Interview/Editor: Eleni Nearchou
For seven years, #potavristou has been mobilizing citizens around the world to remove trash from the coasts. The #potavristou action managed to win international awards for the innovative thinking behind this action. #potavristou managed to gather the participation of 13,200 volunteers, from 1,670 locations worldwide, in the previous six years. Of course, #potavristou could not exist without AKTI, which for 25 years, with its various actions – including #potavristou – has been active in the three axes of sustainability: Economy, Society and Environment. It was founded by the siblings, Xenia and Michalis Loizidis, who continue to offer to this day through their organization, which is staffed by both volunteers and employed staff.
How and when did the #potavristou action start?
#potavristou started seven years ago, in 2018. We were sitting in a group and talking about being littered. Through #potavristou we invite people where they see garbage to pick it up, without the need for organized clean-ups of beaches, ports, etc. This was the rationale. Speaking in the company of our friend, the acquaintance, George Zervidis, who does branding and marketing, came up with the name "potavristou". The #potavristou design was also made with Latin characters, and thus #potavristou was created, by a group from AKTIS.
It is a completely online campaign, it takes place every year in September, and we ask participants wherever they are, worldwide, to send us on our social media their location, the number and type of trash they collected, how many people were there, and if they want to send us a photo. In the past six years, without much advertising, we have involved 13,200 volunteers from 1,670 locations worldwide.
How did you achieve the spread of the action throughout Cyprus, but also outside of it? It is quite an achievement to rally so many people to volunteer for this cause.
Indeed, and we are very excited! With our personal contacts, because AKTI has partners in 50 countries, we communicated with them, made targeted campaigns on social media, and to note, without funding. This is very important to mention, that all this was done with volunteers.
How important is the contribution of volunteers to your project? Some say that invoking voluntarism takes away from institutions the responsibility and investment in paying people. What is your opinion about this position?
I completely agree with this position. Volunteering can be directed towards specific activities. For example, sharing something on social media, you can do it, and not many do. This is why #potavristou opened up so much. Participating in a coastal or river cleanup does not mean that you replace the principles, depending on why and how this cleanup is promoted.
Volunteering has limits and has specific activities. We will not, for example, ask scientists to volunteer a report or a research, this is unethical, I consider it wrong.
That is, with AKTI we do cleanups and say, for example, how many bottles, how much plastic we found. It is data that we collect in the context of what we call "Citizens' Science". In no way do we replace the local authorities, on the contrary, we take pictures of a beach located within a municipality. So you see that 50 volunteers in one hour collected 350 kilos of garbage, it's a pressure on the municipality.
After the implementation of the #potavristou action, what are the results? Has measurable data been created?
Yes, of course data has been created. We haven't released this year's yet, because the program is running. We have about 95 tons of garbage from all over the planet, collected as part of #potavristou. Also, #potavristou has won many international awards.
What do these awards mean to you as AKTI and #poavristou?
It means that the action is recognized. The #potavristou action got the award from the Ocean Conservancy, which is the international organization for beach cleanups, very great organization. We received the first global award for our innovative thinking, because in this way, in the time of the corona virus, the world could collect data, be active. We have incredible data from September of Covid (2020). Furthermore, we received the award from the Mediterranean Information Office, the network of Mediterranean MKOs for the environment, again for our innovation and massiveness. We also received the bronze award of the Carob Awards in 2024, given for marketing in Cyprus, and we won it for our innovative social media campaign. All these awards show how important the actions of civil society are, when they are based on scientific data, when citizens are involved in the research process, that is why we speak of Citizen Science, and we at AKTI work a lot with the citizens, and finally, they give us great courage. We have no support from the state, so everything is done within civil society.
One of the three actions for which AKTI was awarded this year, in 2025, was with the European Citizens Award, from Europa Nostra. This award came for the first time in Cyprus. It was not aired by the media, but on the occasion of mentioning that we went to the Delphi Economic Forum and there was a very brilliant ceremony with the European Investment Bank with us and Europa Nostra. It was a great honor, and it is the first time that a Cypriot NGO receives this award. One of the actions for which we received the award, was #potavristou – it is considered a global, innovative action.
What other actions does AKTI deal with on a wider level, apart from #potavristou?
The one activity that is very well known in Cyprus is the "Fry Movement". The Frying Pan is an action that AKTI started in 2013 as a pilot. What is Teganokinice basically: We give barrels to schools and the children bring the frying oil from their homes. AKTI collects the oil and we sell it to the oil refineries, and the proceeds all go back to the schools to do green actions such as installing photovoltaics, strengthening their green areas, creating gardens with aromatic plants. This action is done in collaboration with the Sustainable Education Unit of the Ministry of Education. Currently Tiganokinisa is in 514 schools across Cyprus, and the caravan visits around 100 schools every year. The caravan is the mobile, experimental unit of AKTIS, which with another mobile unit, visits schools all over Cyprus, where they do a hands-on experimental training on the climate crisis, biofuel, microplastics. In general, AKTI does not have any no sponsorship from the state. All its actions are financed either by international organizations such as the European Union and the United Nations, or by donors. We don't get a single euro from the state. On the contrary, through the Frying Pan Movement in the last 10 years, AKTI has given more than 900,000 euros to the schools of Cyprus to do green actions, which 900,000 were created by the children themselves, collecting the oil in their schools, which we sell and give the money back to each school according to the amount of oil collected. Teganokinis is multi-awarded, it has more than 15 international awards. 2025 was featured in a Reuters report as one of the best green businesses. Through this Reuters report, we were invited to take part in an educational film festival in England, out of competition. At the moment, the film about the frying pan process is going to all the schools in England.
Another activity that I would like to refer to is the field survey on the beaches of Cyprus for the detection of microplastics, and it is the first time that it has been done in Cyprus. We go four times a year systematically for three years, to ten beaches in free Cyprus. We collect samples which undergo laboratory analysis, and we see what the concentration of microplastics is on the coasts of Cyprus. We have developed a database that shows that the problem of microplastics is very serious.
Apart from these actions, we have other activities. AKTI operates in the three axes of sustainability: Economy, Society and Environment. The axis of the economy can be seen with Teganokinis, which is a social enterprise, which generates income for social groups, such as schools. About the environment, I mentioned a lot earlier. All these projects have their social character, which is attributed to the implementation of Citizen Science.
Very important, since you rely heavily on citizen involvement for your work, which essentially shows that citizens themselves are taking some responsibility for a better tomorrow.
I wouldn't call it responsibility, they are taking action, because I don't share the position that it is the responsibility of all of us. Since the plastic industry cannot be controlled for example, we cannot feel guilty for using a plastic straw. These discourage people from participating. But people can act for their own better quality of life.
Your personal contribution to AKTI, which is respected and appreciated by "hard" environmentalists, with great action, how did it start and when?
We founded AKTI with my brother in 2000. My brother Michalis Loizidis and I are engineers and we are consultants in our company. At that time there were no NGOs in Cyprus yet, but they were starting in Europe, and we saw that they were the backbone of volunteering, and in Cyprus there were only unions, which have a completely different rationale. Thus, in 2000 we founded the first NGO in Cyprus, which is AKTI. Since then AKTI has grown a lot, has collaborations in over 50 countries, employs many young scientists. We have Biologists, Engineers, Communication Scientists, and they are all women. For me it was very important to consolidate equality.
In addition to being the founder of AKTIS, I am also the chairman of the board, and also a volunteer. A lot of people think I work for AKTI, but I don't get a single euro from it. AKTI is our baby, we are on the board (with my brother). AKTI may not be paying me money, but the pay I get from this involvement in volunteering is priceless, and I invite everyone to try it. The joy of volunteering is not paid.
What issues did AKTI want to "touch" with its establishment and at what level? What was the initial image you had for AKTI when you founded it 25 years ago?
We wanted to set up the structure of the NGO. To be an organization that employs scientists and deals with sustainability issues – issues that help improve the quality of life of residents, through the framework of sustainability in the three axes we mentioned earlier. AKTI has been active there ever since, we are very blessed to have succeeded, and AKTI is currently one of the largest NGOs in Europe as well.
If we have to put in order the five biggest challenges of the modern world in matters concerning the environment. Which would you say they are and in what order?
For me, the first biggest challenge or damage to the environment is wars, because now the way they are done, the pollution they cause and the destruction of infrastructure, cannot be compared to anything. Then I would definitely say the climate crisis, which greatly affects us here in the Mediterranean but also the entire planet. The climate crisis creates chain problems: Fires, droughts, desertification. Then comes the uncontrolled operation and waste of the industry, mainly in the countries of Africa, Asia and America. Europe is a champion in waste management. Waste and greenhouse gas emissions are huge problems.
You see, there are no environmental problems that are not interconnected.
Also, something that is not usually said, but I think is a very important part, is the people's lack of trust in the institutions. This is because there is a disconnect between what is announced and what is being implemented, which leads people to become disillusioned, which in turn leads to a lack of interest in participation. This chain reaction creates many environmental problems, combined with the previous ones I mentioned. Once people sit on the couch, we're done.
If we had to prioritize solutions for these problems, as well as methods, what would they be?
I will tell you the technical solutions because, about the last thing we said about the wars, I wish we could do something.
Solutions for desertification exist, they are composting, which in Cyprus started just two years ago, and since there is no monitoring, the situation is tragic.
I would not like us to prioritize solutions and methods because it makes no sense to say that. What I would like to tell you is that policies and proclamations must become actions and solutions. Experts – those who can implement solutions – must be included in the decision-making process. Europe – which we said is a champion in green development and controls – has given us a very rich institutional framework. The fact that the regulations are not implemented is a problem for each country.
Policies and proclamations must be implemented but with proper planning - not "where I find you and where you find me" as is done in Cyprus.
How does Cyprus differ in environmental, energy or other problems? Or at least in their order of seriousness. Is there a problem that is more serious in Cyprus than in other European countries?
The climate crisis is much more acute because we are an island with limited natural resources. But we are an island that burns 363 days a year from the sun, and we could have had energy self-sufficiency from renewable sources for at least 25 years, but we haven't.
Why are we so far behind do you think?
Because I believe that there is not the right scientific knowledge in those who make the decisions, and because there are other external criteria on the basis of which the decisions are made. There is a entanglement issue.
Our agricultural land is being destroyed, which leads to increased desertification, thus further increasing temperatures, which in turn leads to a greater likelihood of fires, droughts and the effects of climate change.
Regarding renewable energy now. The consumer will not be interested in where he buys his energy, but how much he buys it. He will not prefer to buy his energy because it comes from the sun, but he will prefer whatever is economically advantageous per kilowatt, even if it comes from private individuals who sell it creating monopoly conditions in the market. Only if the consumer is very aware will he choose his energy source based on its origin, even if its price is the same as that which comes from, for example, oil.
Renewable energy sources have as a very big feature the social reference. From the moment we took the social label out of renewables, we have big problems again. And their financial part goes to big businessmen.
Now what about our shores? That these towering buildings are allowed to be built on the crust of the coastal zone. That we make marinas, which are gradually destroying our coasts, which is our competitive advantage for our tourism, which contributes most of the country's GDP. In other words, we are destroying the environment and the quality of our coasts. That is why jellyfish and pollutants collect between the breakwaters.
What's next for AKTIS?
AKTI has been here for 25 years, which we are celebrating this year with many activities. We hope that AKTI – now that it has come of age – will continue these innovative actions, because it takes innovation, imagination and passion to be able to be in this space called sustainability.
Are we seeing some progress in Limassol?
I see that the new mayor of Limassol, Mr. Armeutis, is really in a battle to promote sustainability solutions, and I want to give him credit for that. Let's not be unfair to Limassol. It is taking steps towards sustainability, such as the Coastal Road.
The people of Limassol are probably the most active Cypriots. So if this joy they have for the celebration, they also direct it towards making their city more sustainable, in cooperation with the new municipal authority that is so willing, I think that Limassol can become a model.
