Support of the school competition "ECOclass"
On May 18, 2015 in Kyiv an awarding ceremony of the participants of the Second All-Ukrainian competition for school youth "ECOclass" was held. This project was initiated by the “Social Center of Gennady Vykhodtsev” and implemented by the trade network “Foxtrot. Home Appliances” with the support of international partner - the Swiss Risk Reduction Foundation.
The contest "ECOclass" that has been held under the slogan "Think - globally, act - locally!", for the second consecutive year brings together the efforts of children, parents, teachers and all concerned citizens to address environmental issues in all regions of Ukraine. The competition was attended by pupils of 1-11 classes, creative pupils associations, as well as teachers. Competition projects in three categories "ECOdesign", "ECOinnovation" and "ECOcreativ" were sent from more than 400 schools and 520 environmental groups, and 700 000 people took part in the competition!
The scale of the Second All-Ukrainian competition "ECOclass" is truly impressive, as within its framework participants have cleaned 25 thousand hectares; planted 55 thousand bushes and 112 thousand trees; planted 12 thousand flowering plants; laid 58 parks; conducted 3240 environmental events; produced and placed 1820 feeders and birdhouses; streamlined and cleared the 302 beds of rivers, springs, ponds, and coastal strips; transferred for recycling 2,715 kg of glass; disposed 1100 kg of plastic materials; handed over for recycling 805 kg of batteries; organized 324 environmental days and many other useful things.
"We are confident that the projects that have been developed and presented by the participants of the of the contest "ECOclass", will not only improve the environmental situation in Ukraine, but also will provide an opportunity to avoid the pollution of our planet in the future - said the organizer of the competition, the executive director of the trade network Foxtrot Vyacheslav Povroznik. - I would like to wish the guys success in next competitions, more creativity, thought, courage. I want you to see how your ideas are put into practice, that someone uses tem and that they bring real benefits."
According to the President of the Swiss Risk Reduction Foundation Volodymyr Kosterin, competition "ECOclass" showed greater results than all the Ministry of the Environment for several years. "Why the theme of ecology is so important - because it affects our health and quality of life. Today in Ukraine, people live 20-30 years less than in neighboring countries. Our common goal is to restore the ecological balance in the country and the world at large." Having awarded to the winners in the nomination "ECOcreativ" Volodymyr Kosterin noted that in Ukraine there are talented and responsible children who in the near future will make Ukraine an environmentally safe and competitive country.
"ECOclass competition is of great importance, as it teaches the younger generation the "green" way of life, unites in the noble endeavors participants and teachers. Only by working together we can improve the ecological situation in Ukraine. We look forward to new initiatives from the "Foxtrot", - said deputy director of scientific and methodological activities department of the National ecological and naturalistic center of Kyiv Victoria Taranenko.
"Looking at the participants, I start to believe that Ukraine will become a successful and environmentally friendly country, because neither they nor their children will throw garbage, have barbaric attitude to nature, or waste water", - said Natalia Boyko, Deputy General Director of the Publishing House "Edipresse."
During the event, participants and guests of the contest saw the interesting experiments of Dr. Uhtyshkin, who miraculously extracted snow from the air and prepared green salad in hat, and watched informative video of Ukrainian animators "On the blue planet", in which the Earth is represented in all of its biological diversity. The emotional culmination of the event was the performance of the artists from the group "The Aviator", which together with the boys sang the legendary song "The grass near the house," and then gladly took pictures with everyone. In the unanimous opinion of both children and adults, the festival was a success.
