I didn’t write about the Cunda Triathlon, the video of which you saw above, in time. Even though a full year has passed, I’d like to share this beautiful event with you. Two years ago, I shared on my blog how we demonstrated TİDER’s waste prevention vision in Bozcaada and how it made a huge impact. I’d also like to share the links to two articles I wrote about Bozcaada as a reminder. I wrote one before going to Cunda, and the other after organizing it:
https://www.serhansuzer.com/tr/bozcaadada-israfi-onleme-vizyonumuzu-gerceklestiriyoruz
Last year, while planning to showcase the same beauty in Bozcaada again in May, Adım Adım made an unexpected decision. Instead of Bozcaada, they decided to participate in Cunda.
Our waste prevention vision is back on the ground.
Because of our sisterly bond with the Adım Adım organization, we decided to showcase our waste prevention vision in Cunda. Cunda was no less of a location than Bozcaada. While there was only one running event in Bozcaada, the triathlon in Cunda included three all-day events: cycling, swimming, and running. We discussed how we could pull this off. Of course, with the spirit of a generous NGO, we said, “We’ll do it somehow,” and began preparations.
The initial announced date, 22 June, was postponed to 6 July due to the election. As people who believe every Turkish citizen should vote, we congratulated the organization on this decision.
Due to my busy schedule, I was only able to participate in TİDER’s preparations about 10 days before the event. We discussed many topics in detail, finalized our preparations, and the date for the event, which will take place on the first weekend of July, arrived.
Around 6:30 PM on Thursday evening, I set off with my old friend Serkan Koç and his family, who have been taking all kinds of photos of me for a long time. Serkan is already a friend I enjoy talking to and can discuss anything with. However, I want to give a special mention to his family. His wife Gizem and their children Mercan and Göknar make a wonderful frame. Which one should I praise? Serkan Koç’s family is made up of precious individuals, from the youngest to the oldest.
Especially Göknar’s sweetness (I love those cheeks and his conversation) and Mercan’s already evident nobility? It was a true pleasure to be in the car with them in such a lively atmosphere. They made me laugh so hard. We had a blast.
We stopped at Tavacı Refik in the Karacabey district of Bursa. I’ve been to this restaurant before, and the köfte (saç kavurma) and köfte are delicious. Of course, the delicious appetizers they bring beforehand, like salad, yogurt, and ezme (a type of flatbread), are a real treat for an empty stomach. The turtles and ducks at this restaurant, located on the edge of a pond, especially caught the children’s attention. We fed them abundantly.
Isn’t life grand?!
Serkan drove to Karacabey, and then I picked up the car. We arrived at the hotel around midnight. After a tiring journey, we had a delightful breakfast the next day. Since we had an appointment with the Ayvalık Municipality at 9:30, we finished our breakfast and conversation around 9:00 and set off. It took 15 minutes to drive from Cunda Island to Ayvalık Municipality.
We met with the relevant municipality representative. We introduced our association and explained what we would be doing at the triathlon the next day.
We took a break at the hotel; I had some work to do. I went up to my room and put on my shorts. I remember working for three hours by the sea, the breeze blowing in my face, and the children’s joyful shouts, saying, “Oh, isn’t life grand?!” Then I went swimming with Serkan, Mercan, and Göknar. Afterward, I took a shower and was ready for the triathlon.
We all went to the event area. When we arrived, the event tents had just been set up, and many things were still being completed. We decided to figure out how to set up our own tent. First, we chose a spot and set up a tent with open sides that would protect us from the harsh sun. Then, we completed our preparations for our zero-waste vision. These included setting up our table, setting up the compost bin, labeling all the containers and barrels, and discussing our plans.
Soup Kitchen and Animal Shelter
After completing our preparations, we wanted to see the soup kitchen and animal shelter. Thankfully, the municipality staff were helpful. After a pleasant chat at the soup kitchen, we went to the animal shelter. After meeting with the managers and taking a look around, we left, returned to the event area, made our final preparations, and returned to our hotel.
We had dinner at a restaurant in Cunda Square. The appetizers were delicious, and the conversation was wonderful.
Everyone was motivated for the next day. Since the bike race was scheduled to start at 9 a.m., we had to be at the event area by 8:30. Despite being a bit late, the entire team met in the square. By the entire team, I mean TİDER professionals, some board members, our volunteers, and I were there from the very beginning of the event.
Stolen containers
What did we encounter when we arrived? Six of the seven containers we’d meticulously prepared the night before were missing. I always think about things like this; I immediately said, “Let’s start this bike race, let’s check the campsite; they’ve probably taken them there.” After the bike race started, one of our managers, Ms. Özgül, and I headed to the campsite. I spotted our first container in the corner of one of the bungalows at the camp. “Bingo!” I said, and I took it back to where it belonged, where the TİDER stand was. Of course, I pray to God for wisdom to the person or people who stole this container, which had the word ‘Plastic’ written on it, from the TİDER stand, and threw everything into it as if it were a trash can. What on earth is stealing a container from someone’s stand, for God’s sake? And considering that only the educated population participated in this event, the low standards in the country are alarming.
“Knowledge is knowing the truth.”
In fact, although all the participants in the triathlon were from educated backgrounds, we encountered some who were very sensitive, while others persistently opposed recycling. As I experienced all this, I was reminded of a wonderful quote from Atatürk:
After salvaging a significant portion of our containers, we met with officials from all the NGOs, companies, and organizations that had set up stands with us in the square. We explained this to all the athletes participating in the Cunda Triathlon in the square, and this continued throughout the day. We explained our vision of preventing waste to them. As a reminder, I’d like to share the outline of our vision once again:
The race was organized as a 15 K mountain bike ride in the morning, a 2 K swim in the afternoon, and a 10 K trail run in the afternoon. We witnessed vibrant events in each of the morning cyclists, afternoon swimmers, and afternoon runners. The main theme of the race was, after all, an all-day sporting event rather than a classic triathlon. For details, please visit the organization’s website: https://teamkronos.com/ultimate-cunda/
The course of the swimming race held at noon.
The music that kept the rhythm going throughout the entire event, people dancing before and after the sports events, applause, songs, a speaker who constantly made announcements over the microphone and guided the event with his humorous style, and the NGO spirit that dominated the atmosphere summarized the event that spanned the entire day. As TİDER, our contribution here was to collect waste, as we did in the Bozcaada run, with the support of all our volunteers from morning until the end of the event. We placed recyclable items such as glass, plastic, and metal in the designated containers, collected organic waste elsewhere, and successfully continued sorting throughout the day.
Acknowledgements and Criticism
Here, I’d like to extend my heartfelt thanks to all the TİDER volunteers who supported us immensely; to the DHL professionals who organized a large event with over 30 employees, enabling us to realize our waste prevention vision; especially to our Chairman of the Board Hande Tibuk, our General Manager Nil Tibukoğlu, and all our TİDER professionals. Thanks to everyone’s contributions, we were able to complete this event with the utmost success.
I also have a few words about the organization. I always say what I know to be true: We were surprised to see so many shortcomings in an organization that has been involved in this for years. We were particularly unhappy that they wanted to use our volunteers on the watering trail. They were making us suspect, and we had no such promises. However, to avoid any problems, TİDER volunteers took over the watering trail thanks to the great sacrifices of our participants. I understand your desire to save money, but I’d like to ask, what kind of mindset does it take to use an NGO’s volunteers for your own savings? Is this in keeping with the spirit of sports? Our volunteers, exhausted in the heat, still managed well. However, we were also not happy with the TİDER volunteers being criticized by the runners for not having enough water bottles on the trails (which was entirely the organizers’ fault; they must provide enough water on each trail). Nevertheless, all the TİDER volunteers selflessly gave their all.
Towards the end of the event, the Mayor of Ayvalık came to the event area and was briefed on our work. We had visited the municipality the day before and made all the necessary arrangements. The municipality, thankfully, provided us with additional containers and logistical support to sort as much as they could.
I really liked the design of the medal they gave us after the triathlon; it was cleverly designed.
Our work wasn’t finished when the event ended. As promised, we sent the separated plastic, glass, and metal items for recycling using municipal vehicles. We also explained how they could compost the potentially organic waste and hand it over to the municipality. The next day (Sunday), we delivered human-consumable products to the Ayvalık Municipality soup kitchen and animal-consumable products to the municipality’s Temporary Animal Shelter (adding pet food from the market, of course. As TİDER, we wanted to contribute in this way as well).
We will initiate change together.
On Sunday, as promised, we delivered the products we collected to the soup kitchen and the animal shelter, and then headed back to Istanbul around 2:00 PM.
We completed our mission by working day and night, with the participation of all our volunteers. In total, approximately 70 volunteers supported our work, and, including the support from the square, over 100 volunteers supported our events. All of this is work that should be held up as an example in our country. Environmental awareness, responsible citizenship, and a sense of fun without littering and respecting the natural cycle are values we have always emphasized.
We will continue to defend these values and encourage others. Indeed, following the Cunda Triathlon, Festtogether was held last year with the motto “Have Fun, Leave No Trace.”
While these may seem like small steps towards a more livable world for current and future generations, we need to initiate change. The most important change is in our mindset. If we can change certain habits, perceptions, and beliefs and share even a little bit of environmental awareness and a sense of support for all living things around us, how happy we would be.
Note: I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to Serkan Koç, who shot and produced the wonderful Cunda Triathlon video, which perfectly captures the spirit of our work.
Tag: ecology
