In the Nikolaev schools Student teams of eco-patrols from 27 schools of Nikolaev and with. Mishkovo-Pogorilovo shared the best environmental achievements that have been implemented since the beginning of the school year. All in the spirit of a real atmosphere of public speech - with bright speeches, limited speaking time and creative presentations.  

Competitions in the school competition "ECO PATROLS - BEST PRACTICES" took place on Thursday, April 18, in the shopping center Portal (former shopping center "KIT"). Among the guests of the event were Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports of Ukraine Oleksandr Yarema, President of the International Youth Movement "School Recycling World" Yulia Markhel, President of the All-Ukrainian Youth Movement "Let's do it Ukraine" Lyudmyla Osypchuk and representatives of PepsiCo Ukraine. 

"I'm sure everyone has heard the saying, 'It's not where they clean, it's where they don't litter.' It's about lifestyle and culture. It is very cool that starting from school this culture is formed and instilled. I spent most of my life in the social movement. And one of our key projects was when we all got together with friends and cleaned the highest peak of the Ukrainian Carpathians. That is why I would like to thank you and everyone who supports this initiative. This is a very cool story about how the cooperation of the state, business and civil society gives an incredible result. You know, there is such a competition in Ukraine - "Youth Capital Ukraine". This year the youth capital is Kamianets-Podilskyi. But today I understood who is the ecological capital of Ukraine. It's thanks to you! ”, - Oleksandr Yarema, Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports of Ukraine, addressed the participants. 

Students of 5-11 classes of schools of Nikolaev and the village took part in competition. Mishkovo-Pogorilovo, who are activists and volunteers of the environmental movement. They creatively presented their work for the period September 2018 - April 2019 school year. In addition to information on the amount of recycled materials sold, the children also talked about the financial resources for the school received as a result of the project and what has already been purchased or will be purchased with these funds. 

“At PepsiCo Ukraine, we are convinced that the company's success is inextricably linked to the development of local communities and the preservation of the environment. Together with the Nikolaev schoolboys and partners we promote formation of culture of separate sorting of waste among the population », - said Natalia Fesyun, Communications and Public Relations Manager of PepsiCo Ukraine. 

The competition took place in four different locations: in the "red", "yellow", "green" and "blue" rooms, named after the traditional colors in the waste sorting system. Each performance of the team lasted no more than 7 minutes (1 minute of video, 5 minutes of presentation of practices, 1 minute of questions and answers). Participants chose different formats of performance - from the usual photo reports with infographics to creative numbers with songs and incendiary dances. Teams that did not apply for the competition could be spectators and ask questions during the defense of the competition. 

"Our planet is like a large terrarium, in which nothing disappears just like that. All the waste we produce will be returned to us. And we have to decide in what form we will see them again. It can be energy, heat, other things to use or fertilizer. Or it can be just garbage that harms our health and all ecosystems. And if humanity already understands and begins to act, we will be able to avert a global catastrophe. Mykolayiv schoolchildren are already taking the first steps towards proper waste management, setting an example for the whole of Ukraine and the world! ”, - says Ksenia Renchkovska, leader of the international youth movement "School Recycling World" in Ukraine. 

In addition to the organizers, the expert jury of the competition also included: Inna Tertytsya - Chief Specialist of the Education Department of the Mykolayiv City Council; Ruslan Volchetsky - Deputy Head of the Department for Youth and Tourism of the Department of Youth and Sports of the Mykolayiv Regional State Administration; Alexander Ryabenko - the chief of department of youth policy of the Nikolaev city council; Volodymyr Yevseyev - Head of the Innovation Cluster "RInnoHUB"; Olena Dyachenko - eco-blogger; Vitaly Bukhan - the co-organizer of the movement "Battery in scrap" in Nikolaev, Artem White - the chairman of board of NGO "Urban Nikolaev"; Lyudmila Markina - Head of the Department of Technogenic Safety of NUS; Anna Nikulina - Coordinator of the Crisis Media Center. Mykolaiv"; Oleksandra Lemishevska - local manager of the Swedish-Ukrainian IT school "Beetroot Academy"; Roman Burov - a private entrepreneur, initiator of environmental projects in Mykolayiv; Sofia Dubova - the regional representative of WBF "Heart to heart" in the Nikolaev area; Bohdan Koshmal is a private entrepreneur, the initiator of the Tree of Peace project in Mykolayiv. 

«I am proud of achievements of the Nikolaev school students and teachers, after all thanks to them we step by step change mentality of people in relation to environment. This is a very complex process, in some countries people have been going for decades. Nikolaev, thanks to children, gradually think over what happens to things after their final use. I am glad that we have examples when, thanks to school Eco-Patrols, companies where parents of children work, start to treat used things responsibly and sort waste. I consider it a great common victory ", - said Anna Ganzhul, project manager of KU "Mykolayiv Development Agency", author of the project "School Recycling" in Mykolayiv. 

Teams of eco-patrols consist of a head teacher (coordinator) and 9 active students of 8-10 grades, who are volunteers. Children and adolescents by their example and actions make their school and its staff environmentally responsible, together with teachers establish a system of proper waste management (sorting) and care for the environment. 

The results of the competition were announced within the rating "ECO-SCHOOL OF THE YEAR -2019" on April 19, 2019 at 14:00 Mykolaiv, st. Admiralskaya 25, Nikolaev Academic Art Russian Drama Theater. 

The organizers of the competition are the international youth movement School Recycling World together with a public organization «All-Ukrainian youth movement LETS DU IT UKRAINE (Let's do it, Ukraine) and KU Mykolayiv Development Agency with the support of the general project partner of PepsiCo Ukraine, the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine.