That day, 9th March 2019, I got close to crying in public. After 12 years in this country, MY pain became unbearable. Returning from all the ITB Berlin 2019 impressions and meetings, responsible tourism thoughts and talks, a two-hour bus drive across Montenegro smashed me. The trees were still without leaves, and grass not yet covering up: There was plastic and garbage all over the landscape, up in the trees, in rivers, along the roadsides – literally EVERYWHERE, at every single meter along the road, between the capital of Podgorica and Šavnik in the North.
“It’s been the wind.” (said the bus driver) “You know, that´s the way we are, you can´t change it.” (said the person next to me on that bus). “Oh, why don’t you want this plastic bag, it’s free?!” (they always asked me in Voli, the shop). NO. It is not free. We all pay a high price.
And do we love to perform these endless clean-ups? Yes, it´s nice to see a change at least for that day. But it is a war we cannot win! After a week or two, those places look the same. So, just mockery and no change in sight for Montenegro, the “ecological state” – as declared in 1991?
Change starts with each and every one of us. Change starts from results. So, we found together, a small bunch of citizens, expats, people who love this country too much to just feel the pain and complain. This is our petition to the Government. With a rationale, backgrounds, updates, good examples worldwide. For #MontenegroWildBeauty it is URGENT by now.
If you like what we wish to achieve, please sign, share and care. And be welcome to join our group and like-minded people here: #OcistiME!.
We hope to be able to close it one day.
Hvala puno, thank you!
