After two weeks, Uber withdrew its support. “That didn’t stop us. In two years, we managed to purchase 55 motorbikes to collect garbage from all over the city and we had 36 refugees working with us, twenty of whom were making food for other people,” Bitar adds.
With Live Love Lebanon, an association Bitar was part of, he received support. “From then on, I started Live Love Recycle on my own and funded it myself,” says Bitar.
Live Love Recycle has come a long way since they started. “We started collecting recyclables nine months ago. We’re a collection service where we go by houses and send garbage to recycling plants,” Bitar notes.
In two weeks, Bitar gained 300 users of his mobile application. The application allows Beirut residents to order two pickups of garbage per month with no added fee, adding that pickups drives by with electric collection bags upon setting up a time.
“We have now 3,500 users within the city of Beirut and our next step is expanding beyond the capital,” Bitar explains. “Now, we only collect two bags per pickup, but later on, we’d like to collect six bags, each carrying 1.7 kilograms.”
This is Bitar’s way of making people become aware of their littering habits and eventually cutting down on trash. Municipalities themselves are encouraging Live Love Recycle to go beyond Beirut but Bitar would like to ensure spreading his vision all over Beirut first.
In order to reach more audience in Beirut, Bitar partakes in almost all the events taking place in Beirut. “We also had a huge media campaign and got featured in big newspapers around the world,” Bitar says.
Social media and social media campaigns were also helpful and more sustainable than posting flyers.
