Nikoletta Ralli studied at the University of Athens, in the Geology Department. In 2005 she was voted Runner Up in the Miss Greece contest and also Miss Queen Tourism International.
Today she is a presenter, radio producer and editor of Queen.gr where the delightful article below appears…
Seas: Swear to Care campaign. Even though my association with the project has only been official since May, my love for the sea goes way back.
Although I’ve always been someone who wouldn’t dream of dropping my gum on the street, I had never dared to try and spread the “message” to anyone else. At least not until the Summer of 1996. I remember I was at the beach in Achaia for a swim where the beach bar morphed into a club in the evening. I had gone down to the shore to dip my feet in the water and admire the limitless blueness. Suddenly I felt something tickling and looked down in fright to see what was at my feet. I saw not one but hundreds of cigarette butts floating round me. I’ll never forget how disgusting it was.
How could it be that I had been gazing into the distance and ignoring what was right in front of me; how could we be so mindless as to be beguiled by the night and our desire to have fun? In the end it’s true what we say in Greek: “He who walks at night treads in mud and shite.” If up until then I had only been considering my own behaviour, making my own improvised ashtrays and clearing up my own coffee cups and plastic litter, I changed and became bold and annoying, confronting anyone that didn’t do the same.
I’m not some kind of eco-nutcase though! I’m just a person that to some extent gives a little thought to the future and so tries to do something positive in the present. And it’s not just for the little soul that’s going to sit her pretty bum on the beach and build her “ideal worlds” out of sand. No. It’s for the hundreds of creatures that live in the sea and have no voice to speak with or hands that can carry a placard.
Nikoletta made her own promise for Clean Seas:
“I promise that starting this Summer I will make many of you swear to do everything in your power to keep our seas clean! Not just because we live in the country that has the best beaches in the world, but because it’s the right thing to do. Are you with me?”