Trash no throwaway matter for Athenians
A day after Athens Mayor Dora Bakoyannis unveiled a new domestic waste recycling program, a poll published yesterday shows that Athenians may be more ecologically conscious than previously thought. The blue recycling bins favored by some Athens municipalities are used by about three-fourths of residents, according to the MRC research firm. Newspapers and magazines are the most popular items for recycling – 85 percent of respondents said they recycled their reading material. Meanwhile, the consumer organization EKPOIZO backed plans for supermarkets to charge for plastic bags, which are considered damaging to the environment because they cannot be recycled. It said that although the supermarkets intend to use the charge as a cost-cutting measure, it was also an environmentally friendly decision that would prompt consumers to use cloth and paper bags instead.
