On 7th May 2009 at the beach of the municipality of Zijpe and with much public attention Mr. Piet Morsch (alderman of Zijpe), Mr. Karel Ockeloen (chairman of KIMO Nederland en België), Mrs. Karin Visser (Managing Ingenieur Director of the Ministry of Transport and Water Management North Sea) and mr. Alex Ouwehand (head of Stichting De Noordzee), officially opened the “Wandering along the Coast” project.
In this project nine municipalities cooperate to decrease the amount of litter, that the visitors of the beach are used to leave behind. To reach this target in the next two years several actions and projects will be organized at the beaches to show the visitors the problem of left litter and its unintentional results. In order to together finding workable solutions the shopkeepers and horecaholders at the beaches will also be involved in the project, for example by using sustainable packaging materials. In the project the garbage / litter of the beaches will be monitored and the data will be announced at information boards. During two seasons so called “cleantea
ms” will be active at the beaches and they will get in touch with the visitors and talk with them.
From time to time in open baskets at the beach will be showed what is left behind in a day at the beach. The project management group together with the Free University Amsterdam organizes the people lectures “Strand is meer dan Zand” (The beach is more than sand). In another action children are invited to paint at white barrels what in their opinion is the problem with left litter at the beaches. In these and other ways the project managing group strives to positively influence the visitors behaviour at the beaches. Besides the nine municipalities and the three initiators also the College of The Hague and the Free University Amsterdam are involved in the “Wandering along the Coast” project.
At the opening of the project on 7 May 2009, the three initiators, ministry of Transport and Water Management North Sea, Stichting De Noordzee, en KIMO Nederland en België, signed an agreement for three years.
For more information on the project “Wandering along the Coast” visit the website www.zwervendlangszee.nl
Reactions can be sent to: info@zwervendlangszee.nl
Download the latest KIMO Netherlands and Belgium Newsletter discussing the project.
Download the official "Wandering Along the Coast" leaflet.