There are the omnipresent cigarette butts, bags of chips and sweets and the inevitable pieces of plastic. The signs of incivility in urban parks have been photographed by a Legambiente monitoring in 10 urban parks between Napoli and Pozzuoli.
The Legambiente data was released on the occasion of “Puliamo il mondo 2023”, the historic volunteer campaign of Legambiente, the Italian edition of Clean up the World, which for over 30 years has called to action, citizens of all ages to clean up abandoned waste together in green areas, streets and squares, corners of the city, but also river banks and beaches.
Most of the initiatives will be concentrated on the weekend of September 22-24 under the motto "For a climate of peace" to underline the importance of communities that promote a society that promotes peace and respect for diversity, rejecting war, any form of prejudice, violence, hatred and discrimination. In Campania, many events that will involve hundreds of volunteers including students, municipal administrations, companies and associations.
In this edition, Legambiente returns to denounce the problem of abandoned waste that does not even spare urban parks. The data from the new park litter 2023 survey speak clearly: there are 698 pieces of waste collected and catalogued by 48 volunteers of Legambiente volunteers in the 11 transects carried out in 10 urban parks between Naples and Pozzuoli, approximately 0,6 pieces of waste for every square metre monitored.
Grouped by material category, the waste dispersed in the parks is 67% artificial polymers (plastics) for a total of 468 wastes, 11,6% paper and cardboard (81 wastes), 11,5% glass and ceramics (80) and 5,7% metal (40). The remaining percentage of waste (4%) is made up of rubber waste, organic material, treated wood, textiles, bioplastics and mixed materials and WEEE. Going into the details of the waste found, cigarette butts are the main ones, representing 32,1% of the waste collected (224 out of 698 total), followed by unidentifiable pieces and fragments of plastic (equal to 16,2% of the total), building material (tiles, bricks, 6,3%), glass bottles and pieces of bottles (27, 3,9%), and bags of crisps and sweets and candies (24, 3,4%).
As for cigarette butts, 62 butts were monitored in Totò Park. Mention should be made of Mascagna Park where no butts were monitored.
"Like every year, Let's Clean the World - explains Francesca Ferro, director of Legambiente Campania - plays a crucial role in increasing citizens' awareness of the importance of protecting the environment, of proper waste management and of the role of individuals in improving the decor of common spaces. Let's Clean the World is a participatory volunteer campaign that allows us to raise citizens' awareness of one of the most long-standing problems, that of waste, which does not even spare urban parks as shown by the data from our new park litter survey.
And yet - concludes Francesca Ferro - public green areas have always provided strategic services to our cities to resist rising temperatures, improve air quality, and for social relations. But administrations do not always pay the right attention given that budgets and planning often lack resources for maintenance, management, and safety, and they are often abandoned or closed.”
At the heart of Park Litter 2023 are also the waste collection bins that are present in all monitored transects: only in 36,4% of cases (4 out of 11 transects) are they set up for waste separation according to materials. Since one of the major causes of waste dispersion in the environment is the wind, the monitoring reported whether or not the bins were closed or covered: only in 5 out of 11 transects (45,5%) is this feature present, useful for preventing material dispersion.
In the Park Litter questionnaire, the presence of manholes and drainage channels was detected in 10 of the 11 monitored transects (90,9%). This parameter was detected because worldwide studies have established that one of the main vectors of waste in the marine environment are canals and waterways often connected to the urban sewer system and the main source of waste is the poor management of urban waste. Accumulation areas were noted, mostly under or near benches and picnic tables. Drinking fountains or water dispensers are present in 72,7% of the monitored transects (8 out of 11)
Weekend appointments: Among the main voluntary appointments in action throughout the weekend in Giugliano (Villa Comunale, Parco Liternum in Lago Patria, Stadium Area) in collaboration with the Municipality of Giugliano, the Youth Forum, the Pro loco costiera Domitio and Campania Felix. The cleaning activities will involve students from all the city's schools and traders who will be involved in cleaning the city centre. The Circolo città Flegrea in collaboration with the Kyme Archaeological group, the SOS metal detector association, Consorzio Lucrino Mare, Club per l'Unesco di Napoli and MIA, is organising the cleaning of the Spiaggia Lucrino beach – Pozzuoli (Na) also with the use of metal detectors to intercept the smallest metal waste.
In Naples, initiatives in Scampia, while on Friday 22 September in Piazza Bellini volunteers in a cleaning action accompanied by awareness-raising activities aimed at all users of the square. with the support of the Department of Greenery of the Municipality of Naples and with the support of ASIA Naples. Other initiatives in Torchiara nel Cilento and Nola. Sunday 24 September Puliamo il Mondo will stop at the former Wirlpool plant where together with the workers and managers of Teatek, with the participation of ASIA and the virtuous experiences of the territory from the ITI “Marie Curie” to the Fondazione Famiglia di Maria, a symbolic cleaning will be brought to life but above all, it will be told, live on Rai, starting at 10.30:XNUMX how a path of ecological transition can give hope and new life to the territory.
Article published on 20 September 2023 - 14:31
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