BCIF :: Development Programs :: Green List of Serbia

Green List of Serbia

Green List of Serbia is BCIF’s development program, launched in cooperation with Institute for Sustainable Communities (ISC) and with financial aid from US AID. The program is designed for organizations which in their work have a goal to preserve and protect natural environment and sustainable development. The goal of the program is to provide support, development and connection of local ecological organizations which would work, as equal partners, along with other people in a community, on improving sustainable development in Serbia.

Members of Green List of Serbia are ecological organizations which have in their focus recycling, biodiversity, and education of the young in the domain of preserving the environment. BCIF provides support to ecological organizations through the exchange of information and experiences through mailing lists and meetings organizations. Furthermore, BCIF has provided necessary education to organizations for development of activity plan directed towards the solving of ecological problems, and planning of mutual actions and campaigns to protect the environment.

Complete work of Green List of Serbia network has resulted in launching of the great ecological national campaign Oplaneti se! Let’s eliminate landfills during 2009, aimed at solving the garbage disposal problem in Serbia, and Oplaneti se! – Do recycle – dedicated to recycling, during 2010 and the continuation of Oplaneti se! Do recycle campaign– from November 2011 to October 2012- aimed at the improvement of primary waste selection.

Oplaneti se! Do recycle! (2011 - 2012)

Within the new ecological campaign Oplaneti se! Do recycle, local environment organizations’ network Green List of Serbia and Green Initiatives wish to increase the participation of citizens, recycling businesses and local institutions in the field of collecting recyclable materials by realizing their activities aimed at waste collection.
Over 40 tons of plastic, paper, electronic and electric waste will be collected during the realization of actions in 12 cities in Serbia.  The waste will be taken to recycling plants.

Primary waste selection with active participation of the citizens will be promoted within local actions in each of the twelve cities (Bački Petrovac, Novi Sad, Kruševac, Trstenik, Raška, Gornji Milanovac, Vranje, Vučje, Pirot, Knjaževac, Niš, Bor and Pirot).   The activities will fore mostly be aimed at establishing sustainable mechanisms for primary waste selection on the local level, by connecting recycling companies and operators (paper, PET, metal and electronic and electric waste) on one side with other local eco societies, local institutions and the citizens on the other.

Oplaneti se! Do Recycle campaign is being realized as the part of Green Initiative’s eco activities aimed at the improvement of primary waste selection on the local and national level and the reform of waste management praxis in Serbia.

Waste is not Garbage – Waste is a Resource!

Every day the citizens of Serbia throw away 5000 tons of waste on landfills.  Almost half of that waste is taken to illegal dumps which are placed next to waterways, city parks and parks for children.  In the EU countries 40% of waste material is being recycled on average per year.  The percentage of recycled waste is four times less in Serbia.  50 million euros is thrown away per year in Serbia in the form of secondary waste which may be recycled.

The realization of this year’s campaign has been enabled by Balkan Community Initiatives Fund (BCIF) in cooperation with Institute for Sustainable Communities (ISC) and Young Researchers of Serbia, with financial support from United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and Royal Netherlands Embassy.

Oplaneti se! Do recycle (2010)

In 2010 Green List of Serbia ad Balkan Community Initiatives Fund (BCIF) are continuing the national campaign OPLNAETI SE! DO RECYCLE in order to solve the garbage disposal problem in Serbia, by creating conditions for selection and separation of waste as a necessary condition for the recycling process. During the course of campaign 12 local and one national action will be organized, as well as cycling ecological caravan.

Within the scope of local actions in 12 cities, the citizens will have a chance to participate in a number of interactive happenings with the aim to collect and select various types of waste. A number of activities which are oriented towards the promotion of recycling will be organized on actions. Special attraction will be robot containers which have the ability to „talk“. After putting the waste in robots, the robots will „tell“ children and citizens what is happening with their can, old papers or a plastic bottle after the process of recycling.

The great central action will be held in Belgrade on June, 5th on World Environment Day. BCIF and Green List of Serbia, in cooperation with The Scout Organization of Serbia, will provide participation of over 500 young people from all over Serbia. The action will take place in Kalemegdan fortress, where the activists will invite the citizens of Belgrade, the young people chiefly, to participate in the activities of promoting the selection of waste through games and in other creative ways.

After the finish of local actions and the central one, about 30 activists of Green List of Serbia will endeavor on a promotional – ecological cycling caravan. The caravan will start in Vranje on June, 25th. It will end in Belgrade on July, 7th, after passing through 11 cities. The cyclists will cover close to 500 km in 12 days, during which they will carry ecological messages.

This year the campaign is carried out in partnership with Institute for Sustainable Communities (ISC), US AID and Telenor foundation. Media partner of the campaign is Radio Television of Serbia.


Oplaneti se! Let’s eliminate landfills (2009)

Why do we need to be more conscious? A citizen of Serbia leaves on average 300 kg of house waste per year to their offspring. Almost half of that waste is put on illegal landfills which are placed next to rivers, city squares and parks for children. Inadequate garbage disposal has a negative effect on the natural environment: air, underground and surface waters, soil, which leads indirectly to endangering of flora, fauna and the people. In the EU countries on average 40 per cent of garbage material is recycled per year, while in Serbia the percentage of recycled waste is almost four times as little. Waste is not garbage, it is raw material! Organizations and members of ecological network Green List of Serbi a has united in order to launch the solving of illegal landfills problem in Serbia.

By Oplaneti se! Let’s eliminate landfills campaign, Green List of Serbia has a goal to encourage the authorities, citizens, ecological organizations, business representatives, media and other people in society to more actively participate in solving of garbage disposal problem in Serbia.

Green List, along with the citizens, has during 2009 organized twelve landfill cleaning actions in 11 cities of Serbia (Valjevo, Gornji Milanovac, Trstenik, Kruševac, Raška, Knjaževac, Aleksinac, Niš, Vranje, Žagubica, Vučje), which Exit festival has supported with music happenings. During the four months of the campaign, Green List activists have managed to clean a number of illegal landfills and eliminate over 300 m3 of waste in 11 cities.

One of the actions of the campaign was cycling ecological caravan which was 537 km long, from Vranje to Novi Sad. The caravan started on June, 23rd from Vranje, and it ended in Novi Sad shortly before the start of Exit music festival on July, 8th. In every city through which they passed, the cyclists have left a green trace in the form of a planted tree.

In partnership with Exit, Green List has launched during the duration of festival (July 9th – July 12th, 2009) a number of activities in Petrovaradin fortress and Exit camp, with a goal to encourage visitors themselves to have a responsible relation towards the environment.

The implementation of the campaign has been enabled by Balkan Community Initiatives Fund (BCIF)  in partnership with Institute for Sustainable Communities (ISC)  with financial support from United States Agency for International Development (USAID), through The Civil Society Advocacy Initiative program. The campaign has been supported by Ministry of Environment, Mining and Spatial Planning. Media support has been provided by RTV B92.  EXIT music festival and Public Relations Society of Serbia were partners on the project.