Dear Visitor – help us to keep Amorgos green

Please take a moment to consider your role as a tourist, as a guest, but also as an inhabitant on this planet.

You are probably very aware of the environmental crisis on the Earth, and also aware that we are all responsible for a change to happen. The change comes down to every individual and how we move in our lives: What we buy, what we throw away, where we throw what we throw away, how we travel, what we think we need and what we believe will make us happy.

One can write pages and pages about this but let’s come to where we are now: Amorgos. The island carries a heavy burden of environmental challenges during summer season. And there are voices claiming that the sea, as an example, will not be as clean, turquoise and inviting as it is now, in a near future.

On a global level the consciousness about environmental issues is getting stronger, so, dear Visitor, please bring that consciousness with you also when you travel!

Here are a few, simple ways you can help keeping Amorgos green, clean, eco-friendly:

• Bring your own bag to the supermarkets. Smile and insist on using it instead of plastic bags. (If you don’t have a suitable bag there are cotton/canvas ones for sale in some shops)
• There are since the beginning of 2009 recycling bins, but many people get lazy or ignorant about using them, especially during tourist season when most locals are really busy. So you can help by sorting your own garbage out and bringing the items that are recyclable to the special bins. Some pensions have separate bins at their reception, if not suggest that they get some!
• One thing that creates mountains of garbage is the paper/plastic table cloths that more or less every restaurant uses nowadays. Kindly tell the person serving you that you prefer without, and be willing to tell why if they ask.
• Help reducing the waste of plastic water bottles; the water is drinkable in most places; just ask to be sure about the situation in the pension where you stay and in the restaurant where you eat.
• Ask for local products. There are plenty of things the island can produce and could provide many stores and restaurants with but nowadays many locals have abandoned their traditional production in favor of imported products. Let them know that local products are highly valued and appreciated. (Especially if they are also organic!) So ask in supermarkets for local cheese, olive oil, capers, olives, soap, wine… And in the restaurants ask if they have local wine, if the cheese, meat, vegetables, olive oil, vinegar etc is local.
• Maybe you have more ideas? Leave a comment; let’s discuss these so important things which can make a difference aiming to a more sustainable and responsible way of living and travelling. Tell us what you believe could get better (more eco-friendly) on the island. Bring up subjects like dirty sea/beaches, garbage in the nature, too many cars, cars on the waterfront of Egiali main beach or other things of your concern. Amorgos is (among many, many other places of course) a paradise on the planet. Let’s keep it like that!

Somebody can’t do everything but everybody can do something 🙂

Thank you!

Karin Oscarson living & working on Amorgos since 1993, IRIS Center