The former President of the Republic showed the students innovative and cost-effective procedures developed by young Hungarians, which offer a solution to one environmental protection problem.
The long-term maintenance of our current way of life and consumption would require almost double the resources found on planet Earth, stated János Áder on Wednesday in Tatabánya, during the lecture entitled From the Throwaway Culture to Sustainable Development for the students of the Árpád High School.
The Earth was gone even when we weren't on its back, and it's gone without us - the chairman of the board of trustees of the Kék Bolygó Climate Protection Foundation called the attention of the student audience.
The former president of the republic said that he travels the country and speaks to small and large communities about environmental protection problems because "we all want the Carpathian Basin and Hungary to show the face we know today".
In his presentation accompanied by graphs and pictures, he emphasized that from 1920 to the present, the number of people has increased fourfold, at the same time the amount of water consumed by people has increased eight times as much, and energy consumption has been three times faster than population growth.
He also talked about the fact that the size of our reserves has not changed for 4.5 billion years. While the use of raw materials has quadrupled in 50 years, according to today's knowledge, iron can be mined for 65 years, copper for 40 years, and gold for 21 years.
In his presentation, in addition to presenting the planet's resources, he explained the problem of ever-decreasing water, to which he highlighted the "water footprint" of various products, and also talked about how much environmental pollution and energy waste the throw-away culture causes.
He said that 66 kilograms of food is thrown away per inhabitant in Hungary every year.
János Áder also touched on the fact that one-third of the clothes sold in Europe end up in the trash, which may also explain the fact that 10 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions are linked to the textile industry, but emissions from the electronics sector are also significant, around 5 percent, while a mobile phone 13,000 liters of water are required for its production.
The former President of the Republic showed the students innovative and cost-effective procedures developed by young Hungarians, which offer a solution to one environmental protection problem.
It was about the bacteria cocktail that breaks down plastics, compostable fast food cutlery, and equipment that turns food waste into soil improvement material in 72 hours.
In response to a question from the audience, János Áder stated that the decision was made in the European Union that only electric cars can be put into operation from 2035, and this requires a battery.
Those who live near or far from a battery factory rightly expect that there is no chance of an accident. The Parliament accepted that from January 1, the strictest environmental protection rules used in Europe will be applied in Hungary, he added.
MTI
Cover image: Former President of the Republic János Áder, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Kék Bolygó Climate Protection Foundation, gives a presentation on sustainability at the Árpád High School in Tatabánya on March 6, 2024
Source: MTI/Bodnár Boglárka
