On 1 July the Poles will face the waste collection revolution. It will change the rules for all- those who had their waste collection contracts signed as well as those discarding their rubbish in an unlawful way. Just few weeks before the so called “waste collection act” becoming effective vast majority of Poles (96%) admits that they are well-informed about the changes of the rules regarding waste management. The majority (57%) knows also how much they will pay for their waste collection.

In September 2014, according to the changes in the Act of Education six-year-olds (and not seven-year-olds as now) will compulsory start school education. The reform has been criticised by some groups. Organisers of the initiative „Ratuj Maluchy” (“Save the little ones”) collected almost a million signatures under the petition for holding a referendum on this issue. The Parliament will decide if a referendum is going to be held. The government is against it.

The opinion that shale gas is environmentally friendly has been reinforced in Polish society. At present over a half of adult Poles (51%) shares this opinion. It is an eight percent increase since 2011. On the other hand percentage of those who are afraid of its impact on human health has also increased (6% increase, 19% of all interviewees). There is still a significant group of people who are not able to assess if it is dangerous to extract this unconventional source of energy.

Online shopping is on the increase in Poland. Three quarters of Internet users (75%, i.e. 45% of all interviewees) have ever bought something on the net, with two fifths (42%, i.e. 25% of all) buying something last month. At least one in four Internet users (27%) has sold something online at least once.

Recently there has been an ongoing debate on the issue of religious slaughter in Poland. Religious slaughter is a practice of slaughtering livestock in accordance with Muslim and Jewish religious laws which require killing animals without stunning.

The Mother's Day is celebrated in Poland on 26th May. On that occasion we asked Poles about their relationships with parents. For interviewees it was a sentimental journey in time. We did not ask about present relationships but about their childhood and teenage memories. Almost all of our interviewees (92%) keep a memory of a close relationship with their mothers, with half (51%) describing it as very close.