We recognise the efforts of Italian administrations that are taking concrete action to reduce their plastic consumption, rewarding them with the LifeGate PlasticLess certificate.
Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.Mark Twain
This is the advice left to us by Mark Twain, the American writer. And it is perhaps the key to happiness. Because when we manage to be the best version of ourselves, to achieve our goals, we feel good. And to do that we need the encouragement of those who believe in us, who recognise our worth, who don't ask us to change, but who — by appreciating and supporting us — ensure we always give our best. More than role models, they are inspiring muses.
Discover LifeGate PlasticLess, a sea of ideas against an ocean of plastic
And Italy is not short of "inspiring muses". The trouble is that, like every muse, they remain in the shadows. LifeGate has decided to give proper recognition to those who demonstrate that being sustainable is not impossible, thereby encouraging others to follow the same path. That is why the municipalities and regions that have implemented concrete measures aimed at reducing plastic use are rewarded with the prestigious LifeGate PlasticLess certificate.
At the end of February, the administration of Milan invited shopkeepers and restaurateurs to give up single-use plastic items. A drastic measure for a city where the aperitivo, for example, is part of everyday life: we will finally no longer see tables covered in plastic plates and straws poking out of cocktail glasses.
Listen to "Anche i comuni più piccoli possono fare la differenza: il successo di San Vito Chietino" on Spreaker.
But "even the smallest and most marginal municipalities can be advocates of good practices and promoters of new models," assures Emiliano Bozzelli, the mayor of the municipality of San Vito Chietino, in Abruzzo, which had already banned single-use items from January, involving traders, residents and tourists in the ordinance. "Many families and many businesses, especially in summer, made extensive use of single-use plastic tableware, almost always throwing it in the general waste, causing serious harm to the environment and above all to the sea and the beaches. That is why we decided to change: for a San Vito that pollutes less and a more sustainable local tourism."
Every day, 731 tonnes of plastic end up in the Mediterranean, so much so that the concentration of microplastics in the water is among the highest in the world: the figure stands at 1.2 million per square kilometre. LifeGate therefore decided to launch the LifeGate PlasticLess initiative to equip as many Italian ports as possible with a Seabin, a true "rubbish bin" that collects plastics and microplastics from the sea.
It is no coincidence that many of the municipalities recognised under the project are coastal: Otranto, for example, where a gradual replacement of plastic tableware in school canteens with biodegradable alternatives has been launched, thereby teaching the youngest children to respect the environment and encouraging families to follow suit.
In Castiglione della Pescaia, in the province of Grosseto, single-use utensils must disappear from all commercial premises by June. "In addition, we have set up an ecological unit dedicated to collecting plastic from ditches and canals to try to prevent it from reaching the sea, also because we are within the Cetacean Sanctuary," explains Elena Nappi, deputy mayor and environment councillor. "Finally, we have created an ecological island for fishermen — the first in Italy — where they can leave the waste they find in their nets without having to deal with disposal, which the municipality will handle."
Plastic, however, is not found only at sea. It is even found on Everest, which, because of the waste left behind by mountaineers, has become the world's highest rubbish dump. And so our mountainous regions also enter the picture: Valle d'Aosta has accepted the challenge set by the Ministry of the Environment, requiring all its administrative bodies to abandon single-use plastic products, starting with the bottles sold in vending machines. In the regional capital, the ban extends to commercial businesses.
Following the example of Sweden's Greta Thunberg, every Friday hundreds of thousands of students take to the streets to demand that governments act against global warming. The planet's way of life is certainly still far from sustainable, but with LifeGate PlasticLess we will continue to do everything we can to spread the message of these young people fighting for their future, in the hope that the list of those who embrace it grows ever longer.