“I was already used to sorting my waste, but since I had to take it to the recycling center myself, I was less involved. Two clicks and a half-hour later, an e-bike comes to the doorstep to pick up the household’s recyclable waste (paper, cardboard, plastic, metal and cans). To gain access, a user must download the Live Love Recycle mobile application. He also reached out to the United Nations World Food Program, which now funds and supports the project.Īfter months of paperwork, recruitment and training of collectors, the service started operations in Beirut on April 9, 2018. Looking for ways to finance his project, he contacted the French NGO ACTED (Agency for technical cooperation and development), which eventually became a partner. It runs in our blood,” explained the 30-year-old. But at Live Love we do not like to complain we prefer action. “In 2015, thousands of people protested against the trash crisis. One of these was Live Love Recycle, launched by Georges Bitar, a member of Live Love Lebanon, an NGO that supports the environment, communities and culture. However, it also enabled the creation of several alternative projects to deal with the issue. The country’s 2015 waste crisis sparked massive protests and lasted for eight months, until the government finally introduced a temporary plan.

So far, the Lebanese government has failed to create an efficient waste management system that would be both environmentally friendly and mindful of citizens’ health and well-being. The Live Love Recycle initiative is more than welcome in the Lebanese capital, where waste of all kinds is thrown away unsorted in a single plastic bag, ending up either in coastal landfill likely followed by the Mediterranean Sea, or else being burned in the streets. Ibrahim is one of 400 collectors of the Live Love Recycle project, which provides Beirut’s citizens with a free, on-demand service picking up recyclables. The young man might be dressed like a delivery boy, but he has nothing to deliver – rather, he collects. Wearing a helmet, elbow and knee pads, his yellow security jacket reflecting the sun that has come out after a rainy afternoon, Ibrahim rides his e-bike through the chaos of traffic in Beirut. Live Love Recycle, a « 100% social solution » to the waste crisis in Beirutīy Claire Grandchamps, L’Orient-Le Jour, Lebanon

Live love download