The ways of proper recycling

Our program “The ways of proper recycling” (2022-1-EL02-ESC30-SOL-000060916) is about youth recycling awareness. Recycling is not understood by young people, as neither the state nor the school has seriously addressed this issue and instilled a culture of recycling in the children who will become young and then adults. Through social media, we asked our friends and other internet users things about recycling. The total number of responses we received is 197. In this sample we limited the responses to 18-30 year olds which is our target group and the others we did not count. There are 134 valid responses. We found that 5/10 young people do not know that in the blue bin we throw the recyclable materials in bulk and not in a bag, about 9/10 do not know the difference and usefulness of brown, orange and yellow bins, and about 94% believe that the contents of the recycling bins end up in the same place as the green bin garbage and therefore do not enter the recycling process. The vast majority responded that they have recycled at least once in their lives using the blue bin, however they were not always sure if the materials were recycled. On the other side, 6% responded that they do recycle and separate materials from the house into different reusable bags, and report that they found the information on their own, via the internet. In this context, we decided to take action and bridge the gap between young people and environmental empathy and more specifically to create a culture of recycling among young people for a better future. After all, recycling is a topic that our team members are actively involved in their personal lives and we believe that if every young person understands its value and takes things into their own hands, we will soon lead to the preservation of forests and the oxygen they provide us, to energy saving, to the reduction of landfills with materials like glass that take years to melt, to the reduction of odour and pollution in big cities like Athens, which is a European Capital. This idea of our team to find ways to inform young people regarding recycling will be done through technological means and QR codes, as well as through events in the context of the European Year of Youth that will take place in our municipality and in neighbouring municipalities, where it is an opportunity to reach more young people and unite for change! A change that in Europe has already come and that is why we should move towards these levels, also helping the European Union to reach the targets set in the European Green Deal to become a climate neutral continent by 2050, when this young generation will be 50 years old.