Group 4, Action Plan, Turning Trash Into Treasure

Turning Trash Into Treasure

Kusadasi is a city in south western Turkey on the coast of the Aegean Sea. Kusadasi is mainly a resort and tourism city bringing in over 1.5 million tourists annually. The main tourist attraction of Kusadasi is Ephesus, which is located just east of the city. Another main tourism sector that Kusadasi benefits from is the cruise line industry. Over 700 cruise ships come into Kusadasis port every year which brings an additional 850,000 people into the city. Kusadasi is Turkeys largest port for the cruise industry. Additionally, Kusadasi is home to 60,000 people and continues to grow every year. The early settlements in Kusadasi are by the Lelegians and Carians who moved from the central Anatolia around the year of 3000 B.C. They were the establishers of a colony on the skirts of Pilav Mountain in Kusadasi, and founded the cities Ania and Melia. Mild climate allowed the inhabitants to grow essential products such as olive, grape and figs for extracting oil or making wine and sweets on the fertile lands around the city. In the 10th century BC 12 Ionian Cities Samos, Khios, Miletos, Priene, Ephesus, Teos, Erythrai, Priena, Klazonemi, Lebedos, Phokaia, Colophon, Smyrna, were established and reputed for the most developed cities of that age. Asthe annual meeting place of the Ionian League, Panionian, was founded around Kusadasi; the cities of Phygale, Marathesion and Neopolis were established within the borders of the city. During the period, the ports of Phygale and Neopolis were not busy and necessary, as they were close to the famous trading centers and ports, Miletos and Ephesus.

Group 4, Action Plan, Turning Trash Into Treasure The city was invaded by Persians around the year of 546 B.C. In 200 B.C. Kusadasi and its environs were dominated by the Roman Empire, and with the division of the Roman Empire, became a state of Byzantine. As the changes in climate caused serious earthquakes and changed the route of Caystros River, Ephesus was mostly destroyed and lost its prior importance and prosperity. The result had forced Byzantines to search for a new port and a new road that would be suitable for trading. The area around Neopolis was found convenient by the Greek, Jewish, and Armenian merchants as a port in place of the port of Ephesus. Scala Nova was the name of this new port which added a new trading center to the prior historical cities such as Ania, Melia, Phygale and Neopolis that have created the early foundations of todays Kusadasi. By the coming of the 15th century, Scala Nova was under the domination of the Venetian and Genoese sailors and traders who established consulates here.The Turkish domination in the area entered upon the invasion of Seljukian Kilic Arslan the 2nd. The advantageous position of Kusadasi as its being at the end of the important trade roads such as Silk Road -once held by Ephesus, influenced the development of the city in trading, positively.

Kusadasi began to be ruled by the Ottoman Empire after the invasion of Sultan Mehmet Celebi in the year of 1413. During the reign of Ottomans, Kusadasi was introduced to glorious structures, giving a new look to its former spectacular view. Okuz Mehmet Pasa Caravanserai is the principal of Ottoman architecture in the city, was built by the man of the same name, who was the vizier during the reigns of Sultan Ahmet1 and Osman2. The fortress gates, walls and many mosques in the center of Kusadasi, as

Group 4, Action Plan, Turning Trash Into Treasure well as the citadel of the castle in Pigeon Island, were built in the Ottoman period, reflecting the architectural style of the era. Kusadasi that means bird island took its name from the Pigeon Island. After the First World War, Kusadasi was invaded by the Greeks (1919). The city won a long struggle for in 1922 and became a part of Turkish Republic. Izmir was the capital of Kusadasi until 1954. Then the capital was changed to Aydin and the city of Kusadasi has shown a good deal of development, especially in tourism. Kusadasi is known for the three Ss: Sun, Sea, and Sand. Kusadasi suffers from high season overcrowding. The summer high season runs from May to September. This season brings in a majority of tourists during the year. Because of this high season overcrowding, Kusadasi has an enormous problem with garbage removal. This problem will ultimately affect the beauty and image of Kusadasi. Tourists come to Kusadasi to go to the beach and swim in the sea. If these two main attractions are consistently covered in trash, tourists will see this. They will not only be deterred from returning to Kusadasi for a holiday, but they will also discourage others from traveling to Kusadasi. Kusadasi needs to create a structured plan of how to dispose of trash and recyclable materials properly and in a sustainable way.

The first problem that needs to be addressed is trash in public areas. This is the major issue that can affect tourism in the future. There needs to be trash and recycling receptacles in public areas. We want to implement a program that will make these types of receptacles readily available in all public 3

Group 4, Action Plan, Turning Trash Into Treasure areas. This will cut back on trash in the sea, on the beaches, and in the streets. These receptacles will be monitored by municipal employees who will take out full bags and replace them with empty bags as well as clean the areas around the trash and recycling receptacles. Another problem that we could face with the section of our plan would be the threat of trash can bombings that has become a popular form of terrorism in recent years. One way we want to counteract this possible problem would be utilizing the municipal workers to monitor public areas and report any suspicious behavior. We also think video surveillance should be put into main public areas that attract large crowds. We also want to create a marketing program based on marketing research that could be gathered that would make the citizens of Kusadasi as well as tourists aware of our new garbage and recycling receptacles. The program would explain the benefits of using these receptacles and where they are located. Our main forms of communication would be street advertisements, social media, and the municipal website. For the citizens of Kusadasi we want to offer an educational message. For the community we want to offer a social message. For the tourists we want to offer a commercial message and an educational message. Our main goal would be for the people of Kusadasi to make their own homes and businesses look nice and presentable to tourists. We would offer educational session for citizens as well as tourists who were interested in learning more about our program as well as sustainable practices. Our main goal with tourists is to make them aware of the program as well as to better educate them on sustainability and how it can affect the wellbeing of the city. The other part of this beginning phase of our plan would be to improve the trash receptacles and pick up of garbage produced by the businesses and citizens of Kusadasi. We want the current KUSATAK program to be reevaluated and some problems fixed. Currently not all citizens have a dumpster of trash can for their homes and neighborhoods. This leads to piles of trash in the streets. We want to make sure every house hold has a trash receptacle for their personal use as well as a dumpster in every neighborhood. In busier areas, especially restaurant and tourist areas, will have more dumpsters and

Group 4, Action Plan, Turning Trash Into Treasure more frequent pickups. We want to revamp the trash pickup system. Currently a private company is in charge of the pickup of trash in the city. We want to bring this job back to the municipality. This will not only help with consistency but it will also employ citizens to work in all sectors of this project. The Global Methane Initiative was founded in 2004 as an effort to target methane abatement, recovery, and use by focusing on the five main methane emission sources: agriculture, coal mines, municipal solid waste, oil and gas systems, and wastewater. The Initiative works in concert with other international agreements, including the United Nations' Framework Convention on Climate Change, to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Unlike other GHGs, methane is the primary component of natural gas and can be converted to usable energy. The reduction of methane therefore serves as a costeffective method to reduce GHGs and increase energy security, enhance economic growth, improve air quality and improve worker safety. Methane gas collection has been extremely successful in other types of projects such as this one. By collecting methane gas from decomposing garbage, it can be reused as energy, making the garbage that was before a problem, into a renewable resource. Thinking of trash as a resource itself it a little strange but taking something that was previously a problem and changing it into energy is one of the best end products available. Kusadasi could really benefit from this type of recycling and renewable energies. In order for this program to be successful compostable trash and recyclable materials would have to be separated. Recycling could also help the city of Kusadasi by providing extra income from reusable materials gathered in this program.. From the 1980s, the production of packaging and disposable products has increased significantly, as well as waste production, especially in developed countries. Many governments and NGOs are charging companies responsible postures: economic growth must be combined with the preservation of the environment. Activities such as campaigns garbage collection and recycling of aluminum and paper are already common in many parts of the world.

Group 4, Action Plan, Turning Trash Into Treasure In the recycling process, which in addition to preserving the environment also generates wealth, more recycled materials are glass, aluminum, paper and plastic. This recycling contributes to a significant reduction of pollution of soil, water and air. Many industries are recycling materials as a means to reduce production costs. Another benefit of recycling is the amount of jobs it has generated in large cities. Many unemployed are looking for work in this industry and getting income to maintain their families. Many materials such as, for example, aluminum can be recycled with reuse of a level of nearly 100%. Melted, it returns to the production lines of the packaging industries, reducing costs for businesses. Many educational campaigns have attracted attention to the garbage problem in big cities. Increasingly, urban centers, with large population growth, have found it difficult to settle on getting local landfills. Therefore, recycling is presented as a viable economically, as well as being environmentally friendly. In schools, many students are guided by teachers to sort waste in their homes. Another interesting fact is that it is already common in large condominiums waste recycling. Just as in the cities, in rural recycling also occurs. The organic waste is used in the manufacturing of organic fertilizer for use in agriculture. As we can see, the man knows how to use the resources of nature, we may, very soon, a cleaner world and more developed. Thus, we can conquer the dream planet's sustainable development. Examples of Recyclable Products - Glass: jars of food (olives, corn, cottage cheese, etc), bottles, medicine bottles, glass shards. - Paper: newspapers, magazines, brochures, cardboard boxes, paper packaging. - Metal: aluminum cans, steel cans, nails, covers, tubes of pulp, copper, aluminum. - Plastic: plastic containers, PET bottles, bags plastic materials, packaging and grocery.

Group 4, Action Plan, Turning Trash Into Treasure Kusadasis tourism industry depends solely on the sand, sun and sea. The sun may still be ok, but if the sea and sand are full of trash, the tourism industry will suffer. By implementing these types of programs the city will benefit and can further invest into the industry bringing the most money to the city. This program not only helps clean up the city but it also comes back full circle when compostable trash is converted into useable energy. This program is also great for the environment because it lessens the amount of Green House Gases released from regular landfills. We think these programs will be successful and can even be implemented into other parts of Turkey and Europe. These types of programs can be sponsored by the government and businesses of each country.