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Thursday, 03 December 2020_A Ukrainian social entrepreneur has turned a waste recycling vending machine into an animal-friendly initiative where plastic bottles serve as currency to buy food for stray cats and dogs.
Installed in one of Kiev's residential areas at the end of October, the machine collected 145 kg (319,725 pounds) of plastic recyclables within the first two weeks, according to the project's founder Rufat Raimov.
In addition to solving two problems - recycling plastic waste and nourishing strays - the machine is an educational tool for children, teaching them to be eco-conscious, he said.
"We have regular customers. They tell us, "It is our ritual." A kid collects bottles and then comes up to the parents saying, "Let's go and feed the animals." To raise a socially responsible generation is our main advantage," Raimov told Reuters.
Raimov said that the machine proved particularly popular over the weekends, with the pilot device attracting lines of families ready to cash in plastic recyclables in exchange for nutrition for strays.
One plastic bottle equals to 20 grams of food dispersed by the machine onto a pet bowl. Another bowl placed nearby can be filled with water by any customer.
Raimov wants to expand the project by installing more units in Kiev and other regions, with machines also placed indoors.
He has also teamed up with a Ukrainian charity fund which gives elderly people access to free learning and entertaining activities. A community of elderly people will be responsible for distributing food among homeless dogs and cats.
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