Baikal Cleanup 2017

We, young people, are the ambassadors of the future. Mainly growing up in the cities with sufficient connection with the nature and weak knowledge about processes in natural environment. We are a part of the throw-away society strongly influenced by consumerism and idea that we can throw everything away. After many conversations in my organization about ecological awareness, we came up with idea that we want to engage other young people with discussion about waste and nature.

The place of our activity was Baikal lake - UNESCO World Heritage Center. Is one of the world's richest and most unusual freshwater faunas and also popular tourist destination. Poor recycling infrastructure is a cause of problem in Baikal area. People don’t know what to do with rubbish and they throwing it away in inappropriate places. We felt responsible for this unique place and we wanted to support local community and organization in dealing with waste. As we are “dealing” with trash in different ways, we thought we can combine our strengths, find good partners, go and clean Baikal lake. In February we have submitted a project to Erasmus + and received the grant. After 3 months of preparation, hours on Skype with partners, long queues at the Russian embassies for visas, Advanced Preparatory Visit full of unexpected surprises, 28 young from 4 different countries – Poland, Germany, Russia and Georgia, met by the Baikal lake and started activities. 

It was not as easy as we thought it was. First of all, a camping site without access to running water was a challenge. For some of us this was the first time on the camping ever . We drew water from Baikal for cooking, but we had to swim far enough to take it. We used only natural washing fluids (soda, mustard and vinegar), we didn't wash our clothes in chemical powders. We had a duty to cook, draw water, keep fire, and so on. In addition, day after day, we made the exchange program and drove to the places where we were collecting rubbish. 8 days on Baikal was a big challenge for the team of coordinators and participants. But we made it !

We engaged 28 young people from 4 different cultures in civic action for environmental preservation in the Baikal area. During the project we collected a huge amount of trash from hidden holes made by tourist. We explored the unique natural and cultural resources of the lake, focusing on zero waste workshops, upcycling, community and public interventions. Our expectations was high and we had a chance to confront it with a big problem of trash of Baikal, lack of the recycling infrastructure, problems of political nature and the habits of tourists.

Baikal Cleanup 2017 project was difficult for many reasons but definitely worth the price. As an organization we have gained incredible management experience but most of all we could see how big is the problem with trash by the Baikal lake and we could meet people who work to protect this unique area. Now we can start to develop Baikal Cleanup 2018 !