FALTICENI- ROMANIA�27 ^TH JUNE – 1 ^TH JULY 2022^�

Cultural and Natural Treasures to Be Preserved

for an Inclusive and Sustainable Europe

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Raw materials:� plastic, paper and wood

• Raw materials are the basis of any economy. However, their indiscriminate exploitation causes land depletion, exploitation of developing countries, deforestation, wars, because the economy relies on raw materials; the problem is that we must learn not to waste raw materials, and use recyclable materials.
• So, at school and at home, don’t waste raw materials.

What is plastic?

Plastic is a great material; it has simply been misused by us using it for simple packaging or disposable items. Plastic comes from oil and methane which are processed to obtain carbon and hydrogen. But it is also very polluting: just think of the impact of micro plastics on the planet and on our health.

Bottles of water in schools

If you think of plastic in schools, the first thing that comes to mind are the bottles of water present in the machines; thinking about it you can find many solutions that do not involve the use of water; for example it would be enough to bring a thermos from home or put water dispensers with biodegradable paper cups.

�Packaged foods in schools

Another thing that comes to mind when thinking about plastic in schools is the use of plastic packaging for food in machines; to solve this problem it would be enough to open a bar in schools and, for the institutions that do not have this possibility, they could make a food list for each class (for the pause) every morning and send it to a bar / pizzeria that brings the required products inside the school.

Plastic cups for drinks

In many schools there are coffee machines for students and teachers; the big problem is that disposable plastic cups are used, when an eco-friendly paper cup could be used. Even a simple plastic cup makes a difference and it's so easy to use other methods that don't involve plastic, so, why not do it?

School material

Many objects that we use in schools such as rulers, cases, tubes of glue, scissors, etc. etc. contain plastic; even here it would be enough to use different materials such as fabric for the cases, wood and metal for rulers and scissors etc. etc.

�Refillable pens

On average a pen lasts about 4 km: if you think about it, on average each student in a year will use at least 15/20 pens, which if multiplied by all the students in the world is an exorbitant number; to remedy this problem you can use refillable pens, that, in addition to being more ecological, they are also cheaper: just think that for a very simple fountain pen the refill is about 0.13 cents per piece, therefore about 12 euros 100 pieces.

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Are pencils a waste of trees?

As for the use of trees in schools, the two main things are pencils and paper, pencils can obviously be replaced by mechanical pencils as it will be enough to buy graphite to recharge it without wasting wood.

Is it possible to have more ecological paper?

In recent years, technology has allowed the creation of other types of paper than what we are used to, for example, waste materials such as corn leaves can be used to create it.

Favini and beyond

• One of the companies that is experimenting with various types of paper is Favini.
• For the Tree Free line of papers, Favini has chosen not to use tree pulp. In fact, this environmentally friendly paper is made from renewable non-woody biomass, specifically fibers from annual plants such as bamboo and cotton linters.

Shopping time!�Saving of raw materials:� no packaging

Detergents on tap are a “pay per use” method of distributing detergents.

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Through special distributors, you have the possibility to select the exact amount of detergent you need.

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The main advantage is the savings: up to 40% having no marketing and distribution costs (they are unbranded in fact)!

A fairly emblematic example of the reason why buying in bulk is worthwhile.

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No packaging: also for food!

After each shopping, in fact, we often find ourselves with many differentiated and undifferentiated containers overflowing. With bulk shopping this does not happen.

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The food packaging we buy has three main functions:

• they are useful for protecting food from the external environment;
• they increase its durability;
• they serve to transform food into a more palatable object in the eyes of the consumer

And plastic bags!

• Plastic bags are dangerous to the environment: they are made of non-recyclable plastic, break easily and release micro plastics into water and soil, and consequently into living organisms; they are among the most polluting forms of plastic on the planet.

What is the alternative?

• The first alternative is to use cloth bags-they are more durable than plastic, can be reused, and are also a way to recycle used fabrics. H&M has an entire line of bags made from recycled fabrics.

Biodegradable plastics�

• The second alternative is biodegradable plastic : is a type of plastic that can be biodegradable. More specifically, it must be a plastic that is derived (partially or entirely) from biomass and be biodegradable (for example: PLA, PHA, PHB, starch-based plastics) ; they can be disposed of in the organics container.

Thanks for your attention

Fabio Regis

Lorenzo Enea

Taha Moltif

Leonardo Papalini

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