The Novi Sad association "Rezon" launched the initiative "Let the plastic cup not be ours". The goal is to make it disposable plastic cups will be taken out of use in the kindergartens of the "Radosno detinjstvo" pre-school institution.
According to the survey they conducted, about 17.000 children use half a million plastic cups per month.
In Belgrade kindergartens, the number of disposable cups is even higher, and parents also buy them. In April, the "Eco Guard" initiative also launched a petition to abolish this practice. So far, over ten thousand signatures have been collected.
Parents who have addressed the authorities say that as a frequent answer they hear that the inspection services "so ordered".
Entered kindergartens because of the pandemic
Environmental activist Milja Vuković tells "Vreme" that she pointed out this problem back in 2020 with the initiative "My cup, better for nature!" launched on Facebook.
Namely, during the pandemic, the use of plastic cups was approved and they replaced metal cups. The idea was to throw away the cups and thus avoid the possibility of children drinking from other people's cups and thus spreading the infection faster.
"Our goal was not to collect as many signatures as possible, but for as many people as possible to receive information about how harmful it is from a legal, ecological and human point of view," says Vuković.
He adds that such plastic is not recycled. Pride, he says, even children are not better protected from infection.
"Small children are in close contact all the time, put their hands in their mouths and the like, so those glasses cannot protect them. It's a pure convenience for us adults and our disposal of waste from the petrochemical industry," says Vuković.
He also points out that the psychological message that is conveyed to children is important.
"What should we tell them about respect for nature when we chase it with the opposite actions? And children see. "It's not worth the thousands of workshops and paid campaigns when we showed them from a young age how an incredible amount of plastic accumulates and we leave it directly to them as waste," says Vuković.
School canteens blocked, food also in plastic
The interlocutor of "Vremena" recalls that for generations we had stainless steel dishes in schools that were washed and used, and now the canteens are completely blocked.
"There are no more cooks, only waitresses, and the children's food comes in plastic." It is a serious matter that we are losing the services that the state should provide us. This means we are moving into the corporate world, and the corporation does not have the same interests as the state," says Vuković.
Student kitchens have become an exception in schools. Meals are ordered mostly through catering and only for children who stay in day care. On the other hand, fast food establishments are right next to schools.
In order to be able to prepare meals for students in the school kitchen, it is necessary for it to obtain the HASAP standard (system for ensuring food safety in all stages of production, processing and distribution), which are unattainable standards for many, due to lack of money.
A bigger problem than a certificate is finding a cook who wants to work for the minimum wage.
President of the Branch Union of Educational Workers of Serbia "Nezavisnost" Srđan Slovic he said earlier to "Vreme" that the problem with food services was pointed out eight years ago, but it was forgotten.
Microplastics are harmful to health
A United Nations report from last year states that more than 13.000 chemicals are used in the plastic manufacturing process, of which more than 3.000 substances cause concern due to resistance in the environment, accumulation in human and animal organisms, as well as the ability to disrupt the work of hormones, damage reproduction health, nervous system or cause cancer.
Micro and nanoplastics, as well as other chemicals found in plastic packaging, do not necessarily have immediate effects on children's health, but they can have them later and increase the risk of many chronic diseases.
"Children need to see adults fighting for the world they respect. Let's say that those cups that the children see are an act of betrayal. Because we give them lectures about ecology, and they see that we are lying to them," says Vuković.
A 2023 study conducted by the Science and Technology Center of China showed that a child ingests between 723 and 1.489 microplastic particles when using a plastic cup.
Children in kindergartens use up to five glasses a day.
Plastic cups are not used in all kindergartens in Serbia. There are those where metal or glass cups are used. The best alternative is stainless steel cups or bottles.
Despite the will of the citizens, none of the mentioned initiatives in Serbia has yet borne fruit.
