Eco123 Revista da Economia e Ecologia
Saturday 22 June 2024.
Continuation of last week’s interview:
Eco123: There are still people who don’t care about their ecological footprint.
LR: People who really don’t care at all…
Eco123: They’re going to eat meat seven days a week, drive diesel cars, fly to Brazil on holiday… and they don’t want to plant trees. What do you do with the opponents who reject your climate plan?
LR: Our investment in young people is very important. And there are many thousands of them who are impacted year after year by our work at the Environmental Education Centre and in schools. We don’t just wait for students, teachers and families to attend the Centre, our training sessions and our capacity-building activities… We go to schools and to associations, so that this training can take place. And we can see that it’s the younger ones who are most vocal about climate issues.
Eco123: Are there any “carrots?
LR: (laughs) Yes, there have to be some! Now, for example, bio-waste collection has been implemented in restaurants, in the Horeca Channel and in our municipal canteens. The canteens are all self-catering; we are all responsible for cooking and feeding our students; we don’t deliver to catering companies… The people who produce the most waste will pay the most. Basically, it’s “pay as you throw”. Our job is to make people realise that it’s necessary to reduce consumption and recycle as much as possible.
