Saturday, September 15, 2012

How Paradise Deals With Garbage.


By Mark Cross
I just finished driving along the Northern California coast—from up above Bodega Bay (where Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds was filmed) to Carmel-By-The Sea (where Clint Eastwood of RNC fame was mayor).   I must say, those Californians have their &^%$ together.  Or, more accurately, that they have it carefully collected, stored, and out of sight. 

I was amazed at how little litter there was to be found along that stunning coastline.  In Greece (as well as many other Mediterranean destinations I find enchanting), garbage literally decorates far too much of the landscape.  Whether or not the situation in Greece rises to the level of a national disgrace I am not qualified to say, but garbage is certainly the hottest subject of citizen ire on Mykonos.

One story stands out in my mind.  A couple years back, on a stunning, virtually empty southern Mykonos beach directly across the sea from the neighboring island of Naxos, a woman who’d been sunbathing nude walked to the edge of the water carrying a plastic garbage bag.   She proceeded to empty the contents into the sea followed by dropping the bag.  An American couple nearby yelled, “Hey, what are you doing?” 

The woman screamed back, “Don’t you foreigners tell us how to live on our island!  The currents will carry it all to Naxos.”

What can one do with some one like that?  Okay, this is real life not a murder mystery, so what else can one do with such a person?  To set the record straight, I know the woman and, though Greek, she is not Mykonian and lives on the island only during tourist season.  Nor is she is like most Greeks, who would not bath nude or so brazenly pollute their waters.  But she does exemplify a ready willingness on the part of many to litter.

Garbage collection and disposal on Mykonos is a mega-problem, one of seeming concern to virtually every resident of the island except those government officials charged with actually doing something about it.  Officials claim the problem stems from a five-fold and more increase in population during tourist season, but California too has a massive tourist population to contend with…and its crisis fiscal situation is often compared to Greece’s. 

Omiros Evangelinos
Many say the root of Mykonos’ problem is public indifference toward an “I can do as I wish” attitude that has left much of the wildest parts of the island accessorized in wind-blown blue plastic shopping bags and cast aside water bottles.  But there are those who speak out and others willing to do more than just speak.  One is Omiros Evangelinos, co-owner of perhaps the chicest and best-known nightspot on Mykonos, Astra. 

Omiros organized a group to clean up one of the island’s windiest beaches and filmed the process.  Then he submitted his work to an international film festival. Here’s a link to the video, titled MYKONOS BLUES.  It’s subtitled in English, except for a forty-five second piece beginning at the 7:00 minute mark where some American writer is interviewed and the subtitles are in Greek.

Mykonos Blues opening shot.
The video was shot during the last campaign for mayor of Mykonos and so appropriate concern for the environment was expressed by electioneering government officials who showed up at the cleanup site for some camera face time.  A particularly interesting example of the political byplay on Mykonos today is the four minute or so give and take with the mayor (starting at the 8:00 minute mark).

To Omiros’ credit the filming did not stop at the cleanup site.  He took his camera to find out what happened to the garbage collected by the volunteers that was “picked up by the city” for disposal.  To me, this was the film’s most poignant, tragic example of a local government mindset that haunts the island as an insidious threat to paradise. 

As Omiros points out (beginning at the 12:35 minute mark), what was supposed to end up in Mykonos’ new sanitary landfill, never made it there.  Instead, the bags were dropped by the side of the road at the old illegal burn site, left to break open and be re-distributed across the island by the winds.  Or burned, and God knows what distributed then.

Maybe the woman at the beach was not as out of line with local mores as she seemed?  After all, there is the old adage, “A fish smells from his head.”   Never more so than in the case of garbage.

Jeff—Saturday

19 comments:

  1. As a boss of mine used to say: "people are no damned good!"

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  2. How disillusioning! I remember Mykanos as pristine - is that a function of selective memory, (or memory loss) or have that many years passed?

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  3. Yeah, Stan, and the dogs and cats aren't fairing too well at people's hands either.

    Mykonos still is relatively pristine, Donis, in most of the places frequented by tourists because the property owners know that they must keep the areas clean. But garbage collection is an outright scandal and every effort to do it the right way has been blocked by political infighting and sacred cows. I don't know anyone who isn't complaining. The only question is, when will something be done.

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    1. Something will be done, hopefully. But most likely after it is too late, and the tourists have abandoned the giant garbage dump. The Mykonians will be left wondering "wha' hoppen?", and another island will benefit from the negligence of the local populace in Mykonos

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    2. The trouble is sadly not confined to Mykonos. In fact Mykonos is far from the worst offender. It is a national problem BUT one that can best be dealt with by islands on a local level IF local governments care enough to do something about it.

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  4. What a dispiriting post. People are, it would seem, the same everywhere, except in places where they are more so. The Augean to me is always Homer's pristine sea sparkling in the morning of the world. It doesn't include litter.

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    1. I agree, Tim. The big threat to the Aegean will be offshore drilling. If that day ever comes...

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  5. Amen, Jeff. As I quietly collected and binned the water bottles and juice boxes at the old port while waiting for the sea jet a local told me to butt out. That this was not my job. So I just carried on doing 'not my job'. Even on sacred Delos there has always been a trash problem. Thanks for sharing the film!

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    1. Sadly, I've heard similar stories many times, SoA. The politics of garbage would make a wonderful PhD thesis, but I look at it simply as this: All garbage--as with politics--is local. Once the local government decides to so something about it...like simple things as putting out bins for the thousands of cruise passengers passing through each day to deposit their trash...things will change. Until then, forgetaboutit.

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  6. Here is a reply put up by a Mykonian friend as a private message to me on Facebook. I'm repeating it here because I think it's important to show Mykonians do care, but they're disheartened by a local government that refuses to do what must be done to protect the environment.

    "My mind is filled with many thoughts that I need to put in order before making any comment that would make sense; however I feel the need to (once more) thank you for your piece, and seeing the video I have to tell you a big thank you for your presence and action on OUR island. Saying this, I'm ashamed because apparently I didn't care enough to be on that beach with you and the other volunteers...not anymore though. You are truly a Mykonian (unlike others who just happened to be born here) and an inspiration. Sincere thanks."

    And, yes, I've omitted the commenter's name because with all the nice things said about me, some who like the status quo might decide to turn the pitchforks and torches on my friend when they can't find me on the island.:))

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  7. This is so sad. I think much of the California coast is not as warm and welcoming as Mykonos would be, and there are citizen volunteer cleanups regularly on our beaches. What struck me is the contrast between the ''caiques" and the cruise ships. The cruises bring many people and many dollars, but the ships look predatory to me. Crouching, ready to take over. Such a beautiful island, such a quandary.

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  8. Yes, many consider the cruise boats a curse, akin to modern day pirate vessels destroying far more than they conceivably contribute.

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  9. This is simply a matter of local Greek pols failing to understand where they fit in the ecosystem--which can be remedied by arranging a business consult with the relevant American mobsters, who will enlighten them about the vast earnings potential of professional waste management.

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    1. Lenny, have you been going through my garbage? That's pretty close to the story line for my new book, "Greek Garbage Goes Gangster Gaga." Me thinks I better invest in a shredder.

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  10. Catchy title!

    In South Africa the government passed an unpopular law that makes people pay for plastic bags in supermarkets etc. It's only a few cents but it makes people think twice or bring their own bags (which is encouraged). Now all the complaining has gone away, and so have the street side blooms of hundreds of empty non-degradable plastic bags...

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    1. That's a terrific idea. And perhaps they could use the proceeds to buy trash cans for the tourists looking for them in town. I think this the day of the year to add to the end of that hope, "when the Messiah comes."

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  11. Live in Mykonos every summer myself and this is the unfortunate reality of it. Its absolutely horrific and embarrassing. And then there's the issue of the inhumane treatment of animals. And the disturbing state of the 'hospital'. Tell me again, who coined Mykonos Paradise???

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    1. As you know there are a lot of people pushing selflessly for all at that to happen, mainly because they feel fortunate to live in a paradise and would like it to remain that way for all who share the island, two-legged, four-legged and broken-legged.

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  12. You fully match our expectation and the selection of our data.Kieren Cameron

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