20 000 trees are being saved from felling by Varna residents through the “Leaf by Leaf” paper collection campaign. The cherished goal of the number of trees not destroyed for paper production will be met in just a few months. In its 22 years of existence and active work, over 500 companies, schools, kindergartens, institutions and citizens in Varna have collected and handed over 972 tons of paper waste for recycling through “Leaf by Leaf”. Believing in the maxim that 1 ton of recycled paper saves 17 trees from being cut down, they have so far prevented the felling of nearly 19,500 pieces of the planet’s lungs.
The figures were presented by the coordinator of the initiative Ilian Iliev during a round table “Sustainable consumption in urban environment – regional solutions”. The event took place at the University of Economics – Varna and was attended by representatives of academia and the civil sector from across the country.
“When we talk about sustainable consumption, the focus is on reducing consumption, generating less waste and therefore increasing secondary raw materials, saving energy, local resources, low-resource mobility and politically active citizens.” Among them are the mission “I choose the reusable cup”, “No, merci, I bring my own”, “Bottle back, take a book”, “Eco rating”, “Let’s bass”, “Let’s eat a nuclear power plant”, etc.
During the round table an application for motivation towards more ecological behaviour in everyday life was presented by Diana Nasteva from the association “No Impossible Things”. Best practices in sustainable food consumption and reducing food waste from farm to fork were discussed, as well as a study of the Department of Natural Resource Economics at the UNWE in this area.
Water efficiency and consumers’ awareness of their water footprint was discussed together with Milena Angelova from the Industrial Capital Association of Bulgaria.