They collected hundreds of kilos of garbage in half an hour.

Students from Büyükçekmece collected waste on the beach within the scope of activities organized on June 8, Marmara Sea Day, which started with June 5, World Environment Day and is a part of Turkey Environment Week.

 It was surprising that hundreds of kilograms of garbage were collected in just half an hour during the beach cleaning, which took place with the participation of approximately 100 students.

“A clean environment is our future”

Participating in the event, which was held simultaneously in the entire Marmara region with the participation of non-governmental organizations and schools under the leadership of the Union of Marmara Municipalities and the member municipalities of the union, Büyükçekmece Mayor Dr. Hasan Akgün collected waste along the beach with the little students. Students participating in the event, which was held with the slogan "Marmara for All of Us" and "Let's Keep Clean Together", collected wastes such as plastic bottles, glass bottles, plastic bags, packaging waste, clothes and cigarette butts on the beach of Büyükçekmece coast.

 While the collection of hundreds of kilograms of waste in half an hour reveals the insensitivity towards the environment, the students who said "clean environment is our future" showed the biggest reaction to this situation.

"Whatever we are, let's keep the world clean"

Thanking the students and non-governmental organizations after the waste collection, Büyükçekmece Mayor Dr. Hasan Akgün awarded the students participating in the event with medals. Mayor Akgün, who also gave some advice to the students, said, “You will be the mayor, you will be the prime minister, you will be the president, you will be the governor, the district governor, and the scientist. But whatever you are, you have to keep the Earth clean." Mayor  Akgün stated that the heaviest fine will be given to those who are found to have polluted the beach in the upcoming period.

“Recycling is an invention that will change the lives of children”

The students participating in the event emphasized the importance of the environment for the future and expressed their thoughts as follows:

Kıvanç Özgül: “A future without batteries will come very soon. Batteries degrade in nature in 300 years. The leaked batteries are very harmful to human health due to substances such as mercury. Glass disappears in 4 thousand years, paper in 3 months. Since paper is made from natural materials, it disappears quickly. For example, since foods such as tomatoes are organic, they do not harm the nature. It dissolves in the soil within 1 day. We should give importance to recycling. Because recycling is an invention that will change the lives of children.”

Aslı Akkaya: "Let's recycle paper so that our trees, that is, our breath, do not disappear. We cannot live without trees. That's why we should recycle paper. We should not throw glass into nature. Because glass is the longest disappearing material in nature. Batteries can harm the environment when they leak. Here we will collect the garbage for recycling so that the nature will not be polluted.”