Warsaw’s Green Crusade Continues

The result of a collaboration between AMS, Arla Foods and City Hall, Warsaw now has 50 green bus stops, with that number set to soar even further by the time the year ends.

Unveiled in Gocław last week, the stop is the 100th in Poland with the over-arching concept cited as an ideal example of what can be achieved when public and private sectors cooperate as one.

“One of our main goals regarding sustainable development is to consistently minimise the negative impact on the environment and ultimately achieve a neutral level,” said Roman Jawczak from Arla Foods.

Continuing, he added: “Conducting advertising activities based on solutions that are environmentally friendly and useful for residents – such as green bus stops – perfectly complements our efforts to achieve zero carbon dioxide emissions in all our global activities.”

Increasingly popular since first debuting in Warsaw in 2020, the stops include special glass to prevent birds from flying into them and green roofs capable of purifying the air, collecting water and lowering the temperature.

Each such stop can absorb over seven kilos of carbon dioxide per year and reduce the number of dust particles in the air by between 15 and 20 percent.

Moreover, each are capable of retaining 150 litres of rainfall per year and lowering the temperatures experienced below by anything up to five degrees Celsius.

So far, Poland’s 100 EKO shelters have been responsible for reducing CO2 levels by 73 tons – the equivalent of 12,416 trees.

Michał Olszewski, the Deputy Mayor, said: “Green shelters are a very clear signal to residents that every element of urban infrastructure can be viewed another step towards creating a sustainable city.

“Every little bit counts, because when we implement more and more we see the benefits of scale.”

As things stand, another 40 such stops will appear this year alone, of which 34 will be funded as a result of the Participatory Budget.