Last Thursday afternoon the Hillel Day School came all the way from Detroit to join us in Acco. Even though they had only arrived in Israel the previous day, they jumped right into their tikkun olam on the Agaman Beach.

As the day cooled off all 57 students began walking down the beach armed with their own trash bags and plenty of trash to fill each one. Everyone’s spirits were high as they saw that their help was truly needed to collect the trash other people had left behind.

Some brave students took on a shopping cart buried at the edge of the tide, to add to the pile of garbage for the municipality to pick up. A few fellow beachgoers even lent their help picking up the huge amount of rubbish just sitting in the sand. All in all over 70 bags of trash were collected!

All the students left the beach with stickers and ready to continue to see the rest of Israel. Have a great trip and thanks for all your hard work!

This past Friday morning, Zalul staff and sea enthusiasts gathered at the Tel Aviv Marina for an informational meeting about The Blue Watch (הסיירת הכחולה) and ways they can get involved in protecting the Mediterranean.

Speaking at the event were Zalul’s Executive Director Yariv Abramovich, Blue Watch volunteer extraordinare Micki Gotschalk, and Tel Aviv Marina Manager Ofer Duvnov - all of whom stressed the important contribution of Blue Watch members make defending the Mediterranean Sea from pollution and illegal dumping.

Micki!

Micki Gotschalk spoke passionately about the power of a camera for documenting pollution as well as scaring off potential polluters and urged Blue Watchers to take their cameras with them on every trip to the marina and out to sea.

As as an accomplished sailor, Micki told a story about a visit to Turkey and the types of fines imposed upon those who dare to pollute into the sea. Ofer Duvnov highlighted the power of individuals and called for everyone to remove at least one plastic bag from the sea each day.

It was inspiring to see event attendees stand up with their children and call for more action to be taken at the marina. We look forward to working with them all in future Blue Watch projects. Together we can protect our sea from pollution!

If you are interested in learning more about the Blue Watch, please contact Gital Gerbi at Gital@zalul.org.il.

We received this from the UNMEP/MAP Mediterranean Action Plan Office today announcing that as of May 1, 2009, ships will no longer be allowed to dump waste into the Mediterranean Sea.

Consequently, for all ships, as of 1st May 2009, disposal into the Mediterranean Sea of the following is prohibited: all plastics, including but not limited to synthetic ropes, synthetic fishing nets and plastic garbage bags; and all other garbage, including paper products, rags, glass metal, bottles, crockery, dunnage, lining and packing materials.

The adoption of the resolution follows the notification at the same MEPC session by Albania, Algeria, Croatia, Cyprus, Egypt, France, Greece, Israel, Italy, Lebanon, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro, Morocco, Slovenia, Spain, Syria, Tunisia and Turkey, representing States bordering the Mediterranean Sea special area, that adequate reception facilities for garbage are provided in all the relevant ports within the region.

We’re happy to see this decision being made, but are curious as to how it will be enforced.  In any case, it’s about time!

We’ve neglected the blog for the past week and we’re sorry.  But we have a good excuse!  This past week Zalul team members participated in the 9th Annual Youth and the Mediterranean Conference in Villefranche-Sur-Mer, France (just 30 minutes west of Nice).  This year’s topic was global warming and Hannah Schafer gave the presentation on the impact of climate change on our small country.

It was an amazing experience connecting to environmental groups from Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Lebanon, Italy, France, Spain, and Greece.  It was our first year attending the conference and we were greeted with open arms by all the delegations.

It was a powerful and inspiring experience that reminded us once again that our work to end pollution to the Mediterranean is not just for us and the other 7 million residents of Israel, but for all the people who share a coast along the big, beautiful blue sea.

You can help protect and defend Israel’s coastal waters and shorelines!

The Blue Watch and Zalul - working together to protect and defend Israel’s coastal waters and shorelines- invite fishermen, boaters, and yachtsmen to take part in a special recruitment event for the Blue Watch to learn about how you can get involved in cleaning operations at the Tel Aviv Marina and beaches.

The event will take place on Friday, April 11, 2008 at the Tel Aviv Marina from 10:00 to 11:30 am.

The “Blue Watch”, started in 2006, is an initiative of Zalul and volunteers who are boat or yacht owners. Together they work to protect the marine environment which has a significant effect on the quality of their lives.

The Blue Watch’s activities include monitoring and reporting any and all incidents of sea pollution, be it land based or sea based, as well organizing activities in local marinas, protesting pollution, and more.

Contact Gital - gital@zalul.org.il or Micki - migot1@012.net.il.