The American Chamber of Commerce in Montenegro conducted its Clean & Green activity at two elementary schools in Podgorica on April 26 & 27, 2012. The general sponsor for the Clean & Green in 2012 is Uniqa Insurance. Over 100 pupils, teachers, volunteers, sponsors, and AmCham partners participated at both events which included an educational session about recycling and its positive impact on the environment. A group clean up and decoration of donated recycling bins was part of the days’ activities.

This year, the Clean & Green initiative will be performed at four different schools and is focused on educating elementary schoolchildren about the importance of recycling and reusing. As landfills grow ever larger and Carbon Dioxide levels are rising as a result of the demands of a growing world population, we produce more containers and other types of packaging for everyday consumer goods. AmCham Montenegro, in partnership with Uniqa, focused its 2012 Clean & Green Program on teaching younger members of our local community about the short and long term benefits of recycling and what they can do to be a part of the environmental solution.

The first two of four C&G activities in 2012 were conducted at the June 1st School for Education & Training (Zabjelo) and at the Mehmet Lekic Elementary School (Tuzi). The C&G also sought to implement a sustainable recycling program at the partnering schools, the cost of which would be covered by the collection and selling of recyclable materials such a glass, aluminum, and plastic.

Partners for this year’s AmCham Clean & Green included Green Home, APD ZID, Represent Communications, Hypo Alpe Adria Bank, DHL Express, Karanovic & Nikolic, Osmanagic Co., doMEn, and Coca-Cola Hellenic.

The Clean & Green will be continued in September and October of this year.