If I had to pick my favorite thing about Belgrade, one of my top picks would be the presence of recycling. When I first saw the recycling bins outside of the hotel, I was beside myself (please refer to the second picture). While I loved Sarajevo, I was constantly angered by the lack of environmental sustainability practices. Even though Sarajevo did have benches with solar panels on them, there was no recycling as they didn’t have the infrastructure necessary for it and no legal standards in place. After seeing the pollution there, whether in the river or on the streets, I was simply shocked by how acceptable that was. When I would talk with locals, such as the AUBiH students, they simply said that even though they agree that it was horrible, they had to focus on other things first. I understand that BiH definitely has more immediate problems, such as recovering from the war, but I personally think that there needs to be at least some minor steps taken in regards to environmental regulation. When we met with the representative from the EU Delegation, I asked her about the environmental standards that BiH would need to achieve, and she stated that there needs to be a lot of work done.
I did not realize how happy I would be to see recycling bins. After a quick Google search, I learned that Serbia has invested a significant amount of money to improve water and waste management systems as well as air quality. However, I also learned that they really haven’t made much progress. The other day, for example, we heard from one of the speakers that the sewage dumps directly into the river.
As angry as I was with the environmental regulations in the Balkans, it really made me think about US standards. For a country that is as advanced as we are, we should not be contributing to the degradation of Earth so much. This is an issue that affects literally every single person on this planet, and as a collective, we need to start getting our act together.
Brief Overview of EU and Serbia: https://europa.rs/eu-assistance-to-serbia/eu-and-serbia-15-years-of-partnership/environment-and-climate-change/?lang=en
Update on Progress: https://balkangreenenergynews.com/eu-commission-serbia-makes-limited-progress-on-energy-climate-change-yet-to-receive-adequate-attention/
Kaitlyn Cavallaro: Balkans DoC 