Mischa Gurov is a Russian IT professional living in Zurich, Switzerland, who now swims the last 1.35 kilometers of his commute to work through the Schanzengraben canal, when weather permits. Although he continues to use public transport to reach the city center, this routine has allowed him to avoid crowded trains. As of the date of the article, he had accumulated over 60 kilometers of swimming that year.
This aquatic routine led Mischa to pay more attention to the accumulated litter along the city's former moat. In a collection done in early summer, he gathered over 500 cigarette butts in about 30 minutes, along a stretch of just 30 meters. In addition to the cigarette butts collected from the banks, the IT professional removes larger objects from the water whenever he can reach them safely, having already collected over 500 cigarette butts in a short stretch.
Mischa's concern about aquatic pollution comes from London, where he lived before moving to Switzerland. In 2018, he launched a petition against litter in Richmond Park and the River Thames. In Switzerland, he advocates for higher fines for those who abandon waste, believing they should discourage such behaviors. According to the publication, more than 6,000 million cigarette butts are discarded in the environment in Switzerland annually, and the substances they release in water can be lethal to fish.
With an underwater camera, Mischa managed to document the canal's aquatic life, including a brown trout, identified with the help of the municipal entity Entsorgung + Recycling Zürich. These trout need clean, fresh, oxygen-rich water to survive. For Mischa, the images revealed a surprisingly rich urban ecosystem in a space surrounded by offices and transportation. On the occasion of National Cleanup Day, September 18 and 19, he plans to swim the entire Schanzengraben wearing a helmet adorned with 1,000 used cigarette butts and a Swiss bell to draw attention to the pollution threatening fish.
