Note from Kevin Desmond, chairman of the Electric Boat Association and co-founder of VeniceAgenda2028

Andreas Apostolopoulos, Founder and Chairman of the Greek Electric Boat Association and organiser of the “Go to Port” e-boat competition for schools around the Aegean and Ionian Islands, has proposed the following simple, but practical and noble idea:

I have an idea, which I believe is very significant for the promotion of Electric Boats worldwide. Everybody knows two things: that a boat must have a paddle on board if ever gets out of power and secondly that our world is suffering from the plastics pollution. Around the oceans and lakes of the world are seas of plastic which are destroying aquatic life. My idea is for a paddle that every boat must have on board, with a small spoon-net at the other end: In other words, a paddle-for- plastic-net. With this 2in1 tool, the owner can use the paddle end for navigation and the net end to plastic garbage from the sea whenever they find it, so helping to reduce the pollution. It must be made entirely of biodegrable material, wood or circular-recycled plastic, with the netting in hemp or coconut coir. The net section can be detachable, to better facilitate paddling.

I suggest also that every leisure port should have at its entrance or in a place very easy to reach from both water and walking, a big closed bin (which opens easily for people coming with a boat and from water) where the recollected plastic garbage can be thrown. The design and/or colour of these onshore plastic recollecting bins should be internationally the same, so that any boat having plastic garbage, can recognise them easily
With my country’s legendary tradition as a seafaring nation, I choose to call this device a   “kaπa-sigma ®”. The initial letters “kaπa-sigma ®” are from the Greek phrase  “Κουπί Σωτηρίας®” (koupi sotirias) which in English means , “Paddle of Salvation” (of Salvage), and it responds to reality . A paddle can help you at difficult times at sea, but also it can save the environment if it can collects garbage. I propose that a “kaπa-sigma ®” becomes a regulatory tool for every electric boat worldwide, if we want to say that we are not merely zero emission and silent, but that we are caring about the environment.

Andreas Apostolopoulos, Ilion, Greece.