Why fighting over trash on a Greek beach is embarrassing
The dispute over who should clean up the garbage on Navagio’s beach is not only unnecessary, it’s downright embarrassing. Embarrassing because Zakynthos shows once again how much human action is determined by thoughtlessness, disinterest and unfortunately also: simplemindedness.
You could tackle the problem head on and block off the bay – Navagio Beach doesn’t seem to be that important to people, otherwise they would treat what was once the most beautiful beach in the world well. Instead, the day visitors, who loll about in the white sand and refresh themselves with tingles and snacks from cool bags, throw more and more rubbish on top of the old heaps.
In the meantime, the boat companies that offer excursions into the bay have found a pragmatic solution: they have instructed their employees to collect the rubbish and take it away every few days. Brilliant! Amazing that nobody had thought of that before!
But the global failure of mankind and the failure on a small scale are very similar: some make a mess, others discuss who will clean it up, still others do nothing at all – and in the meantime lakes dry up, forests burn down and eat coal excavators go deeper and deeper into the earth. It’s sheer madness! And to cry anyway!
It’s already clear: from a global perspective, the fight against littering of water, land and air requires more differentiation and smart planning. But how about taking an unconventional path at Navagio Beach? And leaving the garbage lying around until you can’t fit a single towel between all the plastic bottles and leftover food? This principle would be a tried and tested remedy against the ignorance of those who are not completely clean: simply do nothing and wait until people no longer feel like spending time there because the beach is closed with the shipwreck rusting so nicely has degenerated into a stinking heap.
When the bay is quiet at some point, it is thoroughly cleaned up. And after that, only day visitors who take their rubbish with them are allowed to come. Which isn’t all that difficult – after all, they dragged things there too. Strictly speaking, rubbish is even lighter than provisions.
