I am particularly happy today. Welcome to the Presidency of the Republic and, in particular, to the Precinct of the Presidential Palace, a place not so well known to the general public, a hidden treasure.
The choice of this place was not accidental. It was a very good suggestion of the officials who worked on today's event, which when it was done seemed like an impossible task because the place needed a lot of work. The aim, and I hope we achieved it, was to integrate you more easily into the whole philosophy of the initiative that we will present to you on the occasion of World Earth Day.
I want to tell you that although I am not an expert on environmental issues - and I confess I have never been the most typical citizen in terms of practices that protect the environment - I have been following in recent years the international developments, the worrying, unfortunately, consequences of climate change, but at the same time the impressive progress of some countries, especially the EU, towards a more environmentally friendly way of life, and I look forward to this progress in Cyprus as well. I see, especially from my children and their friends, who fortunately are developing a better environmental awareness than our generation and the previous ones, that there is hope. I am optimistic and I try on an individual level to do my best as well.
I was very happy to see at the recent Science Festival of the Cyprus Institute that most of the public schools presented inventions of students related to environmental protection, waste reduction, cleanliness of forests, seas and this is something very encouraging and optimistic. And I am glad that a representative of the Minister of Education is with us today because that is where it all starts.
With this in mind, with the required political support and encouragement from the President of the Republic of Cyprus, the political superiors and the administration in the Presidency, the convergence of views and excellent cooperation with the Environment Commissioner Ms Panagiotou, I felt that it is my duty as the wife of the President to try to highlight and contribute as much as I can so that the Presidency, buildings and the environment, to become a model of respect and protection of the environment and in this way encourage the rest of the State's services, legal and natural persons, young and old, to start acting in a more environmentally friendly way, applying the same philosophy. We hope that our actions will have a positive domino effect.
And so we are here today to announce a joint initiative with the Commissioner for the Environment to turn the Presidential Palace into a zero waste to landfill building, a philosophy that, as Ms Panagiotou explained to us in our first meeting on the subject, encourages the redesign of resources, reuse and zero waste. In other words, the aim of the project is to implement new patterns of organisation and behaviour in order to drastically reduce the final production of waste. In this way, we put our stone not only in changing attitudes, but also in achieving the ambitious but necessary goals set by the European Commission through the European Green Deal and the Fit-For-55 legislative package that Cyprus has to implement.
And since CYTA was a pioneering organization in Cyprus, in terms of the Zero Waste philosophy, we called on its expertise and good practices and we thank it for the support it gave us. CYTA also funded one of the actions that have been undertaken in this direction, the purchase of reusable bottles that will be given to all public officials working at the Presidency to conserve their water and not to use plastic bottles.
I want to say a big thank you to the Minister of Agriculture Mr. Xenophontos, who honours us with his presence today, to all the collaborating Departments of the Public Service, the Forestry Department, the Agriculture Department, the Environment Department, the Environment Commissioner's Office, the Health Services, the Administration of the Presidency, and the Press and Information Office for warmly embracing this initiative. I am sure that it will not be long before this small vision of ours will be realized in its entirety, which I hope will serve as a guide for other agencies, governmental and non-governmental, in our country.
A big thank you also to the Presidents of the Recycling Systems, who also willingly expressed their willingness to assist this effort by providing recycling bins.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Long before I acquired my current status of wife of the President of the Republic, I was an official who was fortunate enough to work for years in this area, specifically in the Diplomatic Office team housed just down the road.
I was always impressed by the greenery, the hidden forest within the city, the fruit-bearing trees in the orchard, and I considered that those who work here are lucky just because - even though they work in an office in the city - they work in the greenery and breathe cleaner air. Of course I never walked in this space, I never realized the natural wealth that exists here and, if you ask most people who have worked here, they will tell you the same. Unfortunately.
Walking a few weeks ago in the orchard, the olive grove, the gardens, I had no doubt that it is our obligation to transform the whole area covered by the Presidency into environmentally friendly places, visitable by young and old, model and usable for public purposes as far as their fruits are concerned. This also applies to the presidential country house, of course, in Troodos.
The inspiration for this joint initiative was given to us by the place itself, together with the absolute need for those who govern to be positive role models and to use what is temporarily under their management for the benefit of society, for the public interest, which clearly includes public health.
In the first few weeks we have not achieved much, as far as the orchard and the olive grove are concerned, since everything requires planning, systematic cultivation, care on an annual basis. However, we did manage to make fresh orange juice and plenty of homemade lemonade from the remaining crop that could be used in March-April. Symbolic, mostly, was the purpose of our first little action. We didn't waste anything and it had to be a start somehow. As far as the orchard and the olive grove are concerned, in the context of ZERO Waste, our aim now is to record the trees and systematically cultivate them, to collect the fruit and use it in various actions, mainly charitable, which we will slowly develop since, as you probably know, the wife of the President of the Republic is also honorary president of many charitable organisations. We also aspire, once the necessary procedures have been carried out, to develop this orchard into an organic farm, but also to use it as a place for visits by schoolchildren, for example during harvest periods, with a small excursion area. As you will see, a small pollinator garden has been created in the Pervoli and at a later stage it will be enriched with other trees (besides lemon, orange and olive trees) that help the wildlife.
In the gardens of the Presidential Palace, the Presidency is already cooperating with the Forestry Department and the Agriculture Department and the gardeners of the Presidency in order to acquire various species of Cypriot ornamental flora so that the landscape can be slowly transformed into a good and beautiful example of Cypriot nature to be enjoyed by foreigners and Cypriot visitors alike. We recently visited the Forest Botanical Garden, in Athalassa Park, after the kind invitation of the Director of the Forestry Department and saw that much can be done through the cooperation of the competent services of the state.
With a donation from the Municipality of Strovolos, and I thank the Mayor, Mr. Papacharalambous, for doing us the honour of being with us today, two composters have been secured and an "environmental corner" will be created at the Presidential Palace with all the communal recycling bins.
In the buildings of the Presidency, as previously mentioned, we will end the use of plastic bottles, which is harmful to the environment and also represents a major expense for the purchase of bottled water. There will be drinking water everywhere, with the help of the Water Department, in buildings and outdoors.
The Environment Commissioner will talk to us in detail about the actions that have been taken or are being pursued. Afterwards, the children of the Solea Gymnasium, who were so pleased to be here today and whom we thank, will explain how we make use of the fruits of our orchard, which we must never throw away. At the same time, they will explain how the fruits that nature generously gives us and the leftover food in our kitchen can easily be used without wasting them and, above all, without throwing them away. And I am particularly happy and proud that what we are starting here today, the children of Solea High School, the teenagers of our place with the help of their teachers, are already implementing it!
The philosophy of zero waste is now becoming a necessity. It can easily be started from the place where the whole family spends every day, from our home, but also from our workplace. We start from the premises of the Presidential Palace which should be the mirror and the good image of modern Cypriot culture in all its manifestations. And the acquisition, through our lifestyle, of environmental awareness is undoubtedly a sign of civilisation. Rest assured that this small change we want to achieve will bring other bigger ones and slowly, because some people had the initial idea, the will, the diligence and the perseverance to implement what seemed to others to be impossible, this and many other beautiful and beneficial things will be achieved and, who knows, maybe they will inspire others. I cannot say with certainty that the Presidency will in a few years' time become a place of which the local will be proud and the foreigner impressed. But I can assure you that we will make every effort with this very objective in mind, starting officially from today.
I thank all those who have contributed and will contribute to the realisation of this objective, the first to be made public, and all of you who have honoured us with your presence today. Be well.
(OP/EXP)
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