In short, are some residents using what they have to its fullest and not creating new waste that will end up in landfills? Article by Lidia Bajraktari in AthensLive
Greek governments have not exactly been pioneers in tackling climate change. One example of the ineptitude of the Greek government in its approach to recycling. While recycling bins were distributed throughout the country in 2006, as of 2013 they only cover about 75 percent of the country and are still being used for all recyclable garbage — [list 3 forms of mixed recycling products and why mixed recycling is a problem]. Individual garbage recycling bins (aluminum, paper, plastic, etc.) for home use are not widely available, and Greeks are not used to sort their garbage in their own homes. It is a common question among Greek households whether recycling really happens or not. As a result, by the end of 2018, Greece was still among the last EU countries when it came to recycling, with only 19 percent of the population being consistent about it. Yet, it seems that more and more people who live in Greece are trying to adopt a zero-waste way of life on an individual level, despite the lack of action from the government. With a quick search on Facebook, it’s easy to find various zero waste private groups, like Zero Waste in Greece, for people living in Greece, where they exchange knowledge, ask questions, talk about products embracing the zero waste philosophy and advise each other about best practices. According to Zoe Porfiri, one of the coordinators of the Zero Waste in Greece Facebook group, the most frequently talked about issue among the members of the group is the disposal of garbage: how it could be recycled or reused, and what products can be replaced in order to reduce the amount of new waste created. Living a zero-waste life is not easy, per se, as it means that an individual has to make many changes in his/her life, even giving up some of the luxuries he/she is used to having. Eirini is, one of the members of the Zero Waste in Greece group, says that this sense of not wasting was instilled in her by her family from a young age, but that it was a Youtube video that made her want to take the leap and try living by the zero-waste philosophy. “The first change I made was to replace paper napkins with fabric ones,” she says. “In the beginning, I did not tell anyone in my family to do the same, but soon enough, they all followed my lead and now no one uses paper napkins anymore.”