Za Pochista Makedonija (“For a Cleaner Macedonia”) is an eco-movement based in Skopje. It began as an idea to motivate all mountain hikers and people who spend time in nature to take care of it and not trash. After several clean-ups in mountains and picnic areas, we decided to focus on cities as well, since eco-consciousness often starts in our own backyard.

The pictures and videos of our actions inspired others to also act – just as we had hoped. Motivated by the success, our team of Greenfluencers started to expand and to think bigger. Besides raising awareness among locals for a cleaner environment and a more eco-friendly lifestyle, our goal is also to create an “umbrella” that will unite all organizations dealing with problems related to pollution, recycling and waste treatment in Macedonia. We want to offer a place where anyone can easily get information about eco-movements, organizations and their activities, so you decide how you want to take action.

Due to a project “European youth at the frontlines of active citizenship”, funded by the EU and hosted by Volunteers Centre Skopje the founder of ZPM was able to get financial support to start the movement. This is how it began, but the story doesn’t end here.

It was a sunny day in the mountains when Petar noticed nature and friends were not the only things he was surrounded with. Among growing trees and mountain peaks reaching the sky, he couldn’t help stepping on something that was not on the regular sightseeing hiking list – a countless amount of old, dirty water and beer bottles, food wrappings, cigarette butts… How could nature, something we all share, look like this?

Unselfishly, this group of young mountain hikers took their bags and filled them with everything that did not belong to the mountains. And from that moment, every hiking trip or picnic in nature would become a bit more meaningful, with a desire to make the places enjoyable for everyone and to be role-models for fellow citizens by sharing cleaning stories on social media.

In what can be called a coincidence (or maybe not), months later Petar stumbled on a call for initiatives, published by Volunteers Centre Skopje: “Do you have an idea that will make the world a little bit better?” Well… he did. That’s how Petar took part in a project called “European youth at the frontlines of active citizenship”, funded by the Erasmus+ programme of the European Union. Thanks to the project, he was able to create the eco-movement “Za Pochista Makedonija”, group up young people in Skopje and organize various cleaning actions in nature areas. The idea was to promote a healthy lifestyle by spending time in nature – from where it expanded to be an environmental movement focused on the cities, as well.

Not wanting to live where the streets and nature areas were full of garbage anymore, young activists started to spread the word about the movement. We felt the support through Za Pochista’s Instagram profile from the very beginning and, little by little, we started gaining more followers. A lot of people joined the #ZaPochistaMakedonija campaign – an encouragement for people to collect the trash they see on their hikes and to share the act on social media with “before and after” pictures. But our game changer was our first big clean-up in mount Vodno – and that’s how we showed up on media’s radars. Television channels and journalists started to see the changes we were making and, suddenly, we got interview requests and invitations to their morning TV programs. After this and some other big clean-ups (like Kozjac and Marko’s Monastery), we started to build a more nationwide image – we were more motivated than ever to reach out to people and to continue our work.

But Za Pochista didn’t only spread among Macedonians… Not long after, we also reached a foreigner group of volunteers living in Macedonia who couldn’t bear to see the trash on the streets and nature full of garbage. With countless ideas to spread the word and to build a sustainable environmental entity in Macedonia, Za Pochista team became bigger and more international.

We have come far since then. We stick to our beloved clean-ups that set an example while growing the movement and inspiring young people all over the country to take action. Our main goal is to raise awareness among locals and to create a network that will unite all organizations dealing with problems related to pollution, recycling and waste treatment in Macedonia. We want to offer a place where anyone can easily get information about eco-movements, organizations and their activities, so you can decide how you want to take action. Our group – Greenfluencers as we call us – is constantly growing with strong personalities wanting to change. We are always working on ways to expand and improve the movement – stay tuned for more action!