Porta La Sporta: the challenge goes also through the net!

by Alessandro Ferrua

Two more extraordinary ideas: after the success of the National Week “Porta La Sporta” (meaning: Bring Your Bag) 2010, held April 17 to 24, the campaign of the “Associazione dei Comuni Virtuosi” (Virtuous Municipalities Association) launches “Sfida all’ultima sporta” (Challenge to the last bag) and “Mettila in rete” (Put it on the net), to give another strong incentive to the reduction of disposable shopping bags. This campaign always promotes reusable bags instead of plastic ones, a symbol against our economy based on disposable products.

For the campaign called “Sfida all’ultima sporta” the idea was taken from a similar «event held in Colorado last year. It consists of a competition for the reduction of shopping bags -said Silvia Ricci, Press Office of Porta La Sporta, «and is targeted to municipalities, provinces and regions. They can organize themselves as promoters or as participants. The competition involves schools and local groups. The community that at the end of the event has the largest number of shopping bags saved wins the first prize». Adding a competitive element to the sustainability race is undoubtedly a winning idea that can ensure, through a time limited event, the permanence of a good practice, as happened in the U.S. state where the initiative took place. Thousands of citizens were involved, saving more than 5 million bags, and these results were maintained over time.

«To eliminate the intermediate packaging as well, we suggest to citizens, local authorities, supermarkets and shops of fruit and vegetables the use of reusable net shaped bags, made of washable cotton. Often we have to buy fruit and vegetables wrapped in unnecessary plastic. These packages are another type of product that becomes waste that pollutes the environment for hundred of years, while the time of its use is limited to a few minutes». From this the “Mettila in rete” project was born. The net saves energy and material and is also very practical because it has great capacity and is able to expand, taking the form of what it contains. It is also extremely durable and requires very little space when empty.

«To involve the public is necessary to provide ideas and incentives. This is precisely the aim of Porta La Sporta for pursuing, through small gestures, a real change in our habits», says Silvia Ricci. Indeed it is the small daily gestures made by the individual that can start some good practices for a sustainable lifestyle. On the other hand there must be support “from higher levels”, by institutions such as local authorities, associations and companies that make available to citizens some simple solutions that can be adopted, thus creating an optimal synergy to deal with environmental issues.