Beautiful all those canals, ditches and ponds. When you walk, cycle or drive past, you do not realize that in addition to the visible waste on the water surface, there is also a lot of rubbish at the bottom of these waters. This junk is fatal to aquatic life. How does that junk even get there? Waste is mainly thrown into the water by us humans. If it is not cleaned up, it will eventually end up in the sea and many aquatic animals will die from the plastic soup. Fortunately, cleaning is taking place in and around the water in more and more places. This is also the case in Friesland during the cleaning event Skjin wetter Fryslân, which was organized for the fourth time in 2020.
- Litter
- Dead turtle
- Cleaning campaign Skjin wetter Fryslân
- Initiator
- What was found
- Auxiliaries
- Artists
Litter
You probably know it: a child gets a candy and throws the candy wrapper on the street. Not in the trash can that is a little further away. Mom and Dad don’t realize that the candy wrapper is swirling around in the street and a little later is blown into the water by the wind. Not only candy wrappers, but also pieces of plastic and other litter are blown into the water by the wind. Unfortunately, it also happens that rubbish is deliberately thrown into the water. Just think of all those bicycles in the canals, or the countless empty (and sometimes filled) beer bottles and cans.
Dead turtle
You may know the story of the young turtle that washed up in Florida in October 2019. The animal had no fewer than 104 pieces of plastic in its stomach. The animal mistook this plastic for food, because it didn’t know any better. It filled his/her stomach with this and therefore had a feeling of fullness. It stopped taking food and weakened and eventually died. But not only this turtle died from the plastic soup.
banner Skjin wetter in 2019 in Drachten / Source: ©ottergraafjes
Cleaning campaign Skjin wetter Fryslân
Fortunately, there are cleaning actions here and there to ,liberate, the water from all that junk. This is also done annually in Friesland, during Skjin wetter Fryslân. Skjin wetter is translated into Dutch: clean water.
- The Skjin wetter Fryslân pilot was launched in 2017. It then took place in Franeker.
- In 2018, waste was searched at four locations: Sneek, Franeker, Leeuwarden and Balk. The most waste was found in Sneek, namely 1,437 kilos.
- In 2019, the third edition of the cleaning event Skjin wetter Fryslân took place at seven different locations: Drachten in, among others, the Drachtstervaart, Harlingen, Heerenveen, Kollum around the Driepuntsbrug, Lemmer, Sint Annaparochie and Zwaagwesteinde in the water at De Zilveren Maan campsite. A total of 3,951 kilos of waste was fished/collected. Harlingen was the place where the most waste was found in terms of weight, namely 1,552 kilos.
- The entire year of 2020 will be dedicated to cleaning up litter. The fourth edition of the Cleaning Campaign Skjin wetter Fryslân was held from September 26 to October 3. A total of 6 Frisian municipalities participated.
Initiator
The cleaning event was organized by the FMF (Frisian Environment Federation) and Wetterskip Fryslân. In addition, the municipalities of the relevant locations also helped.
What was found
During the search for waste, many empty cans, but also empty beer bottles, were found in the water. In some places, filled beer bottles and bottles of rosé were even found. But also shopping carts, bicycles, a children’s scooter, cones, a standing lamp, surfboards, a bowling ball, an empty big bag of sand/gravel, bricks and stone sleepers emerged. Even road signs were found and of course a lot of plastic.
Auxiliaries
Various organizations helped find and clean up the waste, but private individuals could also participate. The organizations consisted of:
- diving clubs
- water sports clubs (rowing and canoeing clubs)
- The Rescue Brigade (Drachten and Lemmer)
- Fire brigade (Harlingen, Heerenveen, Lemmer)
- scouting
- municipalities of the locations
artwork Drachten at the Carillon on the Drachtstervaart / Source: ©ottergraafjes
Artists
At each location there was an artist who turned the collected waste into a true work of art. The following artists were present in the following places:
- Agnes Bakker in Harlingen
- Remon de Jong in Drachten
- Melle Stumphius in Heerenveen
- Machiel Braaksma in Kollum
- Lisette Bokma in Lemmer
- Marsja van der Ven in Sint Annaparochie
- Sibe Jan (surname unknown) in Zwaagwesteinde