Recycle by donating in Vrgorac, Croatia

Authorities are urging locals to donate their unused items to migrants, rather than throwing them away

In the town of Vrgorac, located in Croatia, local authorities want citizens to stop throwing away their unused items and to donate them to migrants instead. Anything that is reusable – like clothes and shoes – is welcome at the Red Cross station specifically set up for the purpose of receiving these donations.

Personal call coming from the mayor

The appeal was issued directly by the mayor of Vrgorac - Ante Pranić on his Facebook page. “I am asking citizens to reconsider throwing away clothing and footwear as well as reusable furniture. Namely, in cooperation with the Red Cross, we have agreed on another project to help the needy. I have signed a contract worth 49,287.94 HRK, which deals with the reuse of empty office space that we have finally registered under city ownership after 20 years. We are allocating that office space to the Red Cross to use as a warehouse where citizens will be able to donate clothing and reusable furniture. We want to help the needy particularly with providing clothing and footwear. We are in a border area and there are often situations where we can help migrants who are in contact with MUP. Our small reuse center is expected to open on March 1. I am looking forward to it,” he wrote on the social media platform, as quoted by total-croatia news.

Not only does this call serve the purpose of helping those in need, but it will also turn the town more environmentally friendly, by achieving some degree of circularity. Mayor Pranic is no stranger to green initiatives. Earlier this month, he successfully championed a piece of local legislation aimed at banning the use of plastics at the city’s official institutions and events – from now on, plastic packaging is set to be replaced with glass and other more environmentally friendly materials.