For this month's #italyvsamerica segment, I want to talk about sustainability. It's probably no shock to hear that European countries are more thorough than America when it comes to recycling and sustainability efforts in general, but I'd like to share my experience in Italy anyway as a sort of first-hand telling of just how serious Italians are about sustainability and doing their small part in contributing to the worldwide efforts for our planet.
Don't even think about using plastic bags.
In Italy, when you go to the grocery store, you're basically expected to bring your own reusable bags. When people forget their bags at home, I've actually seen people carry their groceries in their arms rather than ask for a plastic bag (of course, it was only a few items-- Italians aren't exactly body builders.) One reason for this is because usually, the general population here is really concerned about sustainability, and they understand that plastic is bad for the environment. Another reason, though, is that you have to pay for your plastic grocery bags here. Forgot your reusable bags at home and you have a week's worth of groceries at checkout? Sorry, you'll be paying 10 euro cents for every plastic bag you need. And these plastic bags themselves are biodegradable, which is great, but the Italian government still wants to discourage people from using them with this charge.
Earlier this year, another law was put into place-- a 1-3 euro cent charge for biodegradable produce bags. And in Italy, you weigh your own produce and print a sticker with a barcode on it while you're shopping, unlike in America where the cashier weighs your produce at checkout. Therefore, you basically need a produce bag so that you have something to stick the sticker on.
I've experimented with this though and with things like bananas or oranges, I put the sticker directly onto the item. I was even thinking of bringing a mesh bag for all the produce, and sticking all the barcodes on a sheet of paper to get scanned at checkout. Obviously 1 euro cent is not a lot of money, but I'm curious whether the cashier will think I'm crazy for having a paper full of barcodes or not. The Italians are not very happy about this new law, but I honestly don't mind it that much.
Italians are serious about segregating trash, recyclables, and compostables.
I think many Americans will think this one is crazy, but again, I really don't mind it! Here in Italy, trash day isn't once a week, but essentially Monday-Friday. The photo below shows the schedule for my building of the 5 types of trash or recyclables you should put outside and when.
Organic matter is collected 3 times a week and general trash is collected on Mondays and Fridays, with plastic and paper collected once per week. Any glass that you need to throw away can be done in large green containers on the street (there are 1-2 every few blocks or so) and that's that. At first I thought this was ridiculous, but it's really not a big deal once you get used to it. Also, those biodegradable bags from the grocer? Perfect for disposing of your organic matter. And the plastic bags that you get from shopping at retailers? Perfect for bagging up your plastics if you don't have your usual yellow plastics bag! So even though you pay a fee for the bags at the grocery store, you can still use them for disposing of other things, which in turn could save you money and eliminate more plastic from landfills.
Italy's Limited Traffic Zones (ZTL)
In Parma, and many other cities in Italy, there is a limit to the kind of vehicles allowed in different areas of the city at specific times. These ZTL's (Zona a Traffico Limitato) can be confusing to drivers, especially if you're unfamiliar with the city, but the reasoning behind the zones is at least partially for sustainability.
Limiting the number of vehicles within the city reduces the amount of pollution in the air, and even encourages residents to take public transit rather than purchasing a car (or at least that's the hope). Also, having fewer vehicles encourages residents and workers within the city to walk or ride their bike more often than using a car. Parma specifically has a ton of people on bikes, and if the city were congested with cars, I doubt those people would feel as comfortable and safe riding to and from work on their bike.
There are also different zones depending on the type of fuel your vehicle uses. More environmentally friendly cars/fuels are allowed in more parts of the city whereas cars that release a lot of pollutants into the air are not allowed, which you can see in the maps. This also encourages people to buy cars that are not as harmful to the environment when purchasing a vehicle. Of course, Italians complain about the fines and whatnot, but in the end I think it's a good practice. Can you imagine something like this being in place in New York City?
Of course, when new laws or ways of doing things are introduced, people aren't always receptive to them-- we naturally don't like change. But I think America could look to Italy (and other European countries) as great examples of nations trying something new in order to benefit the world and future generations... just my 2 (euro) cents! What do you think?