Over 20 tons of garbage were collected by 3,734 volunteers from 425 locations worldwide during September 2025, the seventh consecutive September that the #potavristou action of the AKTI Center for Studies and Research is being implemented. This year's campaign surpassed last year's record of 16 tons which brought together 3,200 volunteers from 373 places in Cyprus and abroad, traveling the Cypriot movement to new parts of the map: From the Philippines to Marseille, and from Texas to Iceland, #potavristou volunteers cleaned cities, coasts, mountains, parks, lakes and sent us valuable field data! 89% of garbage is plastic!
Over 17,000 volunteers participated in the seven years of implementation of #potavristou, who collected 110 tons of garbage from 2,095 locations in Cyprus and abroad. 110 tons of garbage, which were waiting for the first rains to start their destructive cycle, reach the sea and return to our lives "with a vengeance", as microplastics.
From 2019 until today, the action of #potavristou has gone beyond the borders of Cyprus: it was awarded in 2020 by the International Organization Ocean Conservancy, as one of the 10 most innovative actions worldwide for clean coasts and seas and in 2021 by the network of Mediterranean NGOs for the environment and culture MIO-ESCADE. In 2022, #potavristou's campaign once again received the support of the international organization Ocean Conservancy, in the context of the #TeamSeas campaign and was awarded a silver award at the Carob Awards 2022. In 2024, it received a special mention for the Society4Med awards organized by BlueMissionMed in the context of the EU Mission Restore our Ocean and Water, in the “Awareness and Communication Campaigns/Activities” category. In 2025, AKTI received the Golden European Citizen Award, awarded in the context of the Delphi Economic Forum by Europa Nostra, for 25 years of pioneering action for sustainability in Cyprus and Europe, with #Potavristou being one of the actions of the organization that the committee recognizes as innovative and pioneering.
Thank you to everyone who supported #potavristou 2025 with so much love and enthusiasm again this year! #potavristou …you can! For seas, cities, villages and mountains without garbage.
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About AKTI
AKTI Center for Studies and Research is a non-governmental, non-profit organization based in Nicosia. It was founded in 2000 by a group of experts in environmental issues and today it has managed to create an extensive network of partners and volunteers on issues related to public environmental awareness and the promotion of sustainable development. More specifically, AKTI as an organization deals with applied environmental research, environmental education and professional training, integrated management of coastal zones and marine environment
