Books in exchange for plastic bottles and cans

In Polla, Campania, Michele Gentile offers books to those who dispose of waste properly. The project is called Non Rifiutiamoci (Let's Not Refuse).

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books in exchange for waste

BOOKS IN EXCHANGE FOR WASTE

Un book in exchange for one bottle of plastic bags or a can aluminum: it happens to Polla, in the province of Salerno, where Michael Gentile, 55 years old, owner of the bookshop “Ex Libris Café”, launched the curious initiative to encourage reading and raise awareness among citizens and tourists about the importance of correct waste disposal.

An interesting project, aimed especially at schools, started in 2016 with only aluminum cans and now expanded to include plastic as well. It was the children's enthusiasm that convinced Michele that he was on the right path: there are so many quantities of plastic waste and aluminum already delivered by the various classes.

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LET'S NOT REFUSE, THE INITIATIVE OF THE EX LIBRIS CAFÈ BOOKSTORE IN POLLA

A passionate bookseller Michele: "Let's not refuse" – this is the name of the project – is just one of the many initiatives carried out over the years to bring readers back to the bookstore. In 2002, in the wake of the Neapolitan suspended coffee, the "suspended book”: each customer could choose whether to pay for another book to be given to those who could not afford the purchase. The chosen book thus ended up on a special shelf, available to readers in financial difficulty. Since then, more than 10 thousand books left unfinished: texts, today, at the heart of the “Let's Not Refuse” project.

An important initiative as well as the “Travels with the Author” On the Rome-Salerno route, travellers and commuters had the opportunity to while away the hours attending the presentation of an author's book and receiving a copy as a gift. 32 organized trips: initiatives that have allowed the Municipality of Polla to win the title of “City of the Book”.

Michele is directly responsible for waste disposal in plastic bags and aluminum by delivering them to a collection platform. All proceeds are then invested in the purchase of new books.

The initiative is also enjoying considerable success in neighboring municipalities, so much so that some mayors have asked for it to be extended to their schools as well.

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MICHELE GENTILE EX LIBRIS CAFÈ DI POLLA

An environmentally friendly bookseller and a “book tramp”, as Michele defines himself in an interview with Repubblica, since he “begs for them everywhere” and then makes them available to others. Anyone can donate a new or used book to Michele's “Ex Libris Cafè” bookshop and donate it to a juvenile penitentiary institution or to a school library.

The goal for the future is now to ensure that the initiative spreads everywhere involving as many outlets as possible, even different from each other, following the example of the system started in many Italian supermarkets in which, through special recyclers, in exchange for plastic and aluminium waste, it is possible to obtain bonus e discounts on shoppingA project that could also involve newsagents and publishers to provide, for example, a free newspaper to those who deliver plastic bags or aluminum.

Fundamental projects for favor the reading in a country where, according to the latest Istat data, non-readers are increasing and promote the “recycling culture”, raising awareness of the benefits that can be derived from reusing materials, thus encouraging a "bottom-up revolution". For this to happen, however, it is essential that citizens are in a position to be able to recycle in the correct manner, therefore adequate tools and systems.

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(The images are taken from the bookstore's Facebook pages.Ex Libris Café" and of the project "Let's not refuse”. In the cover image: Michele Gentile. Source: La Repubblica )

INITIATIVES TO PROMOTE AND ENCOURAGE READING:

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