Thanks to the efforts of the Ekofan initiative and the mass media support, the collection of used batteries for the purpose of their further utilization has finally started. A permanent old battery receiving center has been opened at The Day’s office for over a month now. School students of Ternopil oblast supported the national initiative by presenting a social and pedagogical project “Ternopil youth supports clean environment.” Various actions are going to be held within its framework in all districts of Ternopil oblast. Personal models of the project implementation are being developed for each school student. For example, Zbarazh District Senior Students Union “Holosok” and Lider Club Student Board organized an action “Batareika,” appealing to all the citizens who are not indifferent to the ecological situation. “Collect old batteries in a plastic bag and place them in a container with a lid (a barrel or a big bucket). We would like to ask the heads of village administrations and the mayor of Zbarazh to help choose and equip a place for the used batteries storing,” the students say. The representatives of Ternopil Oblast Municipal Institute of Postgraduate Pedagogical Education, who organized the leaders of student’s self-government in the region, have not yet received any help from the official ecological and governmental authorities with the implementation of the project.
Liubov DOBROVOLSKA, pedagogue and organizer of Zbarazh House of Children and Youth Creativity, supervisor of the District Senior Students Union “Holosok”:
“We have published an appeal to the city and district dwellers in a newspaper describing the harm used batteries cause to the environment. Particularly, we have appealed to the village administrations heads to keep the batteries the students would collect in places that would be out of people’s reach. For example, they could be stored in warehouses for chemicals. As a part of the Batareika action, senior students of Zbarazh schools No. 1, 2, and 3, and leaders of our club decided to organize dance nights and show movies, and establish an entrance fee of one used battery.”
Oksana KURYSH, educational work deputy head of Ternopil Oblast Municipal Institute of Postgraduate Pedagogical Education:
“There is a school of administrative skills development for leaders of student self-government. We have held an online discussion with them about organizing an ecological action ‘School youth supports the healthy eco-friendly lifestyle.’ And the school students offered to announce the action within which we would collect old batteries and inform the society about the harm used batteries cause to the environment. We developed the project in February and invited the experts. While preparing the project, we also tried to invite the representatives of the State Environmental Protection Administration in Ternopil oblast, but they said this problem was too complicated and there was nothing they could do to help us. So, the support from the government was not yet received. But the student self-government body of Ternopil oblast is very active. School students are going to collect used batteries in places where they live. But their primary task is to explain people that throwing batteries away with the rest of the garbage is hazardous for the environment.”
