Clean Blue 2024 – Waste Recovery from Lake Lugano

The fourteenth edition of the Lake Lugano garbage collection campaign will take place on Sunday, October 6th in Porto Ceresio (VA). GODiving is calling on all those, divers and non-divers alike, who love the pre-Alpine lake environment.

The BLU PULITO 2024 event aims to spread awareness and respect for freshwater, a rare and fundamental resource threatened by human behavior.

The impact of climate change on lake ecosystems

The BLU PULITO 2024 event aims to spread awareness and respect for freshwater, a rare and fundamental resource threatened by human behavior.

"Climate change is now evident. Catastrophic weather events are frequent even far from tropical areas. Warming waters, combined with urban and industrial wastewater, threaten the fragile pre-Alpine lake ecosystems," explains Guidalberto Gagliardi, GODiving instructor. "It's not a question of ideology, just survival: without freshwater, terrestrial plants and animals cannot exist."

The CLEAN BLUE project was launched two decades ago precisely to encourage the adoption of personal and corporate habits that respect nature, as well as to implement a concrete action to at least remove waste from the bottom and shores of Lake Lugano. The physical effects are not lacking: divers have recovered tons of tires, cans, glasses and dishes, snack wrappers, cell phones, household goods, and other curious debris such as rifles and a mortar bomb.

"We've participated in similar initiatives to understand how to proceed, including collaborating with Max Laudadio and "his" Spazzatura Kilometrica, as well as with Sea Shepherd Dive. We've built long-lasting partnerships with the Ticino group AsFoPuCe (Associazione Fondali Puliti del Ceresio), and our program is now well-established," explains Oliver Casagrande of GODiving.

The initiative crossed provincial and national borders : dozens of divers and "land" volunteers arrived from Emilia-Romagna, Piedmont, Veneto and Canton Ticino and the event was covered by major media.

Zero-kilometer diving and environmental training

The cleanup effort, however, is part of a broader project that includes “ zero-kilometer dives ” with which GODiving leads divers to discover the marvelous seabeds of pre-Alpine lakes, as well as numerous training and information opportunities held since 2007 in schools, squares and public places with the aim of highlighting the beauty of freshwater ecosystems threatened by human activity.

The role of local partners and organizations in cleanup actions

Partners are essential to achieving the desired awareness. The administrative framework will once again benefit from the support and patronage of the Municipality of Porto Ceresio and the Ceresio Piano and Ghirla Lake Basin Authority. This year , the involvement of organizations from the underwater world (ESA European Scuba Agency, ANIS Ambiente, Scubaportal) and environmental protection (the Ticino-based AsFoPuCe and the Neptune's Pirates/Captain Paul Watson Foundation) is also expected.

The contribution of the Porto Ceresio Youth Council, a new initiative for 2024, will be crucial in organizing the on-land collection, providing logistical support to the diving teams, and promoting the initiative locally. The Council, officially established last year, aims to enhance its municipality's environmental heritage and raise awareness of environmental issues, for example in schools and among the public, all within a context of renewed global environmental awareness.

Equally important is the contribution of private companies committed to sustainability: in the past, BLU PULITO and GODiving have been supported by major companies (Brita, Green Energy, Il Gigante, Lasi, Openjobmetis, Soprad, and Tigros). This year, the partnership with Milan-based M&A advisory firm Equity Factory has been renewed, while SpaccioPizza in Arcisate and La Fonte del Latte in Besano will be providing refreshments for the volunteers with their delicious products.

How will the Più Pulito initiative work?

After a thorough introductory briefing , the divers will explore the seabed. "Submerged work is demanding, so we prefer to focus on the first eight meters of depth," says Gagliardi.

Bulky waste will be secured to ropes suspended from the lakeside promenade or from support vessels, while smaller items will be collected in special perforated buckets and brought ashore at the end of the dive.

The land-based volunteers, in addition to cleaning beaches and shores, will move the garbage collected by the divers and separate it.

At the end, a nice refreshment for the volunteers included delicious pizza from SpaccioPizza and excellent caciocavallo impiccato with bruschetta from La Fonte del Latte.

In order to participate

The event, free and open to all, is scheduled for Sunday , October 6, 2024, starting at 9:00 a.m. on the lakeside promenade in Porto Ceresio (VA) , in Piazza Sant'Ambrogio. In case of bad weather, the event will be postponed to the following Sunday (for information and registration, visit www.godiving.it ).