Danube cleanup mission in Romania: more than five boatloads of garbage collected daily

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The #audienvironmentalfoundation, #babor, the #ferryporschefoundation, and #thegreenstartup everwave are spending five weeks cleaning the Olt River, a tributary of the Danube, near the city of Făgăraș

Rüdiger Recknagel, Director of the #audienvironmentalfoundation: "For us, every day is Earth Day

Tilman Flöhr, CTO everwave: "By deploying our technologies on rivers, we are stopping the problem right at its root."

For the second year in a row, the #audienvironmentalfoundation is working with #thegreenstartup everwave and German cosmetics manufacturer #babor BEAUTY GROUP to collect garbage floating in rivers and help preserve #biodiversity and protect natural environments for animals and plants. The #ferryporschefoundation is also participating for the first time this year as our fourth action partner. The quartet is using everwave's garbage collection boat Collectix for five weeks to clear the Olt River around the city of #fgra.

The boat uses sensors to collect and assess data on the amount, type, and composition of garbage. It has alreay been in operation for eight days and has collected around 40 boatloads of garbage during this time, including mainly plastic bottles, bags and construction materials. "This garbage is a danger to animals, humans and nature. It depomposes slowly over time before finding its way into our oceans as microplastics. By deploying our technologies on rivers, we are stopping the problem right at its root," says #tilmanflohr, CTO (Chief Technical Officer) at everwave, who is accompanying the mission in #romania. Plastic garbage is particularly dangerous for the ecosystem. Plastics decompose slowly and drift in the water for hundreds of years as microplastics. Fish and other river-dwellers eat them, which causes irreparable damage to the natural world.

The action is being supplemented with educational and informational offerings. The four partners want to explain the consequences of environmental pollution to children and adults of all ages and encourage them to look into their own behavior. At the start of the cleanup mission on the Olt, the four partners hosted a joint plogging event – while jogging, participants collect garbage that is lying around or being blown by the wind in order to dispose of it properly. On April 28, the four partners will repeat the action in Ingolstadt, Stuttgart, and Aachen – the cities where their respective headquarters are located – to raise awareness about the consequences of environmental pollution there as well.

"Raising awareness and the further development of new technologies for environmental protection are what drives us," says Rüdiger Recknagel, Managing Director of the #audienvironmentalfoundation. "If everyone acts responsibly, a lot of problems will be recognized and prevented at an early stage. That's why we're banking on information and education and we're doing it every day of the year. For us, every day is Earth Day".