Hi, my name is Ivan Kouzel and I’m from Belarus. I live in the capital of my country - in Minsk. I’m a fourth year student at the biological faculty of Belarusian State University and project manager of Green Consumerism Campaign of the environmental group Foundation for Realization of Ideas (FRI). I also have some hobbies: cycling, traveling, music and collecting coins.

How did you get interested in protecting nature?

Since my childhood I have been concerned about human careless interaction with nature and understood that if nothing will be changed this way of nature treatment will bring our existence to the dead end and perish not only Homo sapiens but the whole planet with all living organisms. At school I made my first steps in environmental science. I studied in the Space Biology Section of the Scientific Society at the Students’ Ecological Center, where I participated in research projects. 5 years of student research work in Space Biology Section greatly broadened my outlook on many things. It was unforgettable time especially because of my great and creative supervisor Valery Trybis. I owe him a lot.

Which environmental problems would you consider as the most urgent ones in Belarus?

Some of the urgent environmental problems in Belarus rise from the soviet times and still are completely or partially unsolved. I can point out at least 4 main sorts of problems: industrial (1) and radioactive (2) contaminations, unsustainable agriculture (3), problem of production, consumption and recycling (4).

(1) In soviet times Belarus became a country with a high density of industry. Industrial giants were built to satisfy not only the needs of Belarusians but some also of the whole Soviet Union. It created a large amount of working places and developing of infrastructure. But it also caused serious problems with air and water pollution. especially emissions of dioxides, oxides of nitrogen and sulphur, carbon dioxide, etc.

(2) In the result of explosion at Chernobyl nuclear power plant vast territories of Belarus were contaminated with radioactive substances. It should be mentioned that Belarus got the major portion of radiation in the result of this catastrophe compared to its neighbouring countries.

(3) Agriculture in Soviet Union was characterized by the input of a large amount of pesticides and herbicides, not thinking about the consequences. And Belarus was not exception from this rule. In the majority of the collective farms (individual farmers were eliminated as a class in the beginning of the soviet period) there were not enough specialists who knew how to use these chemicals properly and due to this fact contamination of soil, lakes and rivers dramatically increased. But the most awful things happened when so many pesticides were produced that no one knew what to do with them, especially when some of them became forbidden due to high-toxic and cancerogenic properties. Pesticides were poured into the rivers and lakes by imprudent people, causing death of fish and other organisms and leading to a real ecological catastrophe. Some of the pesticides were simply buried in the soil without special protection and are percolating in nearby water systems even nowadays.

(4) If to compare the situation with production, consumption and recycling in contemporary Belarus and soviet Byelorussia, it is completely different. On the one hand, the choice of products in soviet Byelorussia was much poorer (also because of the high priority on military production and heavy industry for the needs of the USSR). On the other hand there were much more environmentally friendly products (without artificial flavor additives, colouring agents, preservatives, etc.). Paper, cardboard and glass were practically the only types of packaging and collection of the waste from this materials was widely spread. But this has changed when moving from a state-run economy to some kind of "socially oriented market economy". The current model of consumption is absolutely unsustainable because it doesn’t take into account the real value of resources and the state of environment. The present system is characterized by large inputs of raw materials, non-renewable energy, a production process involving toxic substances resulting in toxic emissions, non-sustainable methods of dealing with waste like landfilling and incineration, large amount of waste from packaging, which mainly consist of polyethylene and other types of plastic.

Are you addressing this problem in the Green Consumerism Campaign that you mentioned?

Yes. From our point of view there is a considerable problem with consumption habits in Belarus. Everyone can observe a very low level of concern about environmental threats, and only a little number of consumers realizes the connection between their consumption habits and environmental degradation. Consumption models that have the least impact upon the environment should be actively promoted and demanded by Belarusian consumers. Green Consumerism Campaign in Belarus started in 2006 and the long term goal of this campaign is to promote the sustainable consumption models by raising awareness of consumers to choose environmentally-friendly products, to demand products and technologies with minimum environmental impact from producers and better environmental policies and regulations from government, and to reduce the overall level of consumption. In 2006 we collected and analyzed information about trends and tendencies in the Belarusian market and prepared information materials and questionnaires about Green Consumerism for different target groups. We carried out polls among consumers and managers of the shops in order to investigate (1) attitude of the consumers to the environmentally friendly shopping and willingness to follow the principles of green consumerism and (2) attitude of managers to the idea of promotion consumption models that do less harm to human health and environment. We also conducted a marketing research in order to find out what kind of packaging do consumers prefer and what are the main factors that define their choice. We prepared educational material on Green consumerism which was included into the program “Fundamentals of Consumers’ Knowledge” taught in 131 schools round Belarus. At the end of 2006 and the beginning of 2007 we organized several seminars in different regions of Belarus dedicated to Green consumerism.

That’s really impressive. Were people interested in these issues?

Sure. We reached at least 2100 consumers directly during consumers and shop managers polls, marketing research and about 250 people (mostly teachers and local NGOs activists) during regional seminars and other meetings. Approximately 12000 children will get information on Green Consumerism when studying “Fundamentals of Consumers’ Knowledge”. Lots of people got acquainted with the Green Consumerism project through Mass Media. Green Consumerism is a new and a fresh idea in Belarusian society and people react to our activities with concern and understanding. But we also meet many people that don’t believe in positive changes and not only in the field of sustainable consumption. Unfortunately apathy has its place in Belarusian society due to political, economical and other reasons. But apathy in turn is also one of the reasons that prevents Belarus from positive changes in ecological situation. But we are optimists:)

Thanks a lot for the interview!