Azernews.Az

Two tons of debris and trash was collected from 2 km coastline in Buzovna on the International Coastal Cleanup day.

The Coca-Cola Company has brought together its associates, partners, representatives of governmental and non-governmental organizations and all environmental enthusiasts, for the 5th Annual Coastal Cleanup Day to clean the coastal line of the Caspian Sea in Baku.

Buzovna coast was cleaned as part of the International Coastal Clean Up Campaign. This action had been supported globally by the Coca-Cola Company for 19 years and is the world's largest volunteer effort of collecting millions of pounds of trash and debris from beaches, lakes and waterways.

In Azerbaijan Coca-Cola is joined by the first mobile provider in Azerbaijan Bakcell, EcoSfera non-governmental organization, information and entertainment portal Friday.az and AUKAA organization for the first time. The National Olympic Committee, ADA University, Təmiz Şəhər Company, YouthInc, program for young entrepreneurs, and ALLmag youth magazine are the regular partners of the campaign.

The event generated a lot of interest and attracted about 350 volunteers, including employees of the Coca-Cola Company, representatives of governmental and non-governmental organizations and private companies, which together have cleaned the beach. Unlike previous years, many people came with their families. The atmosphere was filled with holiday and the unity of man and nature.

General Manager of Coca-Cola Bottlers Azerbaijan Cem Becel said today, Coca-Cola organized Coastal Cleanup campaign in Azerbaijan for the 5th time. "For us as a Company, environmental well-being of communities where we operate is as important as individual and social. Thus, with the aim to help eradicate litter and debris from Caspian Sea Coast, we have managed to attract considerable number of people joined us with big interest and joy.

Coca-Cola associates, along with their friends and families and volunteers from different age groups served as a responsible citizen by collect over 2 tons of trash and covered more than 2 km of coastline. This event can be considered a holiday that contributes to purifying the environment we live in. Hopefully, in future there will be no need in such campaigns, as beaches will be totally clean," he said.

The campaign was held under "Pick it up, Clean it up, Sea change" slogan. All participants were provided with transport, t-shirts, beverages, food and necessary equipment by Coca-Cola and its partners.

Buzovna beach was cleared of plastic and glass bottles, cans and other various kinds of garbage and waste.

In general, last year, throughout the world, 24 thousand friends of The Coca-Cola Company from 27 countries have joined the initiative, results were impressive. About 2.1 thousand km. of coastal line cleared and these numbers are increasing each year.

Over the past 4 years in Azerbaijan 26 ha coastline of the Caspian Sea was cleaned from about 6 tons of waste. Globally around 650 000 friends of The Coca-Cola Company joined this initiative cleaning 20 000 km of coastline.

Since 1995, Coca-Cola has maintained a strong partnership with Ocean Conservancy. In 2011, the Company helped launch the Trash Free Seas Alliance along with Ocean Conservancy. This Alliance of diverse businesses, NGOs, scientific institutions and community groups share a commitment to drive action and foster innovation to understand the causes of marine debris and are working to eliminate ocean trash.