In Mallorca, a Design student has invented, as a final degree project, a system to prevent the loss of sand that the thousands of tourists who frequent the Caló des Moro, in the municipality of Santanyí, inadvertently take with them.
Caló des Moro – an inappropriate toponym at this point, which I hope will change soon – is one of the most visited beaches on the island. Instagrammers take photos, other Instagrammers see them and go, and it’s non-stop. No cute tourist can pass through Mallorca without going to see it. The Design student explains that every time we visit a cove we unconsciously take a piece with us: “We don’t realize it, but, unintentionally, the sand gets stuck to our bodies and things. We all end up removing it because we find it annoying. It is on the feet, bikinis, towels, bags… This involuntary act affects the essence of the cove and the environment more than we think.” The numbers sing: each person who visits a beach takes approximately 35 grams of sand: “It seems like a small amount, but multiplied by three months of high season and about two thousand people a day, it is about six tons per year.” Six tons of sand each cove!
And now the important thing: the invention. It consists of a wooden box and two brushes. Each bather who leaves the beach is invited to brush off the sand that sticks to their body, and also from their towels and bags. In this ingenious way, the sand falls into the box which, I assume, is then emptied onto the beach. And start again. It seems evident that it is an idea as brilliant as it is difficult to implement. I don’t see how to have brigades of controllers who warn each bather that they should brush.
I don’t know how the academic authorities must have valued this final degree project, but, after having made the news in the Diario de Mallorca, I estimate that at least with a summa cum laude and congratulatory pats on the back.
