Volunteers Clean Local Beach

By Aci Castello Press Office

“This is your home, too. Respect it!” This was the slogan that accompanied more than one hundred volunteers who conducted the environmental event “Cleaning the Coasts and Seabed of Acitrezza” organized by Plastic Free Onlus and the Rotary Club on Sunday, June 20.

The initiative also included the staff of the Cutgana of the University of Catania and the Isole Ciclopi (Cyclops Islands) Marine Protected Area together with the help of volunteers from various organizations, including the Lega Navale Aci Trezza, the Trezza Shipwrights, the Cai - Gruppo Grotte Catania (speleologists), the Pro Loco Acicastello, Danielino Windsurf School, the Centro Studi Acitrezza, rotationally deployed Patrol Squadron (VP) 40, the Air Force’s 324 Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron Air Force, Plastic Free Diving, and the Sigonella Scuba Club.

Sicily & Malta District Rotary governor Alfio Di Costa, governor-elect Orazio Agrò, and former governor Maurizio Triscari, also partook in the effort.

Volunteers removed the garbage scattered among the rocks around the cliffs of the Lungomare dei Ciclopi, including disposable plastic cups, paper, food scraps, cans, and glass bottles.

They also cleaned the Lachea Island, the Faraglioni (Stacks of the Cyclops), and the nature reserve managed by the University of Catania. Volunteers, led by the director of the reserve Domenico Catalano, removed small items carried by the sea and plastic bottles from the rock ravines in the two swimming areas near Lachea Island.

Thanks to the underwater volunteers of Plastic Free Diving and the Sigonella Scuba Club, with the contribution of the Rotary Club and of the Acitrezza section of the Italian Naval League, some areas of the seabed of Aci Trezza were also cleared of tires, tops, wooden boxes and batteries.

Sigonella Scuba Club is an international club made up of members of the NATO, U.S. Navy, Air Force, Army, Marines, civilians, and local Sicilians who came together through their love of the sea and passion for scuba diving. The combined efforts of these groups contributed to extract an estimated 100 kilograms of trash.

Sigonella Scuba Club member Carmelo La Rocca said, “The Sigonella Scuba Club has, since 1995, had the honor of promoting numerous underwater events to enhance the territory, as well as researching the antiquity of local shipwrecks and many other historical sites within the depths of the Ionian Sea.”

Other operations focused on areas of the fish market and the city pier, the Rodolico Shipyard, the old port, as well as the west pier.

The contribution of the speleologists of the Gruppo Grotte Catania (Catania Caves Group), who intervened in the difficult area between the piers and breakwaters to pull out the trash stuck in the cracks of the concrete, was fundamental to the success of this project.

Near the Pro Loco Aci Castello tourist office at Villa Fortuna in Acitrezza, the public was invited to watch films on the topics and listen to experts discuss plastic pollution. Dr. Natalia Leonardi spoke for the University of Catania with a report on the theme “Microplastics: A danger for the Environment and for our Health”.

In honor of the event, the Rotary Club of Aci Castello installed aluminum signs along the coast and in public bathing areas with printed messages aimed at raising awareness among citizens on the issue of marine pollution.

“The important objective,” explained the organizers, “is to focus on the issue of waste disposal and excessive use and consumption of single-use plastic and to spread the culture of respect for the environment. Overall, the intent is to push the City of Aci Castello towards issuing ordinances in favor of environmental protection.”

Louis “Gee” Genaro, Sigonella Scuba Club president, said, “It is great to see the interactions of both cultures and organizations, to endure and see the satisfaction of work we do, plus to teach the children of the future that we are caring for the oceans to leave to them, the future generation.”