All AEGEEans have noticed in various events wonderful feelings of hearing so many languages! Multilingualism is always a subject that involves the whole AEGEE community. 2001 was a benchmark year for AEGEE as it was when the European Day of Language (EDL) was established. It is the second oldest ongoing project after the Summer University project which aims at pointing out the beauty and the importance of learning languages.

This year it has been decided to celebrate on the 20th of November. The EDL event will motivate antennae to celebrate  this day through various activities using many different languages! To find out more about this, EDL organizers have been interviewed for The AEGEEAN Magazine in this interview: Íñigo Sesar (AEGEE-Bilbao), Marija Puđak (AEGEE-Zagreb), Sophie Martens (AEGEE-Delft), Giorgios Giacoumatos (AEGEE-Athina) and Anna Kosheleva (AEGEE-Moscow).

Hello everyone, and thank you for your time on taking part in this interview. To start off, when will the EDL take place this year?

This year the EDL takes place on the 20^th of November. Normally European Commission celebrates two months earlier, usually in September. Language Interest Group (LIG) chose this month due to the fact that in the beginning of Autumn many locals are still drawing their plans and are in the process of recruitment of new members.

Can an Antenna organize the EDL project another day aside from that day?

The local organizers have the chance to organize any of suggested activities on 20^th of November but, if for the locals it is more convenient to organize an EDL- related event on some other date, they are free to do so. However, they should take into account that it has to be more or less around that time. The latest EDL activities should take place up to three weeks after the 20th of November.

How can it be beneficial for an antenna to organize an EDL related event?

First of all, the organization of EDL events will raise the AEGEE Spirit of each antenna and create stronger relationships between the members. Speaking about an event which derives happiness and spreads the beautiful message of multilingualism across Europe. Plethora of activities can be used to improve each participants’ formal knowledge useful for events such as job interviews and formal or semi-formal meetings.

What kind of activities can people organize? Where they can find the activities guidelines?

There are a vast number of ways in which you can celebrate the European Day of Languages depending on the level, and the time you have available. Activities such as linguistic karaoke or language speed dating can be done easily and give a fun and team building spirit around the participants. Every year LIG promotes and shares via its EDL Facebook group the updated guidelines in order to be used by any local which needs interesting ideas for celebrating the event.

How does it feel to manage AEGEE’ second oldest ongoing  project?

The feeling of spreading the EDL event is fantastic and quite appealing. This year LIG was in a fortunate position to welcome new active LIG members who got engaged in the EDL and brought lots of positive energy into the project. By some of the personal experiences of our EDL coordination team members we can say that it is something beautiful.

It creates open mindedness and is one of the blessings of the European community which enriches any member learning. Not only from the languages respective alone, but also from the culture and the mentality behind them. Additionally, It tackles practical tips and tricks about how to express yourself in any situation.

What are the opportunities presented by being multilingual?

Multiple benefits occur from multilingualism. In various events you can use your language that you want to practice, and have better communication while traveling. Moreover, more job positions are available, closer connection to people due to understanding the culture, faster immersion into the society as a newcomer. Feeling accepted into other societies is much easier when you understand how their people communicate.

How will you collect and publish the results of this year’s EDL?

We will keep track of all the events and activities organised in the whole Network by an impact measurement form, which local organisers should fill in. The results will be published on:

• LIGs’ social media like Facebook, Instagram and our website;
• in an article that we would like to publish in The AEGEEan magazine;
• in our Activity Report at the next Agora.

One of the Interest Groups that has returned in 2020 after some years of inactivity in AEGEE is the Culture Interest Group (CIG). It started with some important steps done during the quarantine period as the formation of a core team, the publishing of articles about stereotypes and topics in European countries, some online cinema meetings and debates or the organization of an online workshop about drinking culture. The person behind this is Ilse Driessen, responsible for this group and has also recently been elected as the President of the local board of AEGEE-Nijmegen. In this interview we are going to know more about the CIG, its present moment, its future plans, and the person who made it happen again.

Hello and thank you so much for the interview, Ilse. To start off,  could you tell us a bit about yourself?

Hi! I’m Ilse, I’m 21 years old and currently studying a bachelor’s degree in Pedagogical Sciences. I’ve been an active member of AEGEE-Nijmegen for a bit over two years. In my free time, besides AEGEE and hanging out with friends, my hobby is to ‘’be creative’’ in a very broad sense. For example: I like to draw, I take photos, I’ve participated in some theatre plays and sometimes I play guitar.

How did you decide to be responsible for the Culture Interest Group? Did you hear about it before?

I knew that the Culture Interest Group had been a thing, only a few months before I became a moderator. This is because at the time I was trying to do research for myself on what the complicated European AEGEE-structure is like, because I was interested and wanted to know more. When I saw that the Culture Interest Group had been inactive for quite some time, I thought it was a pity, because no other European Body focuses on arts and culture so explicitly. This is why when an open call for new moderators came out, I felt inspired to re-build this group and bring more arts and culture into AEGEE-Europe.

It’s remarkable to see that the group got organized quite quickly and started to make difference with online activities. What is the key to reach a good starting point like you did some months ago?

To be honest, I think I was quite lucky with my timing. We are in a period where online activity engagement is more popular than ever, so I immediately decided to use this to my advantage by promoting  my new group in other Facebook groups such as AEGEEans in Quarantine. When people do not have a lot to do outside of their house, it is easier for them to think: ‘Hey, these people are going to have fun online, let’s join it!’’. Something else I think is important with these types of groups is that you need to persist in what you are doing. If you show an active approach towards what you are working on, the people who follow you will notice this and might be more motivated to join you in activities. I tried to post something in the group at least once a week and it was often more than that.

Could you say that the CIG should keep an online program for all the AEGEE community?

I definitely think a large part of CIG will stay online in the future, as a Facebook group can be used easily to share articles, videos and more online material. These group posts however are only available to people who are a member of our IG, but anyone in the AEGEE community can become a member! I am not sure yet to what extent I will keep up with online activities next year, as I can imagine many people (including myself) will be more focused on what is happening in real life again, but if I am organising a bigger event online, I will definitely open it up for the whole network to give everyone chance to enjoy what we create.

The CIG, as other European Bodies, has organized an online Summer University because of the cancellation of physical Summer Universities. What is the main topic and when it’s going to take place?

Our workshop: ‘’Improvise your Summer!’’ Is about the act and use of improvisational theatre. We have decided to make this workshop interactive, which means the participants will play some theatre games with us online. We have linked these improvisational games to several soft skills to which improvisation contributes: creative thinking, public speaking and teamwork. By combining theory with practice we hope to have created a fun and engaging workshop! The workshop is available from June 15^th until August 31^st, locals are able to contact us to plan a specific date.

To end this interview, what is the future of the CIG and what problems do you plan on tackling –even with the quarantine circumstances?

In the future, I think I would like to focus more on collaborations with other European bodies and possibly contributing to projects. I want to do this by helping with the creation of sessions and/or workshops related to arts and culture on behalf of CIG. Besides this, I want to keep organizing informal activities, such as thematic discussion nights or more movie nights and art viewing. I think a problem we may face is that people will be less engaged in our group once life goes back to ‘’normal’’, as we now do so many things online. When this happens, I think I would like to focus on things that are (partly) physical, for example I have been thinking of organizing a culture-related post crossing event. To conclude my answer to this question: I have many ideas for the future, but a lot of it is not yet concrete. I’d say, check out our Facebook group or Instagram to stay updated!

Do you know in which country and under what circumstances your T-shirt was made? Do you know how much energy and labour it took to produce your jeans? Frankly, the answer to these questions is no for most of us. This is a manifestation of ‘fast fashion’ and it is a topic worth talking about.

Fast fashion refers to inexpensive clothing, produced rapidly in response to the latest trends, encouraging repurchasing (Fashion Revolution). In the 1950s, it took two to three months to produce, ship, and retail a piece of clothing, while today it takes only 15 days. Moreover, 80 billion pieces of clothing are produced each year (M. Eyskoot, 2017).

So what’s the problem? Well, the problem is that both social and environmental sustainability are heavily violated within the current fashion industry. Examples of social violations are: firstly, the extremely low wages of factory workers. For example, the minimum wage in the textile industry in Bangladesh is 60 euros while calculations state that 294 euros are needed for basic necessities of life. Secondly, child-labour is still very common despite various international treaties promising to end it. Furthermore, social and physical conditions are very poor: an example of this is the collapse of the Rana Plaza factory in Bangladesh in 2013 (check out the 5-minute documentary of the New York Times on it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Fkhzdc4ybw).

Moreover, the fashion industry is one of the largest polluters of the environment, since it is responsible for 10% of all CO2 emissions (to compare, the flying industry is responsible for 2,5%). It is also responsible for more than 800 chemicals flowing into the environment every day (mainly through polluted wastewater). Additionally, the fashion industry produces billions of kilos of waste that are being sent to landfills, both by producers and retailers (e.g. unsold clothes are being thrown away or even burned) and by consumers.

On a positive note, consumers are starting to become aware of these issues (KPMG, 2019). However, how can you buy more ethically if you don’t know where your clothing is coming from? This brings us to the essential problem within fast fashion: transparency (or rather, the lack of it). Almost all major fashion brands refuse to be transparent about their production chain up to today. Without transparency, it is difficult if not impossible to hold retailers accountable for their practices (Fashion Revolution, 2019). Thanks to many citizen initiatives, progressive businesses, and pressure from consumers, things are moving (slowly) in the right direction.

With that being said, here you can find 5 effective steps to help improve the sustainability of your every-day wearables:

• Repair instead of repurchase: do you really need that new item or can you still fix the current one? Not buying stuff you don’t really need is the most effective strategy to reduce emissions. Plus, it saves you money!
• Choose quality over quantity. This also saves you money and it makes you love your wardrobe more.
• Find brands that produce more ethically at www.rankabrand.org , or check out the book ‘This is a Good Guide – for a Sustainable Lifestyle’ by Marieke Eyskoot for golden tips.
• Buy second-hand items. This, again, saves you money and results in a unique wardrobe! 
• Give a workshop on this matter within your AEGEE-local. Ask the Society & Environment Interest Group for the workshop material on ‘Fashion Industry’ or ask us to send a trainer to your event. Contact us via seig@aegee.eu.

Have you ever thought about sustainability during your period? This is the moment!

Many people think that a sustainable lifestyle equals an expansive lifestyle or a burdensome, complex or difficult lifestyle. This does not have to be the case at all. There are many ways in which you can decrease your environmental footprint, while at the same time making your life easier, more comfortable and more fun! Today I will write about a more sustainable menstrual hygiene product. The menstrual cup! In my opinion, this is a life changing and empowering product. Next to being more environmental than other menstrual products, it is hygienic, easy to use, cheap, comfortable and you will be much less dependent on toilets nearby! Do I have to say more? 

Environmental and other downsides of “regular” menstrual products

It is estimated that per year in North America 20 billion pads, tampons and applicators are brought to landfills. In a lifetime of monthly menstruation on average between 10,000 and 16,800 of disposable pads or tampons are used which equals 125 to 150 kg of waste. Pads are partly made of plastic, which takes hundreds of years to degrade. Another ingredient of pads and tampons is cotton, which is an agricultural product that needs a lot of space, energy and water to grow. Also, pads and tampons are often still disposed in the toilet, which can result in an obstructed sewage system. Otherwise, they end up in landfills and are burned or just stay at the landfill and leak plastics and other chemicals in the environment, causing pollution.

Other problems connected to pads is that they can smell, because the blood gets into contact with oxygen. Also, they form a source of food for bacteria, which can cause discomfort. Tampons, on the other hand, don’t only absorb blood, but also other body “juices” which are actually important for a healthy area “down under”. Also, there are incidents of a “toxic shock syndrome”, which can be fatal, as a result of using tampons for too long (without changing it every few hours).

The cup and its benefits

Enough negativity now, let’s focus on the menstrual cup and its benefits. In the first half of the twentieth century the cup has been developed for the first time. Since then, a lot of improvement has been done to make the menstrual cup the comfortable, convenient, economic, safe and environmental product that it is today. Since around 2003, the popularity and availability of the cup has increased widely. Nowadays there are more than 50 different types, coming in different sizes and colours. There is even an organic version of the cup (organicup). 

But what is this cup actually? The cup is made of flexible medical grade silicone, which is quite easy to insert and pull out. It is antibacterial, which makes it more hygienic as it repels bacteria. Also, it is hypoallergenic, which makes it extremely unlikely that people are allergic to it. The main reason that it is so environmental is that you can use one cup for up to 10 years. This means that less cups need to be made (therefore less resources used) and less products end up in landfills (less waste). Most users would only need four cups for their whole life! Next to this more technical properties, you don’t feel or barely feel the cup and you only need to change it twice a day. Besides possible cramps that you might still have, nothing else will keep you from doing sports, go swimming or dance out all night long, even during your period!

So, why is it so important to talk about this topic in connection to sustainability? Sustainability is a broad and complex challenge. The United Nations have developed a set of international goals aimed at tackling all aspects of sustainability, which are called Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The topic of sustainable menstrual products is connected to at least four of these goals, including Goal 3 on health and wellbeing, Goal 5 on gender equality, Goal 12 on sustainable consumption and production and Goal 13 on combating climate change. Next to the more obvious connection to the environment and health, the cup is also key to reducing the inequality between different groups. For example, by increasing the quality of life and productivity of people that menstruate. 

The Society & Environment Interest Group (SEIG) wants AEGEE to contribute to reaching the SDGs and can help you and your local in many different ways. Next to writing articles like this one, SEIG can provide trainers and workshop materials to address the SDGs and other sustainability topics within your AEGEE local. 

Written by Maartje Zaal

Sources:

1. https://lunapads.com/learn/why-switch?geoip_country=US 

2. https://rctom.hbs.org/submission/the-ecological-impact-of-feminine-hygiene-products/

3. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0270467612444579 

4. https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/49b7/4136d35ad10252665a7a8b5bcdb5c2b699a6.pdf

5. https://journals.lww.com/greenjournal/Citation/1959/05000/Internal_Menstrual_Protection__Use_of_a_safe_and.3.aspx#pdf-link 

6. https://journals.lww.com/greenjournal/Citation/1962/05000/Menstrual_Protection__Advantages_of_the_Menstrual.19.aspx 

7. https://journals.lww.com/greenjournal/citation/1962/05000/internal_menstrual_protection_with_the_rubber.20.aspx