Youth Council of the U.S. Embassy in North Macedonia The Youth Council empowers young people in Macedonia by providing a platform for ideas, projects and more. It also has an advisory role to the US Embassy.
I love to go on long bike rides, hiking trips, and nature walks. Being in the great outdoors makes me feel strong and happy. It helps me release the stress that daily life brings. There are many other people who find outdoor activities as fun and enjoyable as I do, but we all have the same problem. The streets, parks, and mountains in our country are littered with tons of plastic, paper, and glass. Everybody hates all this pollution, but not many people do something about it.
In order to take action and get rid of all this garbage, I decided to “find the green” by leading an ecological initiative in which people from all over the nation contribute to help clean up this planet we call home. As part of the Youth Council of the U.S. Embassy, I worked with my fellow council members to invite elementary schools, high schools, and NGOs to implement cleanup activities in their regions by picking up trash in their parks and schoolyards. And yes, we did receive extremely positive feedback from these schools and NGOs who loved our initiative and showed interest in being part of our mission to save the environment.
We call this initiative “Find the Green.” Not only have we cleaned up schoolyards and public parks all over Macedonia, but we also collected and recycled 32 kilograms of plastic. “What a success! What a good feeling!” I thought. There is nothing better than working towards your own health and the well-being of your community. We have been implementing this initiative for the past three years, and we will continue doing so until our home is immaculate! We should all care for our streets and parks and stop littering them because no one else will pick up after us. Begin with yourself and set a good example for your friends, kids and neighbors. If we all just pick up a little bit of litter from our parks and throw it into the trash can, we will all be happy and healthy. It’s as simple as that!
For all you readers, if you like this initiative, please e-mail us at ycusmac@gmail.com and let us know if you want to volunteer for next year’s “Find the Green” project. The more numerous we are, the more success we will achieve, and we will all be able to better enjoy our adventures biking, hiking, and walking through Planet Earth’s greatest gift to us: nature. 
Enjoy this year’s Find the green video:
Krenar