Alerj promotes environmental awareness month

In celebration of World Environment Day, established on June 5 by the United Nations (UN) 50 years ago, the Environment Commission of the Legislative Assembly of Rio de Janeiro (Alerj) promotes, in partnership with the Deputy Director General of Culture, a month of population awareness. The starting point will be this Monday (5), from 10 am. People who pass by the stairs of Palácio Tiradentes, Alerj’s historic headquarters located in Praça XV, will be able to exchange plastic caps for seedlings of trees native to the Atlantic Forest, in an action carried out in partnership with the State Institute of the Environment (Inea). The caps collected will be donated to the non-governmental organization (NGO) One by One, which recycles plastic waste and exchanges it for wheelchairs for donation. The president of the Environment Committee, deputy Jorge Felippe Neto (Avante-RJ), said that for every 3,000 plastic caps collected, the NGO replaces them with wheelchairs. “We are going to stimulate this with the distribution of tree seedlings in the center of the city, here at the door of the Assembly”. To extend the campaign throughout the month of June, bottle cap collection containers will be installed at Alerj’s current headquarters, at Rua da Ajuda, 5, and at Palácio Tiradentes, between the 5th and 30th of this month. Caps from PET bottles and packaging for softeners and liquid soaps will be accepted. Education World Environment Day is considered one of the biggest global platforms for environmental awareness. This year, the theme chosen by the UN to mark the date is #FightPlasticPollution. Jorge Felippe Neto said that the population’s adherence to the campaign was fundamental. “We have a date, which is historically consolidated, for all environmentalist movements to mobilize. It is fundamental. The environment consecrates a cause that has grown a lot over the last two decades and Alerj, through the Environment Commission, will keep this date strong’. Thousands of events and activities around the world are expected to celebrate World Environment Day. Deputy Jorge Felippe Neto defended that environmental education should be taught to children from an early age. He stated that the government of Rio de Janeiro has projects in this regard, such as Ambiente Jovem, for example, developed by the State Secretariat for the Environment, which has already trained more than 5,000 young people in recycling and environmental education. The One by One association serves children with physical, motor or neurological disabilities and in situations of social vulnerability. According to its creators, 20 thousand kilos of plastic and aluminum are recycled per year through the initiative. Around 1,850 chairs have already been donated.

Agência Brasil