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Study Offers Policymakers Solutions to Litter Problem
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| Trash litters the Beirut Corniche |
An AUB team conducted a litter survey along Ras Beirut's Corniche and
submitted it to policymakers to help them find the most effective solution
for the problem.
Led by Jad Chaaban, an assistant professor of economics at AUB, the team
of twelve students and researchers spent nearly one month collecting samples
from the Corniche and conducting interviews with passersby in May and
June of this year. Students surveyed 990 Corniche users, profiling them
and asking them about their perceptions regarding litter on the seafront.
To present their findings, the team recently held a workshop at AUB. Titled
"Who Are the Stakeholders in Ras Beirut's Seafront Pollution Management?"
the workshop attracted representatives from the Municipality of Beirut,
the Ministry of Environment, Sukleen, and the environmental NGO Greenline,
as well as others from the private sector and the University.
"This is the first study in the country to provide a detailed assessment
of the sustainable management of recreational seafronts," said Chaaban,
adding: "What's unique about this project is that we are immediately
connecting with policymakers and sharing our results with them so that
they will become better equipped to take appropriate measures."
What the team discovered was that most visitors to the Corniche blame
the youth and families for the litter along the promenade and seafront,
but most also said they would be willing to contribute to a fund for keeping
the Corniche clean.
Researchers found that litter mainly originates from products sold by
coffee shops and include such products as cigarettes, bottles, cans, and
cups. Most people think the Municipality of Beirut is the main institution
in charge of reducing the litter pollution. And 95 percent of visitors
believe it is important to address the litter pollution problem.
Even though Lebanese law imposes a significant fine on people who litter,
the law is not being implemented. That's why the team brainstormed with
workshop participants to come up with ways that would reduce people's
polluting habits.
Some suggestions included creating awareness posters and replacing plastic
coffee cups with biodegradable ones that carry an anti-littering message.
In parallel, a fund should be set up and fundraising activities carried
out, concluded the workshop.
The project emerged from an AUB initiative to engage better with the community. Dubbed the Neighborhood Initiative, a small team at AUB led by anthropologist and urban architect Cynthia Myntti has been working since 2007 on understanding the impact of the University on its neighborhood and on Beirut as a whole, as well as finding ways in which AUB could act constructively to make Ras Beirut a better neighborhood for all its inhabitants.
As noted by former AUB President John Waterbury, the current phase of the Neighborhood Initiative is to figure out what AUB can and should do to bring about positive changes in its neighborhood. "I have always marveled at the Corniche just outside our gates," said Waterbury, during the opening speech of the 2008/2009 academic year. "Here we find Beirutis, men and women, children and grandparents, all income levels, the religiously conservative to the religiously indifferent, sharing the sea, the air, and one another. That is or was the spirit of Ras Beirut, and AUB has an obligation to nurture that spirit. It is an obligation we should accept willingly and gladly."
"The Neighborhood Initiative hopes to encourage research by AUB faculty and students on problems facing the area of Beirut surrounding the University, and then devise solutions to them," said Myntti. "Professor Chaaban's project offers a great example of this sort of research; it addresses a problem of concern to our neighbors and users of the Corniche seafront, and it involves multiple stakeholders to develop creative solutions."