A theoretical lesson on the delicate balance of the ecosystem and the importance of separate waste collection, followed by an artistic-educational workshop to raise awareness among less careful smokers not to throw cigarette butts, among the most toxic and polluting waste, down the drain.
On Friday 14 June, at the Porticciolo di Nervi, “The sea begins here” will be staged, the project of the International School of Genoa (ISG) aimed at making Genoese children, and indirectly adults, aware of the damage caused by the infamous ” butts” are harmful to human health and the environment.
The initiative, created by the ISG Green Team – coordinated by the professor and Sustainability Manager of the institute Marcella Martini – in collaboration with the Municipality of Genoa and AMIU Genoa, will see the students propose “Enrichetta Gnecco Massa”, an environmental education laboratory to explain how recycling takes place and the actions implemented by AMIU to collect waste scattered on the beaches.
In particular, a focus is expected on cigarette butts, one of the most polluting and widespread types of littering on a global level, responsible for the spread in the environment – starting from the sea – of plastics and microplastics, heavy metals and other chemical substances dangerous for the ecosystem.
Precisely to raise awareness among less respectful smokers not to disperse their butts into the environment, at the end of the mini-lesson the ISG students will help the children to write, with chalk, near the road drains located around the Marina, “The sea begins here”.
Finally, after the workshop, always under the guidance of the instructors, the children of the “Gnecco Massa” will be equipped with biodegradable gloves to help the ISG children collect the cigarette butts dispersed in the area. The butts will be weighed and their number will be calculated, together with those put together by the PuliAmo la Foce association and the American International Women’s Club, before their delivery to the AMIU Genoa operators.
Meeting at the SAL Sport Center in via Caboto 7r at 9.00 am: it will be possible to attend the activities that will take place at the Porticciolo di Nervi until 11.30 am with the support of the Sport Center, the support point of the initiative and headquarters of the SAL amateur sports club which, as a founding value, it has the health of the person within the ecosystem in which he lives.
«A wonderful initiative which we immediately joined with great enthusiasm and which demonstrates how important it is to work in synergy, between institutions and schools of all levels, to pass on to the new generations, from an early age. an authentic culture of sustainability – declares the municipal councilor for Education Policies Marta Brusoni – After the great success of last month’s “Mission clean beaches – Children”, another splendid project that aims to transform the children of the schools of the Genoese childhood into actors of change. Special thanks to the International School of Genoa, in particular to Professor Martini and to the entire Green Team, for the generosity with which they will make their commitment available to our children to build, all together, a better world.”
«Leaving butts on the sand, in manholes, on the pavement, in the street is a very bad habit that some smokers persist in having, causing enormous damage to the health of all living beings: humans, flora and fauna – adds the municipal councilor to the Environment Matteo Campora – Congratulations to the International School of Genoa for the project “The sea begins here” of which we can only share the philosophy and objectives, aware of the importance of education, information and awareness as tools to improve the relationship between human activities and the environment.”
«This initiative of ours has as its objective not only the ecological education of children to produce a positive impact on the behavior of adults – explain Chiara and Margherita, representatives of the Green Team of the International School of Genoa – but also to work in synergy with the institutions to initiate a good circular economy practice such as the recycling of cigarette butts, which are made up of 60% cellulose acetate. It is a plastic material that a growing number of companies use as a raw material for a variety of uses: padding, eyeglass frames, sportswear, hydroponic gardens, bricks, etc. With the support of our institute – continue Chiara Canavese and Margherita Greco – we will continue to push in this direction to help transform cigarette butts from an environmental problem to an economic resource for a truly sustainable and respectful development of our planet and all living beings”.
«We often don’t realize how harmful and even dangerous throwing cigarette butts on the ground or, even worse, on the beach can be. In fact, cigarette butts contain harmful chemical substances that can pollute the soil and water when they are left in nature – comments the president of AMIU Genoa Giovanni Battista Raggi – The substances present in the butts can pollute waterways, damage ecosystems and above all spread microplastics in marine fauna. Throwing cigarette butts on the ground also contributes to the aesthetic degradation of urban and natural environments, ruining the landscape, public spaces and the streets of our cities. When very little would be enough because small gestures produce great results.”
