As Novac/Vedran Marjanovic writes on the 1st of October, 2019, out of the twenty nominations of the Croatian cities that applied for the best Eco City award, the jury included Ludbreg, Koprivnica, Belišće, Čakovec and Jastrebarsko as nominations in the finals.

The Best Eco City award, as part of an extensive survey of the best Croatian cities in six categories, is awarded to the city that has achieved the best practices and solutions in a kind of trinity of environmental concerns - waste management, green energy and clean-transport.

Candidate cities were asked, among other things, for information and data on strategic waste management documents, and then on ways and forms of informing citizens.

The candidatures of the Croatian cities in question were also evaluated in view of the possible use of "green fuel" in official cars and utility vehicles. When it comes to traffic, information about the introduction of public bicycle systems, electric scooters and other non-GHG systems was also important.

In the case of communal infrastructure, the application could be backed by data on the installation of energy efficient solutions for public city lighting, as well as data on the application of energy efficient solutions in the renovation of buildings managed by the cities themselves.

The results of the candidate cities' withdrawal of EU funds in the field of energy efficiency in construction, heating and water infrastructure management were also taken into account. The prepared or developed projects for building energy potentials for renewable energy sources, such as solar power plants or wind farms, were of particular importance.

Finally, the Croatian cities in question were invited by public invitation to submit a summary of their projects related to energy sustainability, lower energy consumption, or waste management.

''The number of 'eco city' practices and solutions attached to each city's application is irrelevant, as is, for example, their total and individual financial value. But the highlight in our decision-making was the quality of these practices and solutions,'' they point out from the jury of Jutarnji list, Gradonacelnik.hr and the Ipsos agency.

Ludbreg's trump cards to grab the Eco City title for 2019 include, among other things, the availability of separate collection bins for all citizens, a secured recycling yard in accordance with the population, and the disposal of separated municipal waste at a nearby landfill. Nearly one hundred percent of public lighting in this city located within Varaždin County is energy efficient through the installation of LEDs and energy-saving lights.

Ludbreg's example of a solar tree and a downtown solar bench is the first of its kind in the Republic of Croatia and one of the first in the surrounding countries. Ludbreg's local governmental unit also embarked on the provision of energy from renewable sources.

“The plan is to build two smaller hydropower plants on Bednja and several rooftop solar power plants on public buildings. We also have an entrepreneur in the city who is planning to build a photovoltaic solar field,'' they stated from Ludbreg. The remediation of the Meka landfill is also one of the projects attached to Ludbreg's candidacy. It involves a large investment of 36.71 million kuna, with the EU co-financing of 85 percent of the investment.

Last year's winner of the Eco City award, Jastrebarsko, achieved its goal of separating and disposing of mixed municipal waste in all households back in 2011. The city disposes its rubbish in recycling yards according to their size and need, and conducts organised information campaigns among citizens and in the area's schools.

Jastrebarsko's utility companies have five electric cars at their disposal, and twelve electric bicycles are available for a fee to citizens. As many as eight bicycle paths with a total length of 250 kilometres have been drawn in the wider Žumberak Nature Park area.

"In the area of ​​energy efficiency, Jastrebarsko will begin replacing 3,199 lamps with environmentally friendly equipment with an investment of 13.8 million kuna," said a statement from this city located in Zagreb County, and their candidacy also includes another fourteen projects related to energy sustainability.

Čakovec entered the Eco City award race, by providing, among other things, access to separate collection bins for all citizens, building two recycling yards and incorporating LED lights into the city's public lighting. Of the 44 buildings administered by the city administration, ten have now been made energy-efficient.

Much like Jastrebarko, there are also 250 kilometres of marked out cycle paths in the Čakovec area, and utility companies have hybrid and gas vehicles at their disposal.

A project which involves waste has been running in the city since way back in 2000, and has resulted in a fifty percent reduction in the amount of waste that is being disposed of permanently, according to a statement from Čakovec's city administration. The total value of all of Čakovec's submitted projects is 30 million kuna.

All residents of the continental Croatian city of Koprivnica, according to the candidature of their city administration, can have their waste collected separately.

As far as clean transport is concerned, there are as many as eight electric vehicle charging stations in the city, the Koprivnica's city administration uses five electric and two hybrid vehicles, and two mini buses are included in their public transport offer.

''Two fully electric buses are used for free public transport. The utility has three electric vehicles for the maintenance of the city's cemeteries and green spaces, while the city regional energy agency REA North (Sjever) has one electric vehicle,'' they state from Koprivnica.

Six local projects have been co-financed from European funds and are attached to Koprivnica's Eco City award application. One of the biggest investments is the construction of a new recycling yard worth 5.23 million kuna.

Belišće is the only Slavonian city in the shortlist of all six categories of the competition for the best cities, and in the finals for the Eco City award, among other things, the construction of a stationary recycling yard with the possibility of separating as many as 38 types of waste has been made possible.

"We're one of the first Croatian cities to have installed energy-efficient LED lighting fixtures in all of our areas which use public lighting,'' they state from Belišće.

The winner will be announced on October the 4th, 2019 at the Days of Regional Development and EU Funds, which will be held in the coastal city of Šibenik.

Make sure to follow our dedicated lifestyle page for much more. If you're interested in both official and unofficial ways in which Croatia works to preserve and protects its environment, give Total Eco Croatia a follow.

The tiny Croatian island of Zlarin, barely ever heard of outside of Croatia, is praised at no less than the United Nations (UN) General Assembly by the Croatian President.

As Morski writes on the 25th of September, 2019, Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović delivered an eloquent but stark warning in English on Tuesday at the UN General Assembly about the harmful pollution of the oceans and seas, including the Adriatic aea, which is a key resource for Croatia, helping tourism stand for about 20 percent of the country's GDP.

Few people expected ''centre stage'' to have been taken by one little Croatian island that few outside of this country have ever even heard of. The Croatian President praised the environmentally friendly initiatives of an island in the Croatian Adriatic with a mere 300 inhabitants. Zlarin is the first Adriatic island to totally get rid of single-use plastic and plastic waste.

The Croatian coast, visited by about 18 million tourists annually, is also polluted by plastic waste from its southern neighbours, Montenegro and Albania.

''From here I invite everyone - please stop throwing waste into our oceans and seas. Our own future is at stake,'' stated Grabar-Kitarović from the podium in New York.

''We cannot neglect the grave consequences on our nature and the significant economic losses that threaten us in the future,'' she added. Most of her speech was devoted to the protection of the oceans and seas, including the Croatian part of the Adriatic sea, of which 97 percent remains of truly exceptional quality.

She cited two successful concrete examples - the project of the Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries in Split, which, in cooperation with local fishermen collected a massive fifty tons of waste, and the action of green activists from the aforementioned Croatian island of Zlarin.

Residents, hospitality workers and traders from Zlarin, which only has a population of about 300, have signed a symbolic declaration to renounce the use of disposable plastic.

''Let all our communities show responsibility like the inhabitants of Zlarin island. Let us not hesitate and be discouraged by past or present failures, but provide strong leadership for our mutual success in the future,'' Grabar-Kitarović said.

She said that time was a key factor in addressing the global challenges of the 21st century, she also said that fear prevents the international community from taking steps in the right direction, hampering potential and creativity.

''It is up to us to fearlessly use the instruments we have at our disposal to advance our own people and our own planet,'' noted the Croatian President when addressing world leaders.

Make sure to follow our dedicated politics page for much more. If you're interested in both official and unofficial initiatives Croatia has in place to protect its environment, give Total Eco Croatia a follow.

As Morski/Leonarda Smigmator writes on the 17th of September, 2019, the Global Climate Protest, organised by the ''Fridays For Future Croatia'' youth initiative will take place on Friday, September the 20th, at 18:00 at European square (Europski trg) in Zagreb, from where it will then head to St. Marks square (Markov trg).

This protest is part of a global strike and a week of actions (held from the 20th to the 27th of September, 2019) and according to present information, 3,167 protests are planned in over 100 countries across the world. Protests will also take place here in, Croatia - in Osijek, Rijeka and Split as well as Zagreb.

The aim of the protest is to raise people's general awareness of the problem of the global climate crisis, which is already a major threat, and to urge the Croatian Government to "take their heads out of the sand" and take action before it is too late to do anything.

Resources like clean water, air and food are decreasing and there are more and more humans walking the Earth. According to exprts, all the weather disasters that have happened in the past year did not happen by accident, but are mostly the result of our devastating impact on nature.

Things will only get worse if we continue like this, they claim. Each and every individual must change in order to achieve some success and not wipe out humanity from the face of the Earth. The goal is for the ruling government to understand this properly and to take legal measures that will protect people and the Earth, or introduce changes that will have a positive impact instead of an overwhelmingly negative one.

The Fridays For Future initiative says the protest is different in that it has now called on numerous associations such as Green Action, Greenpeace and Animal Friends, as well as unions, retirees and others to join.

The message of this protest is that climate change is affecting everyone, not just the young, time is running out and it will be increasingly difficult to repair the damage we have inflicted upon the planet. The protest this time starts at 18:00 so that even people who are working all day can freely come and attend the protest.

Make sure to follow our dedicated lifestyle page for much more. If you're interested in Croatia's official and unofficial environmental policies, give Total Eco Croatia a follow.

Rubbish strewn along the whole of the Croatian coast, not just that in major tourist cities like Dubrovnik, has posed a problem for a considerable amount of time, and when even foreign tourists are getting involved to try to remedy the problem, it's too little to say that Croatia has a growing garbage issue.

Numerous ''clean ups'' of beaches and under the sea's surface are held every year, but the majority of them take place well outside of the summer tourist season. Kids from Dubrovnik have, however, spent some of their ''time off'' doing their bit and helping to keep the environment clean, and once again, children are teaching us more valuable lessons than we can teach them.

As Morski writes on the 11th of September, 2019, this year, just like every other year for a while now, during the late spring and summer, young eco-activists from the Eko Omblići Association visited the entire Dubrovnik area by boat, including the Elaphite islands (Lopud, Koločep (Kalamota) and Šipan, not only to enjoy the unique beauty of the southern Dalmatian coast and islands, but also to ecologically educate themselves and do their bit for the gorgeous Adriatic they love and respect immensely.

''For more than twenty years now, we have been lovingly guiding our young eco-activists of the Eko Omblići Association, to our islands and along the coast which is full of beautiful untouched nature, so that they not only enjoy it but continue to preserve it for their descendants.

During our eco-educational trips to the islands and along the Dubrovnik area's coastline, the Eko Omblići Association distributes leaflets to islanders and tourists with eco messages in both Croatian and English language about the importance of preserving the sea, coast and the islands not only from plastics but also from other pollutionm'' explained the project leader of the ''Let's clean the Adriatic from plastic'' initiative, Jadranka Šimunović.

''It's good that general environmental awareness along our coast is increasing among the local population and among tourists, and many have helped, ranging from the media, eco-organisations, responsible environmental and nature institutions, to educational institutions and social networks, etc. So far, about 6000 children and young people have passed through our eco associations and all of them, along with our adult volunteers, have learned something new about ecology and ecological culture, which makes us very happy.

Next weekend, we're taking our young eco-activists from the Eko Omblići Association by boat to the island of Šipan and Šipanska luka as part of our project ''Let's clean the Adriatic from Plastic,'' concluded Šimunović.

Make sure to follow our dedicated lifestyle page for much more. If you're interested in how Croatia works to protect its environment, give Total Eco Croatia a follow.

If it's just Dubrovnik and the extreme south of Dalmatia you're interested in, give Total Dubrovnik a follow, or check out Dubrovnik in a Page for all you need to know about the Pearl of the Adriatic.

As Morski writes on the 7th of September, 2019, it is unfortunately all but impossible to enumerate, let alone publish on a daily basis, the extremely worrying reports of cases of pollution across the Adriatic coast.

Morski, a Croatian portal dedicated to all things to do with the Adriatic, as its name would suggest to all those who understand Croatian, receives photos, videos, links, and anger on a daily basis from readers who have something to say about the level of pollution in the Croatian Adriatic, not to mention their entirely valid concerns about the future. The pollution in the Adriatic sea has tragically increased so much that some cases can easily be seen from space.

Negligence, omissions, insufficiently stringent regulations, a total lack of control and inspection, greed, ignorance... we could go on and on, and then on a bit more about the catastrophic state of the Adriatic sea which runs along the country which recently loved to boast about being the Mediterranean as it once was.

After every publication about some new pollution, there are also those who see the problem in others and will do almost anything to avoid taking even a tiny bit of the blame: "tourists'' of this or that nationality "are guilty", "cruisers (this type or that type)" are guilty, or of course, we journalists are the guilty ones for ''spreading a negative image of Croatia''. The list goes on.

Morski waited until September, after the height of the tourist season had passed, for conclusions, and the pictures speak volumes about the perpetrators and the local governments/self-government units that are doing nothing but sitting and just counting the money they earned from the tourist season, and all this sh*t is travelling to someone else anyway, right? No, not really.

Near Peroj in Istria, about four kilometres west of Fažana and north of the glorious Brijuni National Park, a large fecal ''stain'' can be seen in the sea, which is also shamefully visible on Google maps.

The Adriatic sea's currents are carrying this pollution directly towards the aforementioned national park. Allegedly, improvements are already being made to the wastewater treatment system in the agglomeration of Pula north, which includes the area of ​​the City of Pula and the municipality of Fažana among other locations, but the mayor of Vodnjan, whose jurisdiction also includes Peroj, failed to confirm any of that. Until then, Peroj sends the main image of this article out into the world and even beyond it, into space.

The Facebook group for Pag locals who live outside Pag (Pažani izvan Paga) posted a disgusting video of the sewage discharge at Paška vrata. The author wonders if this is a case of pure negligence or sabotage in what was then, the middle of the summer tourist season. The comments read that it stank to high heaven this summer. While some claim that this has been the main sewer discharge for the entire town of Pag since 2004, that there is a purifier, and that due to a malfunction or an increased inflow, not all of it goes below, but can come up above the surface, author Alan Šavar explains the situation:

''Like everywhere in the world, there are beautiful and less beautiful things in every place. I find that less beautiful things, such as robberies, crime or corruption, should be made public. Enough with pushing things under the rug! If we just turn a blind eye to such things and look for cheap excuses or justifications, then we'll get nowhere - neither as a society nor as a people.

And that's why I posted the video the instant I took it, because it's an ECOCIDE that has been going on in Pag bay for decades now,'' stated Šavar.

From old tends to toilet paper - everything could be found on the island of Vrnik near beautiful Korčula. A reader has stated the sparkling blue Adriatic sea is foaming, and not for the first time. Can anything be done to preserve this beautiful island? And when it comes to the garbage by the sea: plastic, bags, etc... let's not even begin,'' says the reader.

There is no fairytale to be had on Korčula itself, either. Unfortunately, this is not the first time that the dark stains of faecal matter and other pollution has appeared on the surface of the sea. Korčula's Julia Urban took a video and wrote:

"Some people tell me not to publish this, because it's about Korčula's reputation and the tourism from which many earn a living. I also make money from tourism and rent, and frankly, tourism is in the background. The health of us and our children is at the forefront and this problem is finally being addressed.

If we all remain silent and pretend that there's no problem, nobody will never try to solve it. For the sake of tourism and our reputation, should we sacrifice the health of ourselves and our children who swim in this sea? The answer is: No!''

Facebook/Julie Urban

From rubbish strewn along the coast, which has even prompted foreign tourists to come and spend time while on holiday cleaning up the beaches, to pollution in the beautiful Adriatic that can not only be seen from space but has also caused dangerous illnesses because of the presence of harmful bacteria, and has even seen traditional festivals cancelled or at best delayed - when will we finally say enough is enough?

Make sure to follow our dedicated lifestyle page for much more. If you're interested in Croatia's initiatives when it comes to the environment, give Total Eco Croatia a follow.

As Morski writes on the 18th of August, 2019, care for not only health but the environment have become a priority in shaping the consumer habits of many modern customers, which is why more and more Croatian companies are branding their products with eco-labels.

''We're pleased that Croatian companies have recognised the importance of standardised eco-labels, one of which is the most widely recognised EU Ecolabel. They add an additional dimension to the competitiveness and quality of Croatian producers, and show that a successful environmental business can be reconciled, that is, environmental care and profit can go hand in hand,'' said Marija Šćulac Domac of the Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK), adding how the aforementioned chamber actively participated in the promotion of eco-labels and sought to educate Croatian companies on the benefits of the EU Ecolabel through targeted activities.

In order for a product/service to carry the EU Ecolabel, they must meet a very strict set of benchmarks prescribed by the European Commission (EC), based on the professional and scientific parametres of the product/service pressure on the environment over its life cycle (from raw material collection and processing, through to production, packaging, transport, providing a service, use, right up until it becomes waste).

The number of Croatian products and services bearing this designation is encouragingly constantly increasing, and the Croatian company to which the EU Ecolabel certification has been awarded for as many as ten different products is Osijek's Saponia.

Their seven consumer products and three industrial products had to meet the stringent environmental standards prescribed by the EC's specific criteria for each group of detergents, depending on their purpose. This includes the process of selecting special environmentally friendly raw materials, production, packaging, use, and until the final disposal of the packaging.

''These are the first Croatian cleaning products to have widespread certification and as such be accepted in countries outside of the European Union. We're continuing with the certification process. At the moment, three more consumer products from the program are in the process of certification, thus completing the complete range of environmentally friendly products,'' said Saponia's board member Dajana Mrčela, adding that care for the environment and the implementation of the principle of sustainable development is imperative for Saponia, and the certification is only a confirmation of many years strategies to be implemented in the future.

"With this approach to our products, our goal is to go beyond the boundaries of our company and convey this awareness of environmental concerns to our customers," Mrčela said.

In other news, Valamar Riviera has recently become the first Croatian tourism company to receive the EU Ecolabel logo for tourist accommodation for up to six of its campsites across the country.

''Valamar systematically applies high environmental standards as a key resource in tourism. The prestigious EU Ecolabel, on the one hand, confirms that our products and services meet the most demanding environmental standards, and on the other hand, it motivates our guests and partners to choose among the products and services on the market and opt for those that are greener and more responsible in terms of the environment,'' said Željko Kukurin, the CEO of Valamar Riviera.

The EU Ecolabel has been in use since 1992 and there are currently about 73,000 products and services on the European market bearing this designation.

Here in the Republic of Croatia, the first such label was awarded back in 2016 to Ecology 108 for the EcoBianco detergent, and two years later, eight Delt paper (papir) products were awarded this certificate. So far, a total of nineteen Croatian products and six services have met the strict EU Ecolabel criteria, the Croatian Chamber of Commerce confirmed.

Make sure to follow our dedicated lifestyle page for much more. If you're interested in how Croatia takes care of its environment, give Total Eco Croatia a follow.

As Morski writes on the 11th of August, 2019, a German tourist holidaying on the Croatian coast was left horrified by the amount of plastic waste he found simply strewn and lying around, and thus decided to systematically clean up a part of the shoreline with his family who were there with him.

After clearing the part of the coast on the island of Cres (Kvarner) which he did, which was covered in trash and which he photographed, Oskar Hund wrote on his Facebook page along with the photos he had taken:

"After yesterday's discovery by the sea, we collected up all the trash again, but there's no way it can all be done at once. In order to succeed, we had to deal with the waste collection gradually and dealt primarily with things that we assumed were particularly bad, such as the nets.

The result: One straw, but countless cotton earbuds in different colours. Lots of nets and bags. It was scary to see broken bottles too. We dare to assume that they were used for fuel for the boats, after which they were carelessly thrown out into the sea.''

We at Total Croatia News would like to join Morski in expressing our joint gratitude to Mr. Hund and his environmentally conscious family for their hard and selfless work which they absolutely didn't need to do while trying to enjoy their holiday on the coast, yet they did without question anyway.

It is up to all of us to at least try to follow this shining example of these forward thinking German tourists; not to throw garbage in the sea, and when we are on the coastline and when we come across it, to try to clean it up. One piece of rubbish might not seem like a lot to take the time to pick up and throw away, but if we all do it, then it makes an enormous difference.

Make sure to follow our dedicated lifestyle page for much more. If you're interested in Croatian initiatives to take care of the environment, give Total Eco Croatia a follow.

As Morski writes on the 9th of August, 2019, over the past five years, the City of Poreč has invested almost seven million kuna into more than thirty projects in the fields of energy efficiency, sustainable development, e-mobility and environmental protection, for which as much as 4.2 million has been withdrawn from various funds for national projects and from EU funds.

At the same time, Poreč has recorded nearly 550,000 kWh of produced "green" electricity and heat from solar power plants, as states the data from the city's parent company, Parentium d.o.o., which is in charge of the Poreč's construction and energy efficiency activities.

The success of the implementation of projects in this area, as well as the almost 100 percent realisation of the plan for energy efficiency measures in the area of ​​the City of Poreč in the past five years, was also discussed during the adoption of the document of the revision of the Action Plan for Energy Sustainable Development of the City of Poreč at the penultimate session of the City Council.

''The City of Poreč is the second largest city in Istria County, a city of positive natural growth, a city to which people move, a city of above-average infrastructural equipment and communal development, a city that, in many areas, provides above-standard conditions for all its citizens over the past five years.

During the [aforementioned five year] period, we were able to implement 31 out of the planned 37, and an additional 6, energy efficiency measures in our city, which, despite the fact that the City of Poreč is constantly growing and developing rapidly, managed to achieve an almost 4 percent reduction of total CO2 emissions in the area of ​​our city. Not only that, but by drafting and adopting strategic documents, and in line with the European Energy Policy, we have set new, even more ambitious goals for energy efficiency and sustainable development. In the period until 2030, we plan to reduce our CO2 emissions by 40 percent,'' stated Gordana Lalić, CEO of Parentium, a company that has the role of coordinator in the implementation of these projects in Poreč.

She also added that, bearing in mind the fact that climate change is a cause for grave concern, both globally and locally, and that it has enormous potential for harm to human health, the overall economy, and society as a whole, the powers that be in Poreč are aware that working to achieve CO2 emission reductions alone won't be sufficient.

For this reason, as one of the first six cities in Croatia, the City of Poreč has drafted a Strategy and the accompanying Action Plan on Climate Change Adaptation, one of the basic prerequisites for applying for new projects and withdrawing EU grants, especially in the next programming period - from 2021 to 2027.

As a future direction for the development of Poreč over the next ten years, the plan is to develop the "smart city" concept, in the field of construction, public lighting and transport, as well as in all other segments, with special emphasis on the implementation of measures and projects in the field of climate change mitigation and adaptation, with the aim of ensuring the sustainable development of the city and achieving the goals of the European Energy Policy.

In the already mentioned areas, the City of Poreč is currently implementing 8 projects, an application has been made for 3 more projects, and the results are now being waited on, while at present, the intensive preparation of 4 projects, the application of which is planned for the autumn of this year is ongoing.

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Just how much food are Croats throwing our on a yearly basis? What with world hunger growing at an alarming rate, the numbers are concerning both on a global and a national scale.

As Morski writes on the 29th of May, 2019, according to FAO estimates, around one-third of the food produced annually (1.2 billion tons) is thrown out globally, which means that across the world, over 1 trillion dollars worth of food is simply discarded.

In the Republic of Croatia alone, a massive 400,000 tons are being thrown out per year, of which 40,000 tons is due to a lack of Croats understanding or paying proper attention to the duration/expiry dates of certain products. This problem was addressed during the second day of the thirteenth Conference on Food Safety and Quality, organised by the Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK).

Sanja Kolarić Kravar from the Ministry of Agriculture presented a plan to prevent the continuation of food wastage, pointing out that we need to focus on responsible production and consumption in order to reduce the amount we throw out in general, and in turn increase the donation of products to those in a lesser economic position.

''Over the last couple of years, we've been actively developing a donation system and we're looking at what needs to be done in order to make it function better. An e-donation platform has been established which will relieve the burden from donors, align the supply and the need, and enable the more transparent distribution of food. The system has already been tested and I'd like to invite all donors and moderators to sign up.It's a virtual food bank that will allow us to throw out as little as possible,'' stated Kolarić Kravar, adding that tax relief regarding this burning issue is the plan.

''In developed countries, about forty percent of food in the sales and consumption phase is thrown out, and in developing countries, forty percent is thrown out during the production phase. Fruit and vegetables are thrown out the most, followed by fish and meat. On the basis of households, about 1,800 dollars of food is thrown out, and this ultimately has an impact on climate change,'' said Darja Sokolić of the Croatian Agriculture and Food Agency.

She also presented a study which involved samples of food categories on the Croatian market which showed that products with a very long shelf life (coffee, salt, sugar, rice, honey...), in the case they've been properly stocked, are fine for human consumption for up to one year after the "best before" label claims they are.

The second category includes long term durability products that retain all of their properties for up to two months after their expiry dates (cereals, sweets, oil...), and products with a limited and short duration should not be consumed at all after the expiry of the prescribed deadlines (dairy products, fresh meat, fish...).

''Small manufacturers often ask about the expiration time of their products, and I see this as an opportunity for laboratories to help them out. Guidelines for food donors are in the process of being developed, and workshops on safe food handling will be held next month. Intermediaries and end-users need to be educated in order to throw out as little food as possible,'' Sokolić concluded.

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All too often we hear about the dangerous levels of disposable plastic causing harm to the world's seas and oceans. With the EU and the EC finally taking a stronger stance against this wanton destruction of the environment by passing various laws on the use and disposal of plastic, as well as putting its foot down in regard to member states and their respective recycling policies, including Croatia, it seems we are (albeit slowly) finally getting somewhere.

Of course, Croatia is a lot slower than others, but some are making an excellent example of themselves through their own practices.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 23rd of April, 2019, the implementation of this initiative has actively involved the hotel's employees, suppliers, partners, as well as its guests and local residents who enjoy the hotel's numerous services on a daily basis.

Hotel Adriatic, which is part of the Maistra family, has decided to replace all disposable plastic items with alternatives, leading it to become the very first hotel in the Republic of Croatia to actively advocate for a cleaner working environment and a holiday without the use of disposable plastic waste, as was announced on Monday by this respected Rovinj hotel company.

"As the first hotel in Croatia with no disposable plastic, Hotel Adriatic aims to be the leader in innovation and sustainability and invites all of its employees to work responsibly in a way that will enable our guests to actively participate in this ecological action and a unique experience of the Adriatic sea," said Maistra's Tomislav Popović.

Last year, Hotel Adriatic started using substitute paper straws instead of the classic plastic ones, and by June this year, the hotel will cease using as much as eighty percent of disposable plastic products. By the end of the year, it aims to have completely removed it from use in all of its accommodation units, including its bars and restaurants.

By the end of 2019, Hotel Adriatic will only use biological cleansing agents and support cooperation with suppliers whose products are produced from natural, biological, ecologically acceptable and/or recycled materials.

Make sure to follow our dedicated lifestyle page for much more. If you're interested in how Croatia takes care of its beautiful environment, give Total Eco Croatia a follow, or see what initiatives, laws and movements there are in place in Croatia here.