Exploring the River Tisza at the Plastic Cup - through the eye of a volunteer

Tisza is among the main rivers of Europe; it is Hungary's second largest waterway and the longest Danube tributary. Boating on the river at the Ukrainian–Hungarian border, near the town of Zsurk, offers a rare “Amazon River feeling” owing to its muddiness and incredible width. Its riverbanks are regularly flooded and dense bushes attest to their fertility. Naturally, this river is a paradise for wildlife: over 130 bird species breed at the Tisza and its washlands, and 68 fish species dwell there – which is outstanding for sweet waters. Although we do not get to see any zanders, carps or tenches while boating, the numerous anglers fishing on the Ukrainian and Hungarian riversides confirm their presence.

Plastic waste embedded in the soil

We are canoeing on river Tisza with a group of environmental activists from PLASTIC Cup, aiming to investigate the area. After finding a sandbank sliding down into the river, we moor our boats and wander on the riverbank, which forms a wall behind a half-meter-wide footpath. This wall houses animals and flowers; its rich soil is contaminated with plastic bottles and remains of plastic bags. Once we reach further into the nearby forest, we find that the undergrowth hides even more plastic bottles, hundreds of them if not thousands. They are everywhere; some are so strongly embedded in the soil that we would need excavation tools to remove them. Flooding has transported the waste from the riverbed to the high banks. Plastics appear encrusted into Mother Earth, it looks as if the soil was trying to chew up the annoying parasites which have burrowed themselves into its skin. A sad sight.

From paradise to garbage dump

We find empty aerosol cans, plastic shoes, broken plastic toys, as well as countless plastic bottles, in every shape and size. Some labels show expiration dates from 2008 or earlier. Almost everything we see carries Cyrillic writing. Within 20 minutes, each of us can fill a 120-liter garbage bag, covering a radius of roughly 3 meters per person. It feels overwhelming.

As if we have become living garbage detectors, the previously apparent pristine nature now unfolds an endless garbage field. River Tisza, known for its rich flora and fauna as well as for its great recreational facilities, is in fact a landfill of the debry of modern life. Our admiration for the beauty of Nature soon gives in to anger over the ugliness of modern civilization that has pervaded the ground as a reminder to the downside of our disposable culture. The sheer amount of rubbish this stream of water swallowed in the past years is baffling. It is hard to face the inevitable conclusion that this riverbank, on which we are standing, is just the tip of the iceberg, and the situation beneath the water surface must be even worse. The water is poisoned with discarded plastic bottles, and the fish living there end up eating this waste. We find ourselves at the top of this food chain – eating fish that has fed on plastic.

The Plastic Cup initiative was founded and is re-organized every year in order to clean river Tisza, give this wonder of Nature the beautification it needs while providing its dwellers with the habitat they deserve. In this programme, volunteers help river Tisza get its shine back by collecting plastic rubbish. Everything that is “harvested” during this month-long event gets recycled.

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Ministry for Innovation and Technology