Vagias beach, Serifos, to be the first smoke-free beach in Greece

The municipality of Serifos and Aikaterini Laskaridi Foundation announced on Thursday that Vagias beach will be smoke-free as of this summer.

The annnouncement was made on the occasion of the World Smokefree Day, on May 31.

The action is taking place under the SeaChange Greek Islands environmental programme, designed and implemented by the Foundation on ten islands of the Cyclades.

Beach cleaning actions carried out on the islands that have been part of the programme over the last two years have highlighted cigarette smoking as the most common waste, and Serifos was found to be one of the islands most affected by this particular issue. The Laskaridi Foundation is launching the cleaning project on the island from Vagias beach with the collaboration with the Municipality of Serifos.

An area of the beach at Vagia, which is a protected area within the Natura network, will be marked off as a controlled smoking zone, including ashtrays with environmental messages and signs providing more information. Local craftspeople will help set up the "smoke-free" action, as part of a programme to strengthen the local economy and empower the inhabitants. The technical specifications will be finalised at a project team meeting with Serifos Mayor Antonis Antonakis and professionals on the island on Monday, June 3.

The Foundation hopes that, like similar practices in France and Spain, this "behavioral experiment" will help eliminate smoking at the beach and related sea pollution.