EU// Award gala for the most active participants in the "Say NO to Plastic Pollution" campaign

On Saturday, June 12, the "Mihai Eminescu" Park in the municipality of Strășeni hosted a special event, Awards gala of the most active and responsible ambassadors within The "Say NO to Plastic Pollution" campaign, event part of the project "Solid waste management through the active involvement of the community in the Străseni district" implemented by AO Association for Waste Recovery, between September 2020 and August 2021, in 6 localities of Străseni district (Străseni municipality, Scoreni village, Lozova commune, Vorniceni village, Negrești village and Sireți village).

The event brought together an impressive number of people of different ages, especially children, parents and teachers who were actively involved during the campaign, March – May 2021, and who were able to enjoy and share the results with the whole community beautiful photos made during the last 3 months, a large part of which are published on the project's group page Say NO to PLASTIC pollution. In total, more than 90 teachers and more than 1600 children and students from 12 preschool, high school and gymnasium educational institutions have adopted an eco-responsible behavior through the project and the campaign, getting involved in reducing plastic pollution and promoting the benefits of collecting separate of these wastes.

The gala was opened with a welcome speech from Mrs. Ala REVENCO, Project Director "Empowerment of citizens in the Republic of Moldova", Association for Efficient and Responsible Governance, who presented the objectives and mission The local grants program of the European Union "Be the change: Involved citizens - sustainable communities", whose beneficiary is also the AO Association for Waste Recovery and Ms. Valentina CASIAN, Mayor of Străseni, the host of the event, who reiterated the importance of such projects for the community and of course appreciated the work and involvement of the ambassadors in supporting and successfully implementing the campaign for a cleaner and less plastic-polluted locality.

According to the agenda, the event continued with recitals of songs and poems "The man is guilty, "where", "Sick is the Earth", "How long we live on this Earth", flamsmob "The plastic alphabet”, the Lozioara dance ensemble, etc. The event took on color and a lot of charm thanks to an impressive eco exhibition, presented by teachers and students from several high schools and kindergartens in the localities benefiting from the project.

A lot of taste and well-being during the gala was provided by the event's partners, the company Sandra Ice Cream Moldova who made delicious ice cream available to the participants and the company  Coca-Cola HBC Moldova who offered fresh juices for children and water for all guests. At the same time, the event was also supported by AO EcoDigital and Eco Recycling SRL, with volunteers from the College of Ecology, who organized a raffle with various prizes for those who got rid of electrical and electronic waste.

Ms. Aurelia BAHNARU, project manager, completed the event with the awarding of all recycling ambassadors, for the effort and responsibility they have shown. In this way, thanking the mayors of the beneficiary localities, who have been the promoters and supporters of this project since its launch, a fact that has repeatedly demonstrated the role of LPAs in community mobilization.

AO "Association for Waste Valorification" is the beneficiary of the European Union's Local Grants Program, launched on the basis of the EU's Single Support Framework, awarded to the Republic of Moldova (2017-2020) within the European Neighborhood Instrument, through the project "Empowering the citizens of Republic of Moldova" (2019-2021), financed by the European Union and implemented by the German International Cooperation Agency (GIZ). The project partner for the Center region is the Association for Efficient and Responsible Governance AGER in partnership with the Public Association Regional Development Agency "Habitat" (AO ADR "Habitat").