Items to be used better or replaced

ITEMS TO USE BETTER

Ten objects, only ten, which if used with a pinch of common sense Plus, they could really improve our lives. While we wait to see what the next one will be, tassa green, after the mess of the law for organic shoppers in supermarkets, which we will have to pay to reduce the waste more at risk of pollution, we could start the year with some new and effective habits. After all, sustainability, the authentic and daily one, we areAnd no one will be able to rain it down on our homes by law or decree.

ALSO READ: To truly feel better, it takes very little. And it's the small gestures that produce big changes, as this book explains.

DON'T WASTE COMMONLY USED OBJECTS

So, we might as well make a little effort and learn, with ease, to reduce our daily use of the most significant pollutants. It's simple, it costs nothing, and we should at least try. It's in everyone's interest.

PAPER TISSUES

The ritual of escorting is first of all consumed at barThe customer arrives at the counter, orders a coffee, and then, bang, pulls his supply of napkins from the machine. In America, there are an average of 2.200 napkins per year, per citizen. How can we avoid waste? Look at the wastebasket and you'll quickly understand. One small paper handkerchief is enough, if necessary, and with the leftovers, have fun making napkins. origami.

SUGAR SACHETS

Half of the sugar in the sachet, including the paper, ends up in the garbage. Remember that excess sugar is bad for you, and the Italian average of 17 teaspoons a day is too high. It's better to use a sugar bowl, which reduces consumption, and get used to some alternatives with natural sweeteners. honey to the stevia plants.

STRAWS

Their residues are regularly found in the stomachs of fish. Here too, America leads the way: 500 million are used every day, all disposable. Americans drink everything with ice, so they can't do without straws. And us? If you really can't give them up, choose steel ones, which are lead-free and completely safe for children.

PLASTIC BOTTLES

Of the 32 types of plastic waste found every square kilometer of our beaches, deadly plastic bottles top the list. Avoid themAlways choose mineral water in glass bottles, don't ignore tap water, and remember that reusing PET bottles is not recommended. It's best to dispose of them properly.

PLASTIC CAPS

If you are a slave to plastic bottles, and you can't overcome this form of addiction, at least save the capsThere are many volunteer associations (one is Giovanni XXIII) that collect and sell them. In Brescia, for example, the proceeds have even funded stationery supplies for students in schools in the suburbs.

COFFEE CUPS

In Great Britain they are thinking about a tassaThirty cents, to reduce the devastation: 25 billion cups thrown into the trash, of which only 0,25 are recycled. In Italy, something like this would be disastrous, especially since one in two consumers now drinks espresso from a vending machine. Disposable cups are no longer hygienic and alter the flavor of the coffee.

DOGGY BAG

Have you ever noticed how much food ends up in the trash in restaurants? About a third of customer orders. So don't be reluctant to use a doggy bag: currently, only 20 percent of Italians use it, while in France it's mandatory for restaurants with more than 180 seats. Furthermore, once discovered, the doggy bag It can also enter schools, canteens and hospitals.

COTTON SWAB

Another symbol of the sea-trash can. On Italian beaches, hidden in the sand, there are 100 million cotton swabs (according to ENEA), and the government has just introduced a requirement to use only biodegradable ones. However, keep in mind that frequently cleaning your ears with cotton swabs is wrong and harmful. Earwax, for starters, protects the ear canal.

PLATES, CUTLERY, PLASTIC CUPS

To discourage the bad habit of a throwaway lifestyle, it would be enough to appeal to aesthetics. A table set with plastic items is truly ugly, even sad. It may be a coincidence, it may be a conditioned reflex, but the fact remains that the main mistake Italians make when recycling is to throw plastic cutlery in the organic waste bin. As if they were food scraps.

PIZZA BOXES

Fever of the food delivery has now infected 10 million Italians. The risk is that we will find ourselves with garbage bins increasingly clogged with cardboard boxes for thefood packagingThe solution? Just ask to be served in takeout containers that can be returned. The new models are also insulated, so the pizza doesn't arrive cold and with stringy mozzarella.

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HOW TO FREE OURSELVES FROM PLASTIC:

• Plastic recycling: Too much of it ends up in landfills that we should close.
• When technology meets fashion, here is the fabric made from recycled plastic
• Bottles made from red algae (photo), durable and non-polluting. A far cry from plastic.