”The heroes” of the Recycling Patrol we will talk about in this article go on with a story that started 2,000 years ago. The students of the School no 1 in Sarmisegetuza live among technologies of the modern world – computers and mobile phones,  and the nineteen history centuries of the Roman capital of Dacia, ”Colonia Ulpia Traiana Augusta Dacica Sarmizegetusa”.

Although it attracts travelers from everywhere, with its archeological notoriety, Sarmizegetusa is not just a travelling sight but a page of the past. It is also a community that writes its history with every passing generation. Histories worth telling found their origins here not only 2,000 year ago, but also nowadays. Our example? The agents of the Recycling Patrol of the School no 1 and their coordinating teacher Simona Mălăeștean have recently registered their town among the winners of the 2012 edition of the program, by contributing to the collection of 5,400 kg of e-waste! It is the greatest WEEE amount collected in Hunedoarea and the third among the amounts collected by the 740 Patrols in the country!

Be active, recycle separately! 

”The prize comes as a result of the work team of the agents helped by their schoolmates and the community members.” is the first thing pointed out by Mrs. Mălăeștean.

They are also the authors of one of the most inspired slogans of the program: be active, recycle separately! With this advice they convinced the community to dispose of more than 5 tons of old home appliances, batteries and lamps.    

They understood how important is to cooperate with local leaders and they obtained the support of valuable “allies”: the City Hall and the City Council Sarmizegetusa, economic agents and representatives of radio-TV repair workshops. The other schoolmates gave them a hand – an example of solidarity and civic spirit which proves once again that the school is the heart of the community.   

They successfully implemented our recommendations to mobilize companies and local institutions. Now they are proud  and enjoy what they achieved: the prize contributing to the school equipment, the house stores and yards free from WEEE, the nature they protected.     

”The positive reaction of the community members to our message was our main incentive. We succeeded to unite our forces and not to remain powerless in front of the carelessness around us. All the activities organized by the Patrol’s members had their charm and had an impact upon the others’ responsible  attitude towards nature.” says Mrs. Mălăeștean, who puts into words what we hope to hear from all coordinating teachers: ”The Patrol’s members showed a true civic sense by raising awareness on the fact that people have to be educated to respect the surrounding environment. We are open to any challenge aiming at protecting nature as pollution is an irreversible phenomenon and contributing to its mitigation is everyone’s duty.” 

Thus, the educational environment program the Recycling Patrol accomplished its mission as regards the students in Sarmisegetuza. We knew that we could count on the youngsters to assume and promote the care for nature and responsibility in disposing of waste!

The agents of the Patrol in Sarmisegetuza have a lot of things to speak with pride about all summer long. At the same time, they are ready to take part again in the new edition of the Recycling Patrol starting in September. Can they beat their own record? We will see.  We keep our fingers crossed and hope that their example will be followed by the other participants in the county.

Until then, like Scheherazade, we have many other stories to tell.