Environmental protection more appealing than ever
Given the current situation with weather disasters in our country, as well as the weather calamities around the globe, and the unpredictable climate changes which affect our lives, now is the right moment to turn to the true protection of the environment.
Background of the environmental protection acknowledgment
Late in 1971, an Australian scientist said that the Earth might become bare in the course of a five year exploitation period, in favor of the rapid profit growth, while it would take more than hundreds of years of preservation and cherish to fully eliminate such damage.
On the fifth of June 1972 there was a Conference on the protection of the environment in Stockholm. That day, the United Nations General Assembly decided to set 5 June as the date marking the World Environment Day. The conference was attended by 113 states that jointly gave a statement about the need for international co-operation in order to preserve environment. The program of environmental protection is UNEP (United Nations Environment Program) and the program activities cover a wide range of issues related to the atmosphere, water and land ecosystems, environmental management and the “green” economy.
World Environment Day is marked every year around the world, and the goal of the manifestation is to raise the global awareness about the environment, gaining greater political attention, launching public activities, and an incentive to personal commitment. On this day many and diverse activities are kicked off, equally including the governmental and non-governmental sector. Examples of some activities held on that day, are: street protests and gatherings, concerts, lectures, educational workshops, round tables and debates, planting trees, media campaigns and various cleaning initiatives.
Every year another city is selected as the main gathering spot. A hosting government or city in a certain year, in co-operation with UNEP, defines the event theme for the given year. Logo is also selected besides the topic and slogan to be used in all promotional materials and activities in connection with that Day. For example, in 2011, the world host was India which launched an initiative titled “Forests – Nature at your Service”. Last year the slogan was “Think, Eat, Save,” and the goal was to highlight the fact that unnecessary food disposal affects the environment.
This year, the main place of celebration is Bridgetown-Barbados. Topic of this year’s celebration is “Small island developing States and climate change”, and the slogan for this year’s marking of the World Environment Day is “Raise Your Voice not the Sea Level”. Emphasis is placed on the global warming and promotion of renewable energy sources.
Relevant events in Serbia
In Serbia this day is marked in similar ways as well as throughout the world. In many bigger cities various promotional activities are organized by non-governmental and governmental organizations with the goal to raise public awareness about the importance of environmental preservation. What we must always have in mind is the fact that any action, be it individual or joint, contributes to global outcome, which would mean that joining the action at least for a single day will have a certain positive impact on the protection of the environment.
How to join
If you still do not know how to participate, maybe you could be guided by 12 environmental commandments:
- Do not expect more than what you give to Nature (Nature);
- Protect this Planet, we neither have another, nor will we get a new one (Planet);
- Take care of the air before it becomes thick, (Air);
- Use the wellspring so that we can also drink water in the mouth of the river (water);
- Beware that country bestows when the mind leads (Country);
- Remember that the tree life is a pledge for the tree of life (plants);
- Do not let migratory birds start refraining from returning to the south, (Animals);
- Include cost of nature conservation in the price of each product (Technology);
- Do not look for loopholes in the laws of nature (Energy);
- Think about the waste which might be our final destination (Waste);
- Do not rob when you build, share with nature (Development).
- Protect the Environment let us escape the end (Man).
Our contribution
Our internet portal, Be Eco Friendly, contributes to raising awareness in Serbia by setting up an single-point online sales system of environmentally friendly products via www.budiekofin.com. By selling and using environmentally friendly products, promotion of environmental events, eco-tourism and eco-publications, we want to contribute to nature conservation and improvement in our country.
Our portal offers manufacturers and visitors information on laws and regulation in the field, news and useful links, contacts of national and international institutions, overview of eco-events, eco-tours info, as well as eco-publications. We offer services and assistance to manufacturers of eco-products, regarding visual identity (graphic design, pre-press, print on recycled and eco-materials, video and audio production, multimedia presentations, animation and web sites), and consulting services for application to national and international funds for ecology, sustainable development and eco-tourism. Our portal offers only products meeting environmental criteria and standards
Besides our internet portal, we contribute through activities of our marketing agency Total Idea. All our activities and business ventures are eco-oriented. In line with these initiatives, we initiated and lead many environmental projects related to eco-design, environmental protection, eco-tourism, including several campaigns: “Say yes to eco bags – Kazi da ekoloskim torbama” and “Sort Out Waste, It’s Not Rocket Science – Razvrstati smece nije umece”.
We are proud to mention our latest project: “Danube Pie” (April 2013 – December 2014) which aims at training companies in Product Innovation through Eco Design. The goal of training, done in cooperation with University of Novi Sad – Enterprise Europe Network EEN, is to train interested entrepreneurs to be more innovative in business and/or manufacturing by lowering production costs through a more efficient use of materials and energy, resulting in minimisation of environmental impact and increase in market presence, as well as introduction of sustainable products increasing small and medium enterprise competitiveness. Call for application is still open for trainings throughout the year. Find out more about the project and application guidelines at the Project’s Facebook page.
We hope to contribute to better environmental protection with joint action and specific action, always in line with well-known maxim: “We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children”.
* We used the following sources:
www.en.wikipedia.org, www.environment.about.com, www.timeanddate.com, www.unep.org.
