Cleanliness Month begins in Bihor, with prizes for the town halls that…

For the fourth year in a row, all town halls in Bihor are invited to compete in cleanliness.

The County Council is running a new edition of Cleanup Month in May, which includes a separate waste collection championship with cash prizes for town halls that have good recycling results, and a competition dedicated to students, at the end of which the most involved among them will go free on a three-day trip to Bihor.

For a cleaner environment

“In May of 2024, the Bihor community is organizing the fourth edition of the Month of Cleanliness project in Bihor county. And this time, CJ Bihor, Ecolect, the church, the school, the local business environment, the student representatives, the University of Oradea, the press, practically all the components of our community are coming together to respond to this reality that belongs to each of us and to everyone alike , the need for a cleaner environment”, declared the vice-president of Bihor CJ, Mircea Mălan, on Wednesday, in a press conference.

As in previous years, Cleaning Month means two competitions: the county cleaning championship, dedicated to town halls in the county, and the EcoChallenge, for students from any school or high school.

The rules are similar to previous editions. In the Cleanliness Championship, town halls and town halls can sign up until May 10, and throughout the month they must organize at least two greening actions in public areas, in which the community can participate.

Competition in separate collection

In the contest, the way in which the citizens throw away the garbage will also matter, more specifically, whether or not they respect the separate collection. “Two essential components will matter: the amount of recyclable waste that a commune or a city collects in May, both from the collections that are made from the door of each household, and from the greening actions that that local community carries out in this period, and another aspect that interests us is the evolution of the degree of separate collection resulting from the comparison of last year’s average with the average of March, April and May 2024”, stated Mălan.

The maximum score for the evolution of the degree of separate collection is 40 points (out of a possible 100), while the municipalities will be able to receive 30 points each for the amounts of plastic and metal waste collected separately, 15 for bottles and the same for paper and cartons.

As in previous years, the contest will be held in six zones, in each zone 3 prizes will be awarded: the highest in the amount of 100,000 lei, the second prize in the amount of 50,000 lei and the third prize in the amount of 30,000 lei.

“From these prizes, 10% must be directed to the eco-clubs made up of volunteer children in the schools of that community, and the remaining 90% is to be used to carry out projects related to the environment and which must be address to the children, a small park, a playground or anything similar”, stated Mălan.

Cleanliness Month was presented by Mircea Mălan (right) and Horea Abrudan (left)

Students will “adopt” public areas

The second component of the Month of Cleanliness, the competition dedicated to EcoProvocarea students, has changed its structure.

Students who want to participate must be enrolled in the eco-club in their school and then complete four “tests”: participate in the Recycling Relay that will be organized in each educational unit, participate in at least one greening action and , a novelty, to “adopt” a public space in his town or village, to clean and maintain it. This space, Mălan said, can be a park, a stream, a corner of the forest or even the school yard, and will also be able to host activities such as open lessons.

Also, for students to be eligible for the competition, their teachers will have to assess their environmental knowledge to confirm that they have discussed these issues.

As part of the EcoChallenge, 252 prizes will be awarded consisting of vouchers for sports equipment. Another novelty is that the most involved schools will receive as a gift three weekends of accommodation, with meals included, at the camp to be inaugurated in Şinteu. There, students and teachers will spend three days, from Friday to Sunday, to discuss environmental issues, but also to have fun in the middle of nature.

The general school inspector Horea Abrudan has already thanked the teachers who will be involved in the project, announcing that, in addition to sports teachers, he has also mobilized those who teach religion. “They can present in the classes they have in May, in addition to the relationship of man with God, the relationship of man with nature, in order to generate discussions on this side,” Abrudan declared, in the same press conference.