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El-Naddaha (The Caller)


 En-Naddāha  (Egyptian Arabic: النداهة “ the caller “) is an Egyptian legend of a naiad-like female spirit who calls men to the Nile, most likely to their death or disappearance. It is specially well known in rural Egypt, both within Lower and Upper Egypt, along the Nile and the Nile’s water canals, the agricultural-based area of Egypt.

You want to know who I am?

     They think I am just a myth, but I am as real as the moon in the night sky. I see them but they cannot see me; they can only hear my silvery voice, but I will let you know how I look like anyway. My skin is as white as ice. Pale, you could say. My eyes are as blue as the ocean. My lashes are long, and my hair is golden. I am always dressed in a silk white dress. I am always barefoot. I live by the Nile River in El Minya, in Upper Egypt, where more than 100,000 people live. I study their every move, the exact posture of their bodies and memorize their names by heart so I can call for them at night as I lay there by the Nile River in the starry night.

I wonder: which name will roll of my tongue first, which name will I utter for the night when the water is calm as mill pond and clear as crystal? The river is like a silver ribbon, laid across the land. The rampaging river moves swiftly, stealing everything in its path. Do I call on Abd El Haleem, tonight? Or do I wait? He is a man in his early 30s. He dark skinned and has green eyes. He has no kids. He only lives with his parents who are quite old, and he supposedly takes care of them. If I call for him, who will take care of these old souls? Who would check on them or find out when they are dead?

 People think I’m a villain, but I am a heroin. I only call on corrupted people even when nobody know that they are. People think I call on men because I’m lonely, but I am only trying to use my voice to make a change in the world. How about his friend Abd El Samiee? Abd El Samei’s existence is useless. He adds nothing to himself or to the world around him, but he causes no harm. So, what’s the point of calling on him?

I keep picturing corpses floating on the surface/ I do not kill them I only lure them with my enchanting voice, and I might sometimes suck away their souls. I am not a murderer I am only a woman in need of a better society for human beings to live in harmony and peace. I lay here and spot from a distance two men walking by. Whom do I call first? Who do I lure into my eternal world? When they are both walking as light as a feather it is so tempting to lure them but who should I pick to be my first guest. It doesn’t matter anyway because as I call for one the other is most likely to stop him and that is who I call the next day but who shall be my gift for tonight? Who shall keep me company until the morning comes? In this urban area where all men almost look the same, it is hard to pick my guests. Especially when it is my duty to carry out the same thing each night. I think I might have figured out who I will call.

 “Mansour” the vowels in his name sound so musical, especially when I remember what he does to society and how excited I am to help the world get rid of him. What Mansour does for a living is the core of corruption. He sells drugs and weapons to the people of Upper Egypt. He is a senseless criminal. He doesn’t deserve to live. I am doing the world justice by calling on him, by luring him into my world and to his fate. His children will mourn him for a while, but they are too young to know the truth. People of Upper Egypt blame me for the death of men while Mansour himself has potentially caused the deaths of many more because Mansour controls “El Menya and anyone who makes a mistake is shot and killed.  He deserves to be called upon. How long it will take him to reach me? How many more times do I have to call his name before he finally arrives? He is coming closer. I can almost see the features of his face his skin is as black as coal and his teeth are as white as snow. He is here now, and everything is as silent as the grave. What shall I do with him? I will let him meet his fate and I won’t be there in the morning to watch his corpse floating on the Nile River for I am only alive at night. My voice is only alive when the moon is bright.

 “El Nadaha”, they call me, but they shall never see who I truly am. For I am only a soft voice who waits by the Nile for the unfortunate souls who dare to wander there at night after they have caused so much corruption of the society, they live in.

Rahma Qader.

Yayım tarihi

Why is it important to protect our personal data?

                With possession of personal information that can be used for identification, anyone who has access to it can form a picture of a person without actually knowing them personally. If our personal data were to be recorded and transmitted without our consent, then the state or other organizations could learn about our personal traits, private life facts, beliefs, financial situation, and even illnesses. They could gain insight into the most personal aspects of our lives, draw conclusions about us, and make decisions affecting our fate without our consent.

“Anonymized” data, stripped of personal characteristics, are no longer subject to protection, as it cannot harm the individual if it is used for statistical or scientific purposes. For example, it is within an individual’s conscientious freedom to choose civil service instead of military service within the framework of military obligations. It is not necessary to disclose who these conscripts were who made this decision. However, information on how many people in a given country choose civil service can be published without restrictions.

The right to informational self-determination is a relatively new fundamental right, which solidified in the second half of the 20th century. The Anglo-Saxon countries were at the forefront of codification: data protection rules were first incorporated into law in the United States in 1966 and in the United Kingdom in 1984.

Two types of solutions have emerged for the legal regulation of data protection today. In some countries, individual rights to informational self-determination and access to public information are regulated by a single law. The law has a dual function: to ensure that individuals are protected against the increasing information demands of the state, while at the same time making documents related to the functioning of state institutions accessible to individuals. As mentioned in the previous chapter, a basic requirement is that citizens’ private information should be made as difficult to obtain as possible, while the state should be as transparent as possible.

In other countries, separate laws regulate the protection of personal data and the right to access public information, and particularly sensitive or complex issues are regulated independently. Examples include laws on the handling of health data or the collection of data by police and national security services.

Many countries, including Canada, the United States, England, New Zealand, Germany, and Turkey, have an ombudsman or board that oversees compliance with data protection regulations. The ombudsman supervises the legality of data controllers’ operations and makes recommendations in cases where practice differs from what is desirable. Those who feel that an institution has collected and stored data about them in a manner that violates their rights may submit a complaint to the ombudsman.

The first significant international regulation can be considered the 1981 Data Protection Convention of the Council of Europe. European states that ratified the data protection convention, including Turkey, committed to complying with the data protection requirements contained in the document. However, this does not mean that individual countries cannot enact stricter rules than those contained in the convention to ensure information self-determination.

In response to the rapid growth of cross-border data flows, the European Union Communication directives in 1995 on how to achieve the dual objectives of allowing data to flow freely across borders while ensuring the protection of data. Directive 95/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council further strengthened data protection requirements for the automated processing of personal data. Separate recommendations were made for those special data processors who handle personal data requiring special protection. The heightened international attention is justified because the disclosure of special data can have extremely detrimental effects on the individual to whom the data relates. In 1987, a recommendation was made for police organizations, and in 1997 for health data processors by the Council of Europe.

Based on the aforementioned documents, the following principles can be observed regarding the protection of personal data:

• Personal data can only be recorded and used with the consent of the individual concerned or in cases determined by law;

• The recorded data must be accurate and up-to-date;

• Personal data can only be processed to the extent necessary and for a limited period of time to achieve the given purpose, after which it must be destroyed;

• Personal data can only be transmitted without the individual’s consent in exceptional circumstances;

• Personal data relating to ethnic origin, conscience, political convictions, and health status are entitled to special protection;

• It is desirable for an ombudsman or body to supervise data processing;

• Violations of data protection rules must be sanctioned by criminal provisions;

• People have the right to know the data recorded about them;

• The individual concerned can request the deletion of unnecessary data and the correction of incorrect data.

Charlie.

Yayım tarihi

Egyptian Folklore

              I grew up with a profound attachment to all the layers of significance beneath every Egyptian cultural viewpoint. Bedtime and oral stories were always laced with stories and myths. Personally, I feel very connected to my own culture and mythology on many levels, spiritual and mental. They are very interesting to me, not only to listen to but also to build on and make your own stories out of.

It is nearly impossible to summarize everything about Egyptian mythology and folklore in one article; it is a vast ocean of information and aspects. But in my next few words, I’ll try to highlight some of the most important aspects of Egyptian folklore . 

Tales of Heroes, Gods and Demons Egyptian folklore is a treasure trove of stories and myths that have been passed down from one generation to another for thousands of years. These stories reflect the country’s rich history, culture, and beliefs, and have played a significant role in shaping the country’s identity. From tales of pharaohs and gods to depictions of everyday life, the folklore of Egypt is a fascinating insight into the legacy of one of the world’s oldest civilizations. 

The gods and goddesses of ancient Egypt were an essential part of their folklore. These divine beings played a role in their lives and were significant to have control over the forces of nature such as the sun, the moon, and the Nile.

One of the most iconic gods in Egyptian mythology is Ra, the sun god, who was considered the most important of all the gods. According to myth, every day Ra would travel across the sky in his boat, and at night he would journey through the underworld before being reborn again in the morning. 

Another important god is Anubis, the god of death and mummification. The ancient Egyptians believed that he weighed the hearts of the deceased in the afterlife to determine whether they had lived a good life on Earth. If they had, they would be allowed into the afterlife, but if not, their heart would be devoured by the crocodile-headed god Ammit.

Another important god is Anubis, the god of death and mummification. The ancient Egyptians believed that he weighed the hearts of the deceased in the afterlife to determine whether they had lived a good life on Earth. If they had, they would be allowed into the afterlife, but if not, their heart would be devoured by the crocodile-headed god Ammit. In addition to the gods, Egypt’s folklore is filled with stories of heroes and heroines. Another important god is Anubis, the god of death and mummification. The ancient Egyptians believed that he weighed the hearts of the deceased in the afterlife to determine whether they had lived a good life on Earth.If they had, they would be allowed into the afterlife, but if not, their heart would be devoured by the crocodile-headed god Ammit.

In addition to the gods, Egypt’s folklore is filled with stories of heroes and heroines.

Perhaps the most famous of these is the tale of Isis and Osiris, the sister and brother who married and ruled over ancient Egypt before Osiris was murdered by their jealous brother Set. Isis rescued Osiris’s remains and used magic to bring him back to life long enough to conceive their son Horus, who avenged his father’s death by defeating Set. Other tales of heroes include the story of Sinuhe, an Egyptian noble who fled into exile after he was falsely accused of conspiracy against the pharaoh. During his travels, he became a mercenary, fought in wars, and eventually made his way back to Egypt where he was pardoned by the new pharaoh and lived out his life in peace.

Egyptian folklore is also filled with tales of demons and other supernatural creatures. One example is the demon Apep, a giant serpent who was believed to threaten the sun god Ra on his daily journey across the sky. Another is the baboon-headed demon Babi, who was believed to be associated with the god of fertility and sexuality.

The folklore of Egypt is an incredibly diverse and complex body of work that has influenced countless artists, writers, and filmmakers over the centuries. Its stories provide valuable insights not only into the beliefs and values ​​of ancient Egyptians but also into the human psyche and our ongoing fascination with myths and legends.

Rahma Qader

  

Yayım tarihi

Global Warming – how can we prevent climate change?!

          Global warming is the long-term heating of the Earth’s surface observed since the pre-industrial period due to human activities, primarily fossil fuel burning, which increases heat-trapping greenhouse gas levels in Earth’s atmosphere.

          Climate change is a long-term change in the average weather patterns that define Earth’s local, regional and global climates. These changes have a broad range of observed effects synonymous with the term.

Leading causes of climate change: 

• Generating power
• Manufacturing goods
• Cutting down forest
• Using transportation
• Producing food
• Powering buildings
• Consuming too much

Accordingly, everyone can help limit climate change. From the way we travel to the electricity we use and the food we eat, we can make a difference.


What can we do?

1. USE LESS PLASTIC
2. SHOP MORE SUSTAINABLY
3. WASTE LESS FOOD
4. SUPPORT ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION
5. LEARN HOW TO RECYCLE PROPERLY
6. CHANGE A LIGHT.  (REPLACING ONE REGULAR LIGHT BULB WITH A COMPACT FLUORESCENT LIGHT BULB WILL SAVE 150 POUNDS OF CARBON DIOXIDE A YEAR.)
7. PLANT A TREE
8. DRIVE LESS
9. USE LESS HOT WATER
10. TURN OFF ELECTRONIC DEVICES

What else?

Lizi Chukhua

Yayım tarihi

Recycle Bins: Types, Colors and How it Helps the Environment

Meaning of Recycling Bin

              Recycling bins are receptacles or medium-sized drums that are normally used to keep different materials that have been considered recyclable. These receptacles serve as temporary containers for items that we want to recycle. After a while, the recycling company comes to empty the container to recycle. Basically, recycle Bins are large containers that you must have seen outside your home, in parks or streets, and are used to store recyclable material. In a recycling bin, you can put different things. You can put paper, metal scraps, plastic magazines, used electronics, and many other things.

4 Ways Recycling Bins Help The Environment

1. Conservation of Resources
2. Saving energy
3. Protection of The Environment
4. Reducing Landfills Content

Types of Recycling Bins, Colours And Types of Items You Can Put In Each Recycling Bin

1. Blue Bin

You would have come across the blue recycling bin. The colour of this recycling bin means something. For the blue recycling bin, you can put paper and paper materials in them. The blue colour signifies the act of saving the trees and ecosystem, particularly the wildlife.
2. Green Bin
The green recycling bins are for collecting organic materials. Collecting organic materials is very important to the environment. Though if you toss them away, they will decompose after a while, they can still be used for other things. You can put foods, flowers, coffee grounds, veggies, fruits, prunings, and food leftovers in your green recycling bin.
3. Red Bin
The red recycling bin is for collecting materials with a thin plastic coating in them. They are mostly used to gather landfill wastes. For the red recycling bin, you can put plastic bags, polystyrene, sticky tape, cling wrap, glazed wrappers, etc.
4. Yellow Bin
The yellow recycling bin is a more encompassing bin you can have in the environment. It is a mixed recycling bin, and it contains different kinds of things. You can put glass bottles, cardboard, newspaper, plastic, aluminium cans, juice and milk cartons, office papers, and coffee cups with lids (Disposable ones).
5. White Bin
The white recycling bin is for collecting soft plastics. We mean materials that are coated with plastics or made with a thin lining of plastics by soft plastics. For the white recycling bins, you can put plastic bags, biscuit packets, bubble wraps, cling wraps, frozen foods, confectionary bags, etc.

Lizi Chuckhua

Yayım tarihi

Sustainable Tourism

Our column on sustainability cannot certainly be missing an article on sustainable tourism. But what is it and how can we achieve it?

 

There are several definitions of this concept, but according to the UNWTO (the United Nations World Tourism Organisation) it can be defined as a kind of “tourism that takes full account of its current and future economic, social and environmental impacts, addressing the needs of visitors, the industry, the environment and host communities”. So, this type of tourism tries first to make optimal use of environmental resources that are important for maintaining essential ecological processes and helping to conserve natural heritage and biodiversity. Indeed, tourism can be related to travel for leisure, business and visiting friends and relatives and so it also includes means of transportation related to tourism. Without travel, there is no tourism, so the concept of sustainable tourism is tightly linked to the concept of sustainable transport. Many governments took several measures in this field, for example giving discounts on ‘green’ transportation, like bikes or trains.

Then, it is also useful to raise respect for the socio-cultural authenticity of host communities, conserve their built and living cultural heritage and traditional values, and contribute to intercultural understanding. In fact, local communities benefit from sustainable tourism through economic development, job creation, and infrastructure development.

Also, it helps to ensure viable and long-term economic operations, providing socio-economic benefits to all stakeholders, including stable employment and income-earning opportunities and social services to host communities, therefore contributing to poverty alleviation. Sustainable tourism is also mentioned in some of the SDGs, which are the numbers 8, 12 and 14, which pursue it as a goal to achieve before 2030.

                                    

 

Moreover, there are other similar definitions connected to sustainable tourism that is also used in daily life. One of these is responsible tourism, which refers to the behaviours and practices that can lead to sustainable tourism. For example, backpacker tourism is a trend that contributes to sustainability from the various environmental, economic, and cultural activities associated with it. Another one is ecotourism, which is a sustainable form of tourism in natural areas, that focuses primarily on experiencing and learning about nature; it is in fact aimed at contributing to the conservation or preservation of such natural areas, educating travellers on ecological conservation.

 

Like all the ideas connected to sustainability, also the concept of sustainable tourism has been criticised by some scholars which were claiming that it would be impossible to have full and perfect sustainability, because of the inner conflicts between equity, economy, and ecology. This is undoubtedly true and difficult to achieve for sure, but still, there are a lot of good practices in the field of sustainable tourism that are helping both tourists and local people to learn how to travel in a sustainable way. Governments together with NGOs or international organisations are indeed committed to this purpose and are making improvements all around the world. We can find examples of this all over the world, from the Six Senses Fiji resort, which is powered solely on solar power, recycles rainwater, runs on a low-waste model, and uses handiwork such as furnishings and artwork created by local villagers; to the Mdumbi, a backpackers on the Wild Coast of South Africa, that uses energy efficiency, solar power and waste management, and involve tourists in local community life…

But of course, sustainable tourism should be accessible to everyone, not only to people who could afford these resorts that could be maybe a little expensive; so the solution is very simple: choosing to travel with the least polluting means of transport and being respectful of nature.


Debora Vezzoli

Yayım tarihi

Life in plastic is (not) fantastic

Did you know that there are different types of plastic? And also, did you know that sometimes recycling it’s more harmful than safe, both for people and for the environment?

In this article we will talk about the origins of plastic and its different development, explaining which are its differences and usages.

The origin of plastic can be traced back to the 19th century when the first synthetic polymer was invented by John Wesley Hyatt following the need of human beings to have something that would last longer than natural resources to build new things. After a few decades, in 1907, Leo Baekeland invented Bakelite, the first fully synthetic plastic, meaning it contained no molecules found in nature. From here the industry of plastic started to grow and produce more plastic items, for a thousand different purposes, but already in the middle of the 20th century scientists understood that plastic was causing environmental problems, and nowadays these concerns are increasing. This is happening mainly for one reason: plastic lasts forever in the environment and, even if the industry offered recycling as a solution, not all plastic is recyclable. Recycling is indeed a long process that requires not only the effort of the whole citizenry but also and especially a great contribution from the local government. Then, there are different kinds of plastic, usually differentiated internationally by the numbers they have written on their items. These numbers are from 1 to 7, but this doesn’t mean the number of times they can be recycled nor in which bin we have to throw them, it’s just to differentiate for the consumers the kind of plastic they’re made of (scientifically called “resin identification code”). The first one is called PET and it represents a clear hard plastic often used as single-use food and drinks containers; this is the easiest to recycle. The second one is HDPE and which is a hard plastic not as transparent PET, that is often used for shampoo bottles or yoghurt containers, and also this one is the easiest to recycle. PVC is frequently used for vinyl and pipes, and it’s more difficult to recycle because it requires separation from other plastics. Then, the LDPE is a soft flexible plastic that is often used, for example, as frozen food bags; also for this type, there must be a separation of its different films (its components are usually HDPE and LDPE films). The PP is commonly found in caps and straws, and it’s one of the least recycled post-consumer plastics, also because of its complexity. The process of recycling is even worse and way more difficult to apply with the last two types: the PS, which is commonly found as single-use coffee cups, and all the other types of plastics that can be found for example in mixed plastics containers and items.

To sum up, when people think it is a good action to reuse the plastic bottle they bought and they fill it again and again, well, it’s for sure a nice thing for the environment but not for themselves. At the same time, when people are trying to do their part in throwing in the right bin, well, it’s again a good thing for themselves because they could feel better and relieved, but still not enough to help with the whole and long process of recycling. So, it is essential to get the right information and not just to follow the ‘green wave’ that is apparently good (and sometimes can also have good intentions, why not) but that nowadays is mostly used as a smart form of marketing.

Debora Vezzoli

Yayım tarihi

Sustainable Fashion

 

               Sustainable fashion describes products, processes, activities, and actors aiming to achieve a carbon-neutral fashion industry, built on equality, social justice, animal welfare, and ecological integrity. Sustainable fashion concerns more than addressing fashion textiles or products.

               It addresses the entire process in which clothing is produced, consumed and disposed of; who, what, how, when, where and the expected useful life of the product before entering the landfill. The sustainable movement looks to combat the large carbon footprint that fast fashion has created by reducing the environmental impact of fashion such as air pollution, water pollution and overall climate change.

               The goal of sustainable fashion is to create flourishing ecosystems and communities through its activity. The movement believes that clothing companies ought to place environmental, social, and ethical improvements on management’s agenda

              Sustainable fashion brands typically use natural resources, such as organic cotton, rubber or bamboo, and avoid using harmful chemicals in their production process. Sustainable fashion companies often work with fair trade certified factories to ensure that their workers are paid a livable wage and work in safe conditions. By shopping for sustainable fashion, consumers can help support brands that are working to positively impact the planet.

           Sustainable fashion is very impressive because of 5 basic reasons:

  1. Sustainable fashion creates less waste
  2. Sustainable Fashion Ensures Fair Wages & Proper Working Conditions
  3. Sustainable Fashion Reduces CO2 & Other Greenhouse Gases Emission
  4. Sustainable Fashion Saves Water
  5. Sustainable Fashion Saves Animal Lives

How To Achieve Sustainable Fashion

  1. What Makes A Fashion Brand Sustainable?

Imagine this: A clothing brand is considered “ethical” for ensuring proper working conditions and fair wages for garment workers. However, if the same ethical label uses plastic and other synthetic materials, it falls into the non-eco-friendly category. Moreover, if it uses animal leather, the brand becomes unethical from an animal welfare angle. So in order for a label to be considered sustainable, it is not sufficient to perform one of the mentioned activities. It must abide by as many as possible terms to ensure environmental and social sustainability.

  1. The Issue Of Greenwashing

In very simple terms, greenwashing happens when companies claim they are doing good for the environment (or social justice) while they are not!

According to Wikipedia – Greenwashing, also called “green sheen”, is a form of marketing spin in which marketing IS deceptively used to persuade the public that an organization’s products, aims and policies, are environmentally friendly.

Greenwashing in fashion often happens through deceptive certifications. The purpose of certifications in fashion is to build trust between buyers and retailers. However, for a company to ‘obtain’ one of these certifications, it is often sufficient to produce a single organic cotton t-shirt. In reality, sustainable fashion certificates are granted to whoever pays for them. It is a minefield where large corporations amass certificate after certificate while small family labels that cannot afford to pay for certifications are left out and made to look unethical or unsustainable.

  • There are a few things you can do to ensure the garment you buy is not ‘greenwashed’.
  • Check the certificate issuer – is it an independent or a commercial enterprise?
  • See where the materials in your product are coming from.
  • See if the brand’s philosophy resonates with yours.
  • What is the brand’s view on the future of fashion?
  • Check if the brand is present on dedicated marketplaces for vintage clothing and sustainable fashion.
  • Finally, ask the brand questions about the materials used and see how open and prompt they are.
  • If you don’t get an answer, that’s a bad sign, no matter how many sustainable certificates they have.

Lizi Chukhua 

Yayım tarihi

A glimpse on the recycling and waste disposal in Italy

Interview Giuseppe Vezzoli, an employee of A2A company.

  • Welcome, Mr. Vezzoli. First of all, we would like to ask you to give us a brief introduction to what your company is and what are they doing.

Yes, sure, thanks for inviting me. So, A2A is an Italian holding company born in 2008 from the fusion of 3 big multi-utility companies in the north of Italy. It can be defined as a life company because it deals with energy, water and the environment, and its aim is to connect these sectors to drive towards an ecological transition. A2A gives services to the citizens in terms of electricity and gas, drinking water and district heating; also, it deals with the collection and disposal of waste, generating new resources from it. Personally, I work in the district of urban waste and hygiene, where we take care of different activities, from door-to-door sorted waste collection to controlled-access containers or street cleaning vehicles with automated sweeping arms, and I am the supervisor of it in the city of Brescia.

  • How is the separate collection of waste organised in Italy now? And how was it before? 

In almost all of Italy there is a separate collection of waste, of course with some differences in the type of waste bins and the level of participation of citizens. Then, every municipality organizes recycling in a different way, even if of course there’s a national law that regulates it. For what concerns the city of Brescia, the separate collection started 20 years ago when the municipality put different bins for plastic, paper, glass, organic waste and undifferentiated waste (that cannot be recycled nor transformable into new materials or energy).

In 2016 it has been launched a new project established door-to-door collection of glass, plastic and paper, once per week (and so these bins have been removed from the streets); instead, for what concerns organic and undifferentiated waste, there are still bins in all the city. This new system has been introduced for improving the landscape of the city, and especially for increasing the quantity of material that goes through a new cycle of life (production and consumption), so that it is recycled and recuperated faster.

Another peculiarity is the tax on waste, which differs in each municipality, according to different reasons, for example depending on how many square metres that is covered, or on family members.

  • What do you think is the most efficient system of waste management? Why?

Time ago, in Brescia, we had a landfill, but from 1998 it has been built the incinerator. In my opinion, this is the most efficient and safe way, because good waste management has to give us the certainty that what we dispose of will be done in a way that won’t harm the environment and ourselves. So I believe that the incinerator better meets these demands, because it is controlled by different local and national agencies, and it also respects European standards on emissions. Instead, the landfill can be controlled but after the waste goes deeper and deeper into the land, we can’t be sure that it will not contaminate it, and also of course it has a terrible smell for people living next to it. Moreover, this system of burning waste, it is produced energy for district heating. Of course, it can’t be thrown all sorts of waste: this has to be differentiated before in order to not release harmful toxins, and the burning has to be controlled.

  • What are the advantages of recycling? And what are the disadvantages?

One of the main advantages of recycling is for sure that with it we exploit less raw materials, for example avoiding cutting trees or using new gum or glass; and at the same time, with what we have, we will give it new life through specific procedures. Like this, we can pollute less and also generate new energy. One disadvantage of this can be that, to do these operations, we need to employ more people that have to do a more tiring job for the collection of the waste, which must be collected in a separate way. As a consequence, before there was only one bin and so one vehicle, but now with more bins we also require more vehicles.

Also, someone can say that it takes time to separate things and go to different places to throw them… and also it requires attention and education to understand and learn in which bin you should throw them. That’s why this topic requires efforts both from people and governments, and it should be invested in all the processes of education of the citizens and in the schools.


 

A2A Termovalorizzatore, Brescia

  • Thank you for being part of our interview. 

Debora Vezzoli

Yayım tarihi

An Overview of Sustainability 

                In the last decade, we have been hearing -and seeing- a lot of the word sustainability and other words connected to it, and we have experienced a new wave of ‘green’ campaigns, conducted by both individuals and companies. But what does sustainability really mean? And why did it become so famous and important? 

Let’s start with its definition, which is many and different, but I believe that the one given by the United Nations during the first Conference on the environment in 1972 could be the most appropriate. This event was the first global one where sustainability appeared as an important  

and urgent issue, and it was defined as “meeting the needs of the present without  compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” In my opinion, this is the best definition mainly for two reasons. First of all, it makes us think about sustainability in a wider and more general way, not only about the environment or recycling. In fact, contrary to what many people think, this concept relates to every field of our lives, from the responsible consumption of food to the purchasing of clothes, but also the way we move in our lives, for example choosing public transportation instead of the car… 

So, this is a dynamic concept and it basically concerns three dimensions: environment,  society and economy.

The first concern on sustainability was indeed focused on solving the pollution problem in the early ‘60s, and it brought about the establishment of various environmental organizations, such as Green Peace (1971). Then it had further developments, and its fields have been broadened into climate change, biodiversity loss, ozone depletion, and many others. The second dimension refers to the sustainability of a society, and its ability to live in a viable way and to share and reach common goals. These goals are, for example, the health and well-being of a community, which are also connected to and depend on environmental sustainability. These are in fact important to avoid situations like poverty and social exclusion. 

The third dimension is referring to economic growth and it’s the most controversial one.  

Many researchers are indeed against the concept of sustainability because they see it as an impossible aim to reach in the actual society. These scholars argue that economic development is by nature in contradiction with environmental protection and sustainability. But, on the other side, there are many researchers that elaborated on different theories to reduce the environmental impact and limit the use of natural resources. These three dimensions are deeply interconnected, as we can see in the picture, and each of them must be taken into consideration in order to reach the final goal, sustainability. 

The second reason why the above-mentioned definition is important is that it makes us reflect on how all of this depends on people, and it calls for our actions. Connected to this, there is also another important term that is sustainable development, which can be used as a  synonym for sustainability and can be seen as its practical side. A lot of activities have been done on this over the years, and we could say that the most recent effort was made with the creation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in 2015 by the United Nations General  Assembly. 

This contains the famous Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are 17 aims elaborated by signatory Countries of the Agenda as a global partnership to reach sustainability. 

 

These SDGs encompass all fields of sustainable development, from health to education, or from climate action to gender equality. More in detail, you can see from the picture the single goal with its aim, and they have inside between 8 and 12 targets to reach. Each target has one or more indicators that are used to check the progress of the target, and these are monitored by the United Nations Statistics Division. As you can notice, these are putting together the 3  dimensions described before, trying to solve not only environmental issues but also economic and social ones. 

To sum up, sustainability has an old and long history, even if nowadays it is raising more and more attention. This is due to several reasons, one of them could be that our planet’s situation is becoming ever more dramatic, from the melting of the Arctic to famine all over the world, and more and more people are experiencing this. Also, the Covid-19 pandemic spreading worldwide was another signal of the fact that even the so-called developed societies are weak,  and that we live in a world where natural resources are not limitless. So, this is definitely a huge issue, and also for this reason many people are critical of this concept and SDGs and their implementation. Personally, I believe that a critical approach is not constructive, and we should all try to live in a sustainable way as much as we can, starting to share good practices in our neighbourhood.

These Goals should be more than words written on a paper, and they should be taken as moral and individual imperative. 

Debora Vezzoli

Yayım tarihi

The Green Dictionary: a book on the environment

              Nowadays, the environment and its future are a crucial field of discussion, and many activities have been done all around the world to protect it. One interesting activity, that is unfortunately unknown to most people, is the so-called Green Tuesday. This was invented by Jonah Mytro to go against Black Friday -that I’m sure you will all know better- which is a day of crazy sales in the world of fashion and people go shopping everywhere in the world. But, of course, most of the sales are done by fast fashion brands, so this is not sustainable at all and it shows how our society is becoming more and more consumerist. So, that’s why Mytro wanted to promote a day on which people could do some eco-friendly purchases. It was from this nice initiative that I came up with the idea of creating a ‘green’ dictionary for our project, that contains the basic words connected to sustainable development, publishing a new word every Tuesday, as so to celebrate this ‘green’ day. The following words are the ones contained in our virtual dictionary.

  • Biodegradable: we usually see this word on some products that we buy, such as shampoo or bags at the supermarket. But what does it actually mean? Biodegradable products are able to break down quickly and safely into mostly harmless compounds. But so, what makes a substance biodegradable? Anything that is plant-based, animal-based or natural mineral-based products is usually biodegradable. However, they will break down at different rates depending on the original material it’s made of and how much it has been processed.
  • Compostable: this word refers to a product that is capable of disintegrating into natural and non-toxic elements. This is a natural process and so it doesn’t harm the environment, and the natural breakdown of these kinds of products usually takes around 90 days. It’s usually confused with the previous word, but here is the main difference: biodegradable material can take an undetermined time to break down. In contrast, compostable materials will decompose into natural elements within a specific time frame.
  • Eco-friendly: this is a label made to define a way of living, and also items and materials that are not harmful to the environment. Nevertheless, nowadays more and more companies are using this term and others connected to the environment in a wrong way.
  • Green marketing: is a new marketing approach, and it refers to the practice of developing and advertising products based on their real sustainability. This includes a lot of activities, from product modification, and changes to the production process, to sustainable packaging, but also modifying advertising.
  • Greenwash: greenwashing is a practice that is more and more often used by companies to persuade the public that their products, aims, and policies are environmentally friendly when they are obviously not. This happens also when green marketing is badly developed and turns into a lie, that unfortunately has been applied for years by many multinationals but also smaller companies. So, consumers must be aware of this and do research before choosing products only because they have a green label on them. Several countries are taking measures against this practice, but it’s still not regulated everywhere.
  • Organic: it is more and more common to see supermarket products with this adjective on them. But what does organic really mean? When associated with a food or a drink, organic defines the way those items were produced, avoiding the use of artificial chemicals.
  • Reduce: this is the first word of the famous campaign of the 3 R “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle”, which represents a way to reach sustainability. This word means “to become or to make something become smaller in size, amount, degree, importance”. In our case, we refer to reducing buying things, from food to clothes, in order to reduce the resulting waste.
  • Reuse: it is the action or practice of using an item, whether for its original purpose or to fulfil a different function. It should be distinguished from recycling, which is the breaking down of used items to make raw materials for the manufacture of new products.
  • Recycle: this is the last word of the 3R campaign and it means “to sort and collect rubbish in order to treat it and produce useful materials that can be used again”. We usually use this word in reference to the separate collection which is very important to achieve the sustainability goal. Every country has its own legislation on this, but in most cases, we can find waste sorting divided into plastic, glass, paper and organic waste.
  • Sustainability: there are many definitions of sustainability, and I took the one given by the Cambridge Dictionary, that is more connected to the environmental problem: “the quality of causing little or no damage to the environment and therefore able to continue for a long time”. As we can see from this definition, the concept is very huge and it’s related to all fields of our lives, from what we eat to how we move or to what we wear.

So, this is our pocket dictionary on the environment, and we hope it will be useful for clarifying doubts on the topic and also to raise awareness before buying. 

Now you are ready to join the ‘green’ revolution!

Debora Vezzoli

Yayım tarihi

AVRUPA GÜNÜ KUTLU OLSUN!

5 Mayıs 1949’da Avrupa Konseyi kurulmuş ve bu tarih II. Dünya Savaşı’ndan çıkış için en önemli ümitlerden biri sayılmıştır. 5 Mayıs tarihi 1964 yılından bu yana Avrupa Günü olarak kutlanmaktadır.

9 Mayıs 1950 tarihinde ise Fransız Dışişleri Bakanı Robert Schuman, Avrupa’da barışçıl ilişkilerin kalıcı şekilde kurulması gerektiğini belirterek daha sistematik ve organize bir Avrupa kurmak gayesiyle bir kanun teklifi açıklamıştır. “Schuman Bildirisi” olarak da bilinen bu tasarı, bugün Avrupa Birliği olarak kabul ettiğimiz kurumun yapı taşı olarak görülmektedir. 1985 yılında Milan’da yapılan Zirve sonrasında 9 Mayıs’ın “Avrupa Günü” olarak kutlanılması kararı alınmıştır. Bu tarihten itibaren de her yıl 9 Mayıs Avrupa Günü, gerek üye ülkelerde gerekse aday ve potansiyel aday ülkelerde çeşitli etkinliklerle kutlanmaktadır.

Yayım tarihi

ESC volunteer at TDD

volunteer-topluma



My name is Águeda Rubio Merello. I’m 24 and I am from Jerez, a city in the south of Spain.🇪🇸
I was a ESC volunteer at Topluma Destek Derneği.

 

 

I was the past two months I have been voluntering for the Europeans Solidarity Corps at the beutiful city of Çanakkale which is located in the west part of Turkey.

I worked throw you throught social media meinly Instagram collaboration with the application, with their Association activities and I prepared spanish workshops and culture Spanish and also introducing my students to Spanish dishes and culture. I did English classes with english conversation topics for discussion and talk about differents perspectives and point of view while I improving English. Also helpling with the magazine of the association writting articles and with their desing and planification of the magazine in general.

Besides that I experienced I absolutely love this experience and I will encourage you to do something like this not only because he had to know other culture also because you meet so many differents people and always gives you a different perspective of the life in your empathy when you get to know diferents people in diferents realities proffesionally.

I have improve my English because I was teaching Spanish as well as the the social media management skills, writing skills with the magazine so I did have me a lot I learned a lot and it was such a changing experience and enriching that i would highly recommend you do one day if you have the opportunity so if you do not miss that opportunity and enjoying the European Solidarity Corps.

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