#gobodrog

The GoBodrog project is a grassroots initiative aimed at improving flood protection quality in the Bodrog floodplain through civil cooperation. “Plastic floods” have become regular on the Bodrog, with the river carrying more than 500 plastic bottles per minute. This is environmentally damaging in the long term, similar to marine oil spills, as plastic disrupts the environmental balance and has irreversible effects on the ecosystem.
Managing and removing river waste is extremely costly. Water authorities lack sufficient resources for collection and rely on significant support from local communities and civil organizations. The GoBodrog project assists water management organizations by stopping the plastic flood in the upper Bodrog and its tributary, Latorica, thus reducing river waste pollution in the lower floodplains, building on local residents and volunteers.
Through decades of exemplary cooperation between the Plastic Cup Association and the Hungarian National Directorate General for Water Management, more than 300 tons of river waste have been removed from the Tisza catchment area, and the RiverSaver Center in Kisköre operates successfully. Following this model, two new RiverSaver Centers will be established in the Bodrog floodplain in Olaszliszka and on the Latorica floodplain in Beša, serving as intervention centers for volunteers and their equipment involved in river cleaning.
A flood warning system will be created on the Bodrog, consisting of three observation posts: software integrated into the camera system continuously analyzes the amount of transported waste and sends alerts when on-site intervention is necessary. To increase river cleaning efficiency, waste collection grabbers will be placed along the Hungarian and Slovak sections of the Bodrog, continuously collecting incoming waste. River cleanup boats, loading and transport machines, vehicles, and protective equipment will be purchased to relocate and empty the grabbers and organize further actions.
Project partners will reduce plastic pollution in the Bodrog floodplain by involving local communities and cooperating with authorities and civil organizations. To achieve this long-term, several awareness-raising programs will be organized, with particular attention to young people. To actively involve local residents, two large-scale river cleanup events will be held within the project, with hundreds of participants: one in the upper part in Slovakia and one in Hungary.