Politicians and NGOs marked World Environment Day Tuesday with a focus on plastic pollution and its ramifications. Pointing to the link between human health and the protection of the environment, the Lebanese presidency organized an event Tuesday at Baabda Palace.
There, a project was presented that used 500,000 recycled plastic bottle caps to make a hearing aid for Lebanese child Serge Hitti under the patronage of Nadia Aoun, President Michel Aoun’s wife.
A statement from the presidency said it was taking steps to lower its environmental impact. These include sorting waste at the source, powering Baabda Palace with LED lights that had reduced electricity consumption by 17 percent, and implementing a plan to preserve the palace’s green spaces. The palace said it hoped to eventually have 150 kilowatts of solar energy generated on its premises, reducing its electricity bill by LL50 million ($33,167) per year.
In southern Naqoura, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon also held a ceremony marking World Environment Day, where Aoun’s daughter and adviser Claudine Aoun Roukoz lauded steps taken by the force to reduce its environmental impact. “As the people, the owners of the land, have embraced these peacekeepers, the latter have embraced in their turn the people’s health and social demands,” Roukoz was quoted as saying in a UNIFIL statement.
