We are thrilled to announce to you that we are preparing for a new Youth Exchange project in mid-spring this year, “Green Defenders”. This project has the aim to enrich knowledge about the environment and its importance, how we can prevent its damage, what we need to know to clean it and how we can maintain it in a healthy and beneficial state for humanity.
Zašto radimo ovu aktivnost?
The story behind the project is…
Način na koji odlažemo otpad je zabrinjavajuć. Što je još gore, samo u ovom desetljeću čini se da je odlaganje otpada postalo još nemarnije. Svake godine ljudi generiraju više od dvije milijarde tona smeća i ne možemo se s time nositi na održiv način. Otpad koji nije biorazgradiv i ne može se pravilno reciklirati puni naše oceane i odlagališta.
Do 2050. godine, kada se globalna populacija približi 10 milijardi, otpad će iznositi predviđenih 3,4 milijarde tona svake godine. Između svih bolesti i klimatskih promjena koje stvara nepravilno prerađeni otpad, lako je razumjeti kako to utječe na svaku osobu.
The worsening of the environment stems partially from the mistreatment of waste, and ending any practices that contribute to extra waste can help save many lives and keep the world’s environment in a healthy place. For many people, the reduction of waste and commitment to handling waste properly is a daunting task.
Some even feel that it’s too late and there’s no point. However, every change people make by properly disposing of waste can save lives and suffering in the future, even if it’s only a few people. Additionally, it increases the chance of something major changing and fixing the issue overall.
Izravno ili neizravno, otpad utječe na naše zdravlje i dobrobit na mnoge načine: plinovi metan pridonose klimatskim promjenama, zagađivači zraka ispuštaju se u atmosferu, izvori slatke vode su kontaminirani, usjevi se uzgajaju na kontaminiranom tlu, a ribe gutaju otrovne kemikalije, a zatim završavaju na našim tanjurima.
Tackling waste starts with prevention.
The potential gains are immense, and they can facilitate the EU’s move towards a circular economy, where nothing is wasted. Moving up the waste hierarchy offers environmental gains, even for countries with high recycling and recovery rates.
Unfortunately, our current production and consumption systems do not offer many incentives for preventing and reducing waste. From product design and packaging to choice of materials, the entire value chain needs to be redesigned first with waste prevention in mind, and then the ‘leftovers’ of one process can be made into an input for another.
Moving up the waste hierarchy requires a joint effort by all the parties concerned: consumers, producers, policymakers, local authorities, waste treatment facilities, etc. Consumers willing to sort their household waste can only recycle if the infrastructure for collecting their sorted waste is in place. The opposite also holds true; municipalities can recycle an increasing share only if households sort their waste.
Ultimately, whether waste will constitute a problem or a resource all depends on how we manage it.
What are the benefits of participating in this project?
Sudjelovanjem u ovom projektu dobit će ne samo oni koji su uključeni, nego svi širenjem informacija putem bilo medija, bilo da je riječ o internetu, medijima ili stvarnim primjerima kroz osobnu mobilizaciju pojedinaca u sredinama i državama iz kojih dolaze.
The development of this project is based on the experience of the participants in their countries and on sharing the information between them. Also the project is aiming to raise the awareness of the waste that we are producing every year by country and how we can improve from a youngest age the understanding of importance of the 5R's:
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- REFUSE (buying unnecessary things)
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- REDUCE (what you normally use)
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- REUSE (things you already have)
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- RECYCLE (not just recycling, but changing the purpose of things that have lost their purpose)
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- ROT (the oldest and most natural way of recycling waste)
Well, it’s not enough just to clean the natural environment and to keep it safe for every living being, but we must understand the natural environment and what is the importance of being in nature and how to reconnect with it. Also we want to increase the awareness in terms of the unhealthy spread of waste in urban, rural and natural environment.
By participating in this project everybody will gain knowledge by intercultural sharing and acknowledgement of their sense regarding the level of recycling and reducing waste in order to improve their skills and abilities towards a healthy life through a healthy and sustainable natural environment.
Dodatno, sudionici će imati priliku saznati više o Erasmus+ programu te će na kraju projekta biti nagrađeni Youthpass certifikatom.
Be the change you want to see in the world!
Stay Green!
English 
Hrvatski