PIVARA SKOPJE, PAKOMAK, MAN AND MOUNTAIN, AND THE CITY OF SKOPJE WITH THE BIGGEST ACTION SO FAR FOR CLEANING AND AFFORESTATION OF THE COUNTRY – GENERALKA WEEKEND 2022
In the spring part of the action, which will take place in most municipalities from 6 to 8 May 2022, all dry waste will be collected from locations that will be determined by each municipality. It is planned that employees and members of the management team of Pivara Skopje, together with the administration of the City of Skopje and other partners and interested citizens, on Friday, May 6, to collect waste from the top, pedestrian paths and slopes of Mount Vodno, thus and the beginning of Generalka Weekend 2022 will be officially marked.
“With the latest environmental action – Generalka Weekend 2022 – which we are implementing together with our partners and will be the largest action of its kind in the country so far, we want to achieve a double effect in nature protection. With the spring part of this action, we want to collect waste from many locations across the country and with the autumn part we want to contribute to the enrichment of the forest fund. In this way we continue to realize the platform “World Without Waste” and the initiative to reduce CO2 in the atmosphere, which are part of our long-term strategy for sustainable development, and at the same time contribute to the good of the whole community, to which we all Skopje Brewery we are especially proud,“ said Marija Mininchik, Community Partnerships Manager at Pivara Skopje.
“Generalka Weekend 2022 is a continuation of the actions for cleaning the quay and the waters of Vardar and Lake Matka, which together with our partners we have implemented in the past few years. But this action has another special meaning and that is that we organize it in the year when we celebrate 100 years since the founding of Pivara Skopje, which further shows how important for us the clean environment and the interests of the community. Also, we are especially glad that every year and with each new eco-action, the number of partners involved in their organization increases along with the number of volunteers who take part in them, as well as the number of locations that will be cleaned. The fact that this year Generalka Weekend will take place in 26 municipalities shows that the awareness in the community that together we can contribute more to a cleaner and healthier nature is growing, which is one of the main goals of these eco-actions,” Mininchik emphasized.
Pakomak will take care of the collected waste during the action this time too as it will select and recycle it properly in cooperation with the local utility companies.
„We are glad that this action is already being transformed from a local traditional activity into an activity of national character, supported by a growing number of public institutions and municipalities, embassies, private companies, but also volunteers. This is one of the ways to raise the public awareness for protection of the environment that surrounds us, by showing personal example. If everyone would make sure that the packaging waste ends up in the appropriate bin, we would have a much cleaner and better environment for us, but also for the future generations“, said Iko Bardarovski, Business Development and Communication Manager at Pakomak, the first and largest specialized packaging waste management company in the country.
As a continuation of the actions for spring cleaning, within Generalka Weekend 2022 an afforestation action is planned to be carried out in the fall. The number of trees that will be planted will depend on the amount of waste that will be collected during the spring cleaning becouse for every 10 kilograms of waste collected, one tree will be planted. An additional number of seedlings will be provided from the funds that will be donated through the platform called ‘Soncheva gora’ (Sunny Forest) which will be open to all interested individuals and companies. The locations for planting the new trees and their type will be determined in cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Economy, PE National Forests, the Institute of Biology and Geology at the University St. Kiril and Metodij and civic organizations actively working in this field.
“The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Economy welcomes this action for improvement and protection of the environment. In support of this initiative, the Ministry through its regular program for expanded reproduction of forests, which finances the afforestation of bare lands in our country, through the PE National Forests will dedicate and plant one seedling for every 10 kg of collected waste, with the possibility of these newly forested areas to be named ‘Sunny Forest’,” said Sasa Jovanovich, Head of the Forestry and Hunting Department at MAFWE.
“Since we started GENERALKA WEEKEND in 2021, we were able to connect all layers of our community – citizens, NGOs, municipalities, great companies and institutions to follow a common goal: Recyle the waste of the past into a green future that should give hope and opportunities for our and next generations to come in our country. Our goal is to clean our homeland from 2021-2031 and now it´s time to get dirty and clean!” said Gordana Sofija from the organizers of „GENERALKA WEEKEND” Man And Mountain.
Also, as an integral part of “Generalka Weekend 2022” it is planned to organize a special festival in Kriva Palanka, which through a combination of good music, food, drinks and presentation of local artists and crafts, will celebrate the action for spring cleaning. Representatives of the Man And Mountain says that such celebrations will contribute to this action to grow into a traditional one and to take place every year.
All information related to the organization of Generalka Weekend 2022, including the schedule of cleaning actions per municipality, can be found on the Facebook group GENERALKA WEEKEND: https://www.facebook.com/groups/generalka.weekend where all the interesting news, photos and videos from the volunteer actions will be uploaded and shared.
