Litter
Updated: 17/05/2005
Litter on the shoreline remains a problem. While current and wind regimes in the eastern Mediterranean are responsible for the deposition of significant quantities of waste from outside the country, at least half of the litter is left behind by vacationers and bathers.While local authorities are responsible for regularly cleaning all authorized bathing beaches, these beaches constitute only a small percentage of the Mediterranean coastline (25 kilometers). There is no legislation which imposes responsibility for cleanup of open undeclared beaches (some 130 kilometers) on local authorities. Since 1984, the Ministry of the Environment has financed the cleaning of all open beaches twice during each bathing season. Since 1997, the Ministry of the Environment initiated an experimental project whereby dozens of kilometers of shoreline are cleaned by local environmental units on a weekly basis. At present, the Ministry of the Environment in cooperation with the Ministry of the Interior, local government, NGOs and other bodies, is promoting a long-term project under the motto “Clean Coast.” Its objective: to solve the problem of litter on the country’s undeclared beaches using a variety of means: mechanical equipment, organized coastal cleanups, and adoption of coastal sections. Public Participation in Coastal Cleanups Beach cleanliness has been targeted as a priority for public awareness and involvement. Over the years, large-scale volunteer cleanup campaigns have been undertaken to assist in actual beach cleaning and to increase public awareness. Thousands of young people also participate in cleaning coastal stretches within the framework of camps run by the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel. Other projects promote the participation of soldiers in cleanup activities as part of an army sponsored educational campaign. Within the framework of International Beach Cleanup Day in September, hundreds of volunteers participate in cleaning stretches of the coastline. Underwater cleanups are also conducted to rid the water of unsightly and environmentally harmful waste. “Clean Coast” Project The Ministry of the Environment has launched a new, long-term project entitled “Clean Coast.” Its aim: to solve the problem of litter on Israel’s beaches, a third of which is washed ashore from the sea and the rest left by vacationers and bathers. The project seeks to promote a variety of solutions to the litter problem along the country’s Mediterranean coastline, especially its undeclared beaches. These include beach cleanups using mechanical equipment (already implemented in declared beaches), cleanup campaigns and adoption of sections of beaches.
 Internal links
 External links
| 
