Orazio, a DIY street cleaner, cleans his neighborhood before going to work.

Orazio ha , and his job is tosocial health assistant at a Local Health Authority of TarantoHe wakes up early in the morning and instead of usual jogging, gymnastics, a walk for physical exercise, Orazio doesn't waste a minute and dedicates himself to his neighborhood. How? By doing the DIY cleaning of your neighborhood, without asking anyone for help and without involving anyone.

DIY CLEANING OF YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD

The Orazio neighborhood is a very sensitive area of ​​the city. We are in Guardian Angels Street, Tamburi district, a few meters from the former Ilva factory, a symbol of the environmental degradation of an entire city that had bet everything on the steel industry. And today it still finds itself suspended between the reconversion of its plants and a future without major industry.

ALSO READ: Giuseppe, the Venetian retiree, champion of civic duty. Every morning he cleans the place he loves.

THE STORY OF ORAZIO, THE DIY STREET CLEANER

Orazio's street is very dirty, and this is certainly not the fault of Ilva and its waste. Household waste accumulates here, abandoned by residents themselves, who are too often uncivilized. Lots of plastic: bottles, plates, glasses, bags. Cardboard: the kind used for packaging and for the boxes that arrive from Amazon shipments. And lots of paper. Orazio does the classic street cleaner's work, alone, and cleans everything before going to work.

«I don't feel like a hero or a model citizen, but this activity of voluntary "I do it first and foremost for myself, to feel part of the life of my neighborhood. And I hope that my example will be followed by other people too," says Orazio. And when he explains how he organized his volunteer work, it turns out that in this highly populated area of ​​the city, there is a complete lack of waste bins and containers for garbage collection. A total abandonment, which Orazio's simple initiative makes more visible.

TO KNOW MORE: Zhang Jun, the Chinese teacher who cleans the streets of Rome with chopsticks

PLASTIC WHERE

Orazio's efforts have been followed and disseminated by a very interesting association in Taranto, one of the Italian cities with the lowest amount of greenery per capita. It's called Plasticqquà and its Facebook page has more than 10 fans. The association's volunteers go to the beaches and streets of the city, cleaning up plastic and butts, and they press the municipal administration every day with their complaints. Meanwhile, they too have taken the field alongside Orazio.

Sign up for our newsletter to stay up-to-date. Click here!

Photo credit cover image: La Repubblica

STORIES OF MODEL CITIZENS:

• Pasquale, the grandfather of the sea: every day he travels 60 km to go and clean the beach.
• Anna Kowalska, the Polish teacher who single-handedly cleans Cagliari's beaches. And on social media, she invites the internet to do the same (photos and video).
• Cigarettes on the beach, this is how Paola collects thousands of butts every day. Let's do the same!