September 25th was the anniversary of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and therefore the Global Day to Act for SDGs. Roughly a million people in more than 1200 cities in over 140 countries partnered in worldwide mass mobilisation for the SDGs. People participated in activities around the world addressing, among other things; poverty, inequality and climate change.
As Sustainable Development students, we wanted to contribute to the worldwide effort and show our dedication to the Global Goals. After a short brainstorming period, we devised a way to give back without having to spend much money or invest too much time. We are full time students after-all and we wanted to prove that it is easy to take part.
As individuals, one of the ways in which we can contribute towards preventing climate change or the degradation of land and seas is to become more aware of the impact of our consumption. To consume and waste less. We live in a throw-away society, a fact that has been emphasised by the European Parliament’s vote on the recent ban on single use plastics.
Italians consume about 1,2 million tonnes of plastic each year and everyday 32 million plastic bottles are used in Italy alone. Out of all these plastic packagings, only 41% is recycled. Unfortunately only a few people are aware of the impact of their plastic consumption and although in Milan specifically, individuals are expected to recycle in their homes, recycling facilities are simply not available in many of the streets and in some suburbs.
The Municipality of Milan is efficient in cleaning the areas that are densely populated or touristy and has been outspoken in its dedication to waste management. The city also has an excellent track record of collecting separated trash from people’s homes. It is world renowned for the collection of organic waste and separated plastics. However, when you venture to the outer rings of Milan, you can see the trash accumulating on the sides of the streets. Gaps in waste management are common and although municipalities do their best, it is near impossible to keep every street clean – particularly in an area like The Navigli, where there is a constant flow of people and waste.
Picking up trash definitely raised a few eyebrows but, by doing this we were not just cleaning the streets of Milan, but also making people think about their trash. What they do with it, the amount of it, and if they can reuse, reduce or recycle it. We are planning on organising more of these kinds of clean ups and we hope to create a community of people that want to raise awareness with us. It is brilliant that residents of Milan recycle at home because they have to, but what matters is that these same residents recycle in the streets, because they want to.
Non-natural objects in a natural habitat by Lisanne Huizing (CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0)
