Project description
“Pick me up, don’t pick me up” is a project run by the Tuscan Islands Biosphere Reserve designed to encourage tourists – and, more generally, anyone visiting the archipelago’s beaches – to collect the small pieces of plastic and cigarette ends that the sea washes ashore, whilst also reminding them of the ban on collecting sand, stones and shells.
The aim is to raise awareness of the problem of plastic fragments and cigarette ends in the sea and the importance of reducing plastic use, whilst highlighting how pervasive these materials can become in the marine and coastal ecosystem if not disposed of correctly.
The project was launched with a pilot scheme in the summer of 2025 in collaboration with a small number of beach establishments. In the summer of 2026, it was extended to beach establishments across the Tuscan Archipelago
Environmental education
To support the project, the National Park, through its Park Guides, will organise free environmental education workshops for the customers of each participating beach establishment, agreeing on the timing and format.
Project duration
The 2026 edition of “Pick me up, don’t pick me up” will see the project run over two different periods, depending on the choices made by each individual beach establishment, which will be listed below:
- Full season: 16 May – 18 October
- Low season: 16 May to 28 June and 5 September to 18 October.
Prize
The prizes available for the 2026 edition of the “Pick me up, don’t pick me up” project, which will be awarded to each participant once they return the bag filled with plastic fragments and cigarette ends collected from the beaches to the beach establishment, are:
- a publication from the “Emotional Notebooks of the Tuscan Archipelago” series (one of your choice from the 7 available, each dedicated to an island in the Tuscan Archipelago).
- an educational sheet dedicated to the natural environments of the islands of the Tuscan Archipelago (one of your choice from the 8 available, each dedicated to a different habitat of the Tuscan Archipelago).
- a personalised water bottle from the Isole di Toscana Biosphere Reserve and the Tuscan Archipelago National Park.
Call for Applications
The 2026 edition of the “Pick me up, don’t pick me up” project is open to all beach establishment operators with their registered office or place of business within the Tuscan Archipelago (the municipalities of Campo nell’Elba; Capoliveri; Capraia Isola; Isola del Giglio; Livorno; Marciana; Marciana Marina; Porto Azzurro; Portoferraio; Rio) and who meet all the legal requirements for carrying out the business.
The 2026 edition of the “Pick me up, don’t pick me up” project is open to a maximum of 25 beach establishments, of which 20 are for the Island of Elba and 5 for the Island of Giglio.