Household food waste (FW) has huge environmental and socio-economic impacts. During the COVID-19 pandemic, a survey was carried out in North Macedonia to explore perceptions and attitudes towards FW at the household level. A self-administered questionnaire was available online from 15th of May until June 30, 2020 and the sample size was 754. A very high percentage of the respondents (94.16%) expressed a high awareness of food waste and declared to worry about this issue trying to avoid food waste as much as possible. Moreover, the results showed that 41.38% of the respondents think to waste a low amount of food while 27.98% state not to throw almost anything. Meanwhile, 52.39% of the respondents believe that they do not throw away food that is still consumable. About 22.54% of them think to throw less than 250 g followed by those who think to throw between 250 and 500 g (18.04%). The survey showed that the most wasted food groups are cereals and bakery products, fruit, vegetables, and milk and dairy products. Concerning economic value, most of the respondents (53.18%) believe to spend less than 5 EUR on food wasted while 42.04% of them think to spend between 5 and 25 EUR. Regarding shopping behaviour during COVID-19, only about a half of the respondents (48.28%) stated to go shopping like they used to do. The respondents declared that they have bought during COVID-19 more vegetables (72.30%) and fruits (68.60%), which might imply that they are moving towards healthier diets. It seems that food wastage has increased during the COVID-19 for about a third of the respondents (34.70%). The survey showed that the COVID-19 pandemic affected food purchase, wastage and consumption behaviours in North Macedonia. Such a finding should inform future policies and initiatives relating to agriculture, food and health during the recovery period.

The global rise in population and growing demand for high-quality crops are the main challenges for agrotextiles improvement. The world needs more sustainable and eco-friendly nonwoven crop covers to replace the use of synthetic nonwoven crop covers to prevent pollution. The article considers the problem of processing textile waste from the post-consumer sector (PCW). The main directions of their use in producing nonwoven fabrics are briefly described. The use of post-consumer textile waste (PCW) based on used cotton T-shirts in the manufacture of nonwovens by wet laying process using the circular economy principle is considered. Samples of nonwovens were obtained and characterized through the mass per unit area, thickness, mass per unit volume, and linear density, and the attained results were compared with market-available ones. The thickness and linear density of obtained samples were slightly higher than the market-available samples, but the mass per unit volume was very similar to market-available ones. The coefficient of variation in the thickness of the obtained materials was about 10 %. The obtained materials can be used in the manufacture of crop covers in agriculture.

Urban horticulture as a segment of urban agriculture can take various forms: home gardens, allotment farming, community gardens, community-supported agriculture, vertical farming, etc. After the COVID-19 pandemic in Croatia and neighboring countries, growing horticultural plants in urban and suburban areas became increasingly popular. The aim of the study was to investigate citizens’ attitudes towards the benefits and support of urban horticulture, its relationship to the environment, and needs and relevance in studies in the cities of Šibenik, Split, Mostar and Skopje. The research methods used for the purpose of this study were theoretical analysis method, survey and analytical descriptive and statistical method. The research was conducted online during the first half of 2024 on a sample of 506 respondents. The main goal of the paper was to examine the views of citizens on urban horticulture. With specific objectives, the views of citizens were examined on the benefits of urban horticulture, the relationship between urban horticulture and the environment, urban horticulture and plant protection, support for urban horticulture, and the needs and trends of urban horticulture. and plant protection, support for urban horticulture, needs and trends of urban horticulture. The results showed that citizens are mostly positive towards growing horticultural plants in urban and suburban areas without pollution. In urban horticulture, respondents prefer using ecological principles and products. Female respondents expressed more positive attitudes towards the fashionability and need for urban horticulture. Respondents from Skopje showed the most positive attitudes towards the benefits of urban horticulture and its relationship to the environment. Also, there is no statistically significant difference in attitudes towards urban horticulture with regard to the location of residence. The research contributes to the trend of development and promotion of urban horticulture with a special emphasis on the importance of environmental preservation. It also contributes to the development of an interdisciplinary method that connects natural and social sciences, and develops an empirical approach that can improve urban culture with the aim of preserving the environment.