On the occasion of the online release of Green love, the first web series on sustainability by LifeGate, we meet the two protagonists who tell us how, in the series and in life, we can make small choices with big impacts on the planet.
Lucia and Pietro are two flatmates with diametrically opposite ideas and lifestyles when it comes to sustainability. The former is switched-on, well-informed and mindful of sustainability; the latter ignores every environmental issue, but decides to change his ways when he meets a girl — "the love of his life" — who is passionate about the environment. Amid ironic jibes and comic sketches, the two reflect on their flat's energy supply and decide to switch to a renewable energy supply that is clean and completely sustainable.
But this isn't just fiction: everyone can follow the example of Lucia and Pietro! Let's find out how together.
Discover all the episodes of the web series and choose LifeGate Energy too
Lucia and Pietro have chosen LifeGate's 100 per cent renewable energy and have switched to LifeGate Energy. The service is simple and immediate: it can be activated online, requires no work in the home, no power cuts or meter changes, and above all involves no additional costs. The energy supplied is entirely produced from renewable sources and represents a concrete solution, on a human scale, for contributing to the transition towards sustainable energy sources.
Everyone can take small actions with big impacts on the planet. Lucia knows this well, and Pietro is coming to realise it too. Like them, anyone, in their own small way, can help make a difference. One way to do so is to change your energy supply. This is the purpose of Green love: through this web series, LifeGate Energy wants to explain to consumers how they can benefit from a 100 per cent renewable energy supply through concrete, immediate and, above all, easy-to-activate solutions that involve no additional costs.
We can all take small actions with big impacts on the planet: switch to LifeGate Energy too
The third character in Green love is Eugenio, the new smart energy and smart home system by Evolvere, an Italian company and leader in the distributed generation sector, which allows you to manage your energy consumption in a simple and effective way via an app. Thanks to modern sensors, it is able to tell Lucia and Pietro the best times of day to use household appliances and minimise waste, allowing them to constantly monitor the wellbeing of their home.
Combining the use of renewable sources with energy optimisation services makes it possible to use the necessary supply without waste and without causing harm to the planet. The two offerings are complementary and can be subscribed to separately.
A few days before the online release of Green love, we met the two actors Federica Vai and Renato Avallone, who play Lucia and Pietro respectively in the series.
In real life, they are two young people who share a decade of experience in theatre. She dreams of working in dubbing and has previously acted in other web series, where she played the mother in a modern family grappling with new energy solutions. He, originally from Salerno, is one of the faces behind Il terzo segreto di satira and last year appeared on the big screen in the film Si muore tutti democristiani, in which, with the humour that sets him apart, he painted an ironic picture of the Italian situation.
Let's start with you, Renato — a year ago you were filming Si muore tutti democristiani. If you were to make a film today, do you think there would be new angles to include from an environmental perspective?
RA: As far as I'm concerned, I've been quite struck recently because I've realised that we Westerners only understand many things when the last alarm bell rings, as is happening this year. Despite being more than 20 years late, I'm glad we've woken up and have finally started to move. Obviously there are many areas where we're still lagging behind, but there is hope.
Was this also your first experience acting on an environmental theme, Federica?
FV: Yes, I'd say so — it's the first time I've put myself at the service of this topic, and I find it very interesting. As Renato was saying, we're still behind, and it's a subject that isn't being addressed properly. There are major issues we can't resolve, but there are also many small things we can change. When it comes to altering one's daily routine, there's always a certain resistance. Sometimes you don't even notice a wrong behaviour simply because you're used to doing things that way. Just think about plastic and how much of it accumulates: sometimes you'd need to throw it out every day, and however hard you try to be careful, you get overwhelmed. I do, however, have great admiration for future generations, starting with Greta [Thunberg, the young Swedish activist who, at just 16, is fighting against climate change, ed.]: the fact that young people are so aware gives me a great deal of confidence, because they have the chance to do better than us.
Beyond small everyday gestures, do you think there is a need for intervention from above?
RA: As with all changes and all social revolutions, you have to start somewhere, but it's clear that these things happen partly from below and partly from above. Or at least, judging by certain attitudes, I presume so. Even someone like Greta, who could be an incredible asset to the whole world, is opposed, seen as malicious and accused of hypocrisy.
And this hypocrisy is especially evident on social media. Can you tell us something to help us understand how acting has changed with the advent of the web?
RA: This is actually the first time Federica and I have worked together, yet we've known each other for 10 years. We both come from theatre and met at a theatre training and production workshop. Over the last 7 or 8 years we've worked in front of the camera and online as well. Social media and the web have certainly changed a great deal. Simply put, they're one more tool: before, you could perhaps only act in theatre and in cinema, whereas now you also have the web as an option.
We can all make a difference: switch to LifeGate Energy too.
What do you make of having to face your audience in real time? On the big screen there's a certain time lag that simply doesn't exist with online productions.
FV: Yes, online everything is much more immediate. The web is certainly a very useful tool that also lightens the production phase: there's greater ease and willingness to shoot, and for us that translates into new opportunities. I have to say that I'm still analogue and struggle to adapt to all these new technologies. Simply put, if a video of mine is published on YouTube or Facebook, I don't even think about going to read the comments, because once it's published, that's it for me.