AthlitAct pt.1: our sport halls cleaner!

On Saturday, January 10, 2026, we said "happy new year" and... started in Rethymno, Greece. Outside the Perivolia indoor gym (in Rethymno), athletes had to go through a mini jungle to get inside. Children and coaches from all over Crete visit this stadium every week for the Cretan Cup matches and training sessions. The stadium is not located in the center of the city... The Municipality does not have the appropriate number of staff... And other such excuses that resulted in this jungle:

Upon learning about this, Save Our Planet International (SOPI) inspected the area with an available volunteer, saw an opportunity for action and contacted the Green Department of the Municipality of Rethymno within a short period of time. The Green Department responded quickly to the request for joint action and we met for a joint autopsy and to be guided, as we are not (yet) experienced in this type of action.

We also contacted our supporters, the volleyball department of the Classical Sports Club "ARKADI" (OKA ARKADI VB) and asked them to participate as well. They gladly accepted our invitation and the department's manager, Mr. Andreas Benakis, also provided useful tools and practical work in the action.

Upon request, online (and not only) newspapers in the city announced the action on their sites and helped in the search for active citizens in the city (and it worked quite well). See some articles HERE

Now the day of the action has come!!

After receiving useful equipment from the greens department the previous day (gloves, sturdy bags, pruning tools) and guidance, we set off for the field. And the schedule is as follows:

13:00: we arrived at the stadium and waited for our volunteers... "gardeners"

13:10: the first volunteer arrived and head of another volunteer group called "ATHIPISTAS" (collaborations are coming)

13:15: the first little volunteer arrived (P. helped us a lot in the action and deserves many congratulations)

13:20: the rest started arriving (some came a little later, for good reason: to eat lunch)

13:30-15:00: we pruned some plants, collected trash from the windowsills, weeded and swept

15:00: after a noticeable change in the image of the "face" of the stadium, there were a few spots left to clean. So, several participants left to go rest, eat or get ready to continue with other activities

15:30: we sweep, take pictures and are ready!

• What we achieved:

• 15 volunteers (parents, children, neighbors, etc.)

• 17 large garbage bags with garbage, grass, etc. = 2,400LT

• Clean field before the scheduled matches of the day

Do you want to see the change? Let's go!

And here ends the report of the first SOPI action:

• for 2026

• after the resumption of work

• and for the "AthlitAct" program

We thank:

• The volleyball section of OKA "ARKADI", for the support (more participants learned about the action from its sections).

• The green service of the Municipality of Rethymno and Ms. Alamanou Georgia and Mr. Papadosifos Giorgis for guiding the action as well as providing appropriate equipment.

• The cleaning department of the Municipality of Rethymno for removing what we collected after the action.

• The ATSIPISTAS team for participating with 3 volunteers and their valuable help in communicating the action.

• ALL those who participated in the action, sacrificing Saturday afternoon to make our stadium better!

See you at the next action!!!

P.S.: if you see a place with a lot of garbage, abandoned that requires action or a problem that someone should be imposed, contact sopi.programs@gmail.com