photo - east newsPoland’s public broadcaster, Polskie Radio, has launched a campaign to cut down on the tons of rubbish Poles get through every year.
Poland is churning out 12 million tons of municipal waste every year. This is about 320 kilograms of trash per person, while the EU average is over 500 kilograms. Ninety percent of Poland’s litter goes to landfills and only a small portion is recycled. Illegal rubbish dumping is a problem. NGOs warns that Poland will soon pay high fines for failing to comply with EU standards.
Alarming waste and recycling statistics have inspired Polish Radio One to launch a campaign codenamed “Clean Poland”. Throughout this week, the public broadcaster will strive to make Poles realize how baldy littered their country is and what they can do to deal with this environmental and health hazard.
There will also be programs devoted to other kinds of trash littering the landscape, like badly designed, chaotic new housing estates, billboards and banner ads covering buildings, disgusting graffiti and omnipresent fliers.
Grassroots cleaning initiatives
Several hundred people picked trash littering scenic waterways of the north-eastern Suwalki region of Poland this weekend. School pupils, anglers, local leaders, foresters and water guards cleaned the banks of Rospuda and Czarna Hancza rivers as well Augustowski Canal – a monument to 19th century water engineering.
The region attracted international attention, when a dispute erupted over the route of the Via Baltica highway. Its original course threatened a destruction of the unique Rospuda Valley marshes, home to many rare species of animal and plant life. Last year a section of the highway was rerouted under the pressure of environment groups and the European Commission. The long fight for Rospuda brought many visitors to the area. The popularity of the region’s canoeing runs soared but along with people came litter.
It’s a hard life for eco-friends
Varsovians had to endure long waits, of up to 3 hours, proving how much they care about the environment at Earth Day celebrations on the popular Pole Mokotowskie.
Thousands came to the park, bringing used batteries and old electronic equipment and appliances. They were to receive potted flowers, perennials and trees as well as eco-bags in return. The demand was so big that the organizers, the Ecological Education Centre foundation, ran out of hand-outs in the early afternoon hours. Tempers flared and many snide remarks could be heard as disappointed people left the park. –“We did not expect so many people. Last year, we handed out 4,000 seedlings throughout the day. Today, 6,000 were handed out in just half a day,” Justyna Tyrowicz from the European Recycling Platform told Gazeta Wyborcza. (kk)