Copenhagen: free activities against a green gesture

Rocio Gómez spent an hour to discover Copenhagen canals By boat without paying a penny: she picked up floating waste, taking advantage of a summer initiative of the city which rewards eco -responsible behavior.

During her sea ride on an electric motor outboard, which usually costs around 80 euros per hour, the Mexican tourist helped clean the port of the Danish capital. “You do something good when you have a good time,” she says to AFP. The 30 -year -old, who works in sustainable development, intends to take advantage of other offers from the program during her stay in the city.

Initiative CopenPay

Launched in mid-June and planned to last nine weeks, theinitiative CopenPay Offers tourists and residents a hundred awards such as a coffee, pastry or a concert offered for an hour of waste collection, but also a reduced meal in exchange for gardening or a free guided tour for those who stay more than three days.

“Four out of five people want to do a good deed, but only one the fact, we wondered how to fill this gap and inspire more people to do something good” for the environment, “explains Rikke Holm Petersen, director of communication at Wonderful Copenhagen, the local tourism office. Last year, the initiative, in its pilot phase, had already attracted 75,000 amateurs.

This year, Wonderful Copenhagen Tables on “Double, or even more”. The number of institutions and participating companies has multiplied by four, none of them benefiting from a financial consideration.

Waste analysis

In the organizer of goboat channels, as with many participants, the offer is limited. “Some 60 people can come every Tuesday and Thursday morning” after registering via the site, details Isabel Smith. This marine biologist is responsible for analyzing the waste brought back by Copenpay users, on average two kilos per boat and essentially plastic.

“I measure the plastic according to its width and its length, then I identify its type,” she explains. This helps us to better understand current research on plastic pollution in the port and to locate precisely where this pollution is concentrated. ” The proposal convinces the followers.

Eco -responsible behavior

“When you travel in different places, you want to have different experiences and I found it quite incredible,” says Rocio Gómez. “At the beginning, it was quite clean, extremely clean even, but then we found some corners which were quite dirty and then we started to collect all the waste of the corners with a bamboo net,” she continues. She shared her boat with Marta Reschiglian, an Italian student, and her group of friends in exchange Erasmus.

“As we are students and sometimes we have a very tight budget, it’s really nice to be able to do these things, to combine a little sustainable and environmentally friendly behavior with a way to get things for free,” greets Marta.

For her, “many cities should start adopting this kind of initiatives. We see all over the world that mass tourism poses many problems. (…) This is a good example. ” The project could be emulated beyond Danish borders.

“We have initiated a whole new discussion, or a global agenda on the impact of travel, which is really important,” said the manager of Wonderful Copenhagen. In the Danish capital, the initiative could also become more sustainable, with a winter version. Some 4 million tourists visit Copenhagen each year and the majority come in summer.

AFP

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