece to ban the use of single-use plastics.
Ithaca and other destinations followed suit on the initiative, also with the help of the Lazaridi Foundation.