Bulgarian Ski Resort`s Neighbour Starts Environmental Campaign

Natives.co.uk, 30th November 2006

The recent rapid expansion of Bulgaria’s ski areas has alarmed some environmental groups, who claim developers are ignoring environmental protection regulations and that government bodies are failing to enforce them adequately.

Keep the Mountain Pure...
Now the picturesque Majare village next to Borovets Ski Centre has started a campaign entitled “Keep The Mountain Pure – Respect The Mountain.” in a bid to clean up the image of the area.

The campaigners have erected notice boards around the village with information about the decomposing cycle or the natural degrading of rubbish which explains the ‘lifespan’ of the waste left by litter bugs in the area. The group have also started placing stickers with recycling logos in Bulgarian and English and with the motto ‘’Keep it pure!’’ on windows, car windows, shops etc.

A group spokesman said, “We are hoping that the movement for clean mountains will take off and be adopted elsewhere in Bulgaria, so that our beautiful country will become an even more desirable place.”

Rubbish takes years to decompose...
“Plastic bottles, cigarette butts, and sweet wrappers take decades to decompose and are polluting our mountains. Our campaign aims to explain that the habit of throwing your rubbish on the snow (often from chair-lifts or around ski bars and places to eat or everywhere in the fragile mountain) is not a gesture without consequences.”
The notice boards advise that food waste takes two months to decompose, paper six months, cigarettes two years, food wrappers 50 years, tin cans 300 years and plastic bottles an estimated 500 years.

Respect for saplings too...
Other advice from the group is that whilst in the mountains, do not damage young trees when skiing off-piste. Respect protected areas and species and be aware of the impact that your presence may have on our fragile environment.


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