As part of its Battery Recycling Awareness Programme, Beeatoona Organization organized on the 12th of March its First Annual Conference to praise the winners of the EcoBatt competition about raising awareness on Battery Recycling which mobilized around 12,000 students from 65 schools across Lebanon.
The UNESCO Palace where the conference took place was crowded with some 600 students coming from all over Lebanon, some of them coming to this part of Beirut.
The conference was opened by a welcoming speech by Mr. Maroun Charabati, President of Beeatoona who exposed the MEPI funded project and its goal to promote battery recycling in 170 schools of Lebanon, Jordan and Tunisia, which is a prominent subject, so far not targeted by Local NGOs in the area, although very urgent.
H.E. Minister Tammam Salam then praised the efforts of the students in tackling such an pressing issue globally and locally saying: “We are the used batteries and you are the charged ones that can energize the future to arise the country and therefore take care of its environment.”
The speeches were then followed by the distribution of prizes to the 38 students winning in the poster and the audiovisual categories.
The Prizes were distributed by H.E. Mr. Tammam Salam and Miss Lebanon 2008, Ms. Rosarita Tawil.
The Program was concluded by the screening of 5 movies participating in the competition, knowing that Beeatoona has received over 40 movies for this category, followed by a cocktail attended by political and diplomatic figures as well as members of the civil societies, who all enjoyed the exposition displaying over 100 posters.
On another level, Beeatoona’s implementing partner to the Ecobatt project in Jordan, Land and Human to Advocate Progress (LHAP), has celebrated the end of the phase I of the Ecobatt Battery Recycling Awareness Programme in Jordan. LHAP organized 2 events for the participating schools in the awareness campaign on December 14, 2008 at Tafileh (south of Jordan) and on December 15, 2008 at Bani Kinanah (North of Jordan).
The event honored the 6 winners of the Ecobatt competition in Jordan. The competition also included two categories, One for Best Artistic Poster and another one for Best Research to raise awareness on the hazards of improper disposal of Batteries.
The Event was attended by a large audience of students, teachers, representatives of the Ministry of Education, the Directorates of Education, Ministry of Environment as well as public figures such as Mr. Khalid Abu Zeid the governor of Tafileh and Mr. Ali Al-Fayez the governor of Irbid.
The large participation from students, schools and public figures highlighted the determination of the Jordanian rural community to improve their environment, and their faith in the Ecobatt project that has helped raise the issue of toxic contamination of their environment from batteries.
Beeatoona is a Non Governmental Organization (NGO) formed in 2008. Its primary aim is the promotion of good environmental practices among the Lebanese and Arab communities for a sustainable development.
In the pursuit of its objectives, Beeatoona has launched a project, funded by MEPI, for battery recycling in schools of Lebanon, Jordan and Tunisia. Their project's goal is to promote the sorting and recycling of household batteries through:
Raising awareness of students, parents and teachers of 50 schools in each of Lebanon, Jordan, and Tunisia on environmental and health risks associated with hazardous disposal of household batteries.
Engaging students of 50 schools in each of Lebanon, Tunisia, and Jordan in sorting and collecting of household batteries and designing awareness material regarding recycling of batteries.
Winners list