Avezzano, 23rd May 2021. It was held at Antrosano, the second ecological day together with the friends of Plastic Free. Even this time the participants were numerous. The meeting was in Piazza Arcobaleno, in the hamlet of Antrosano, at 9:30 am. The program involves walking along the road that connects Antrosano with the Solegara valley area. The enthusiasm is very high and we note, with joy, the presence of young people and children.
Before starting our walk we asked some of those present what they expect from this morning, the answer is common: the area is not famous for cleanliness, so there is not much room for optimism. As Cesidio points out, the importance of these initiatives is not much for the physical act of cleaning, but in creating awareness in the citizenry so that then there is no need to organize them anymore. There is an urgent need for a change of course in social behavior, we are paying for years of unbridled consumerism and waste culture, to continue in this direction would be a suicide. This can also be achieved by setting a good example, as we are doing today.
We start to walk and immediately the premonitions come true: «I often come to walk in this area, unfortunately the situation is always the same» says Giulia «What discourages me is noticing that sometimes the parents do not give a good example to their children». «I live near here» says Mario «and I constantly see cars pass by loaded with bags and then come back empty».
Continuing on we arrive near a large field very beautiful in appearance, but in reality full of all kinds of garbage. «When you witness these scenes» Silvia tells us, «you feel assailed by great discouragement, because you commit yourself to cleaning up and after not even a month you come back and find the same garbage in the same place! We need to change our consciences and to do this we need many interventions, constantly for a long time. We have to create paths of growth towards the environmental theme addressed to everyone, to all age groups» and perhaps this is the meaning of these days: to be able to make attention to the environment, recycling, reuse a part of our daily life, a habit.
Our fruitful ecological walk is coming to an end, it is impossible to determine on a material level how much plastic and garbage of all kinds has been taken away by the trucks and, despite the tiredness and the heat, the awareness of having done something good makes everyone happy.
Unfortunately, as often happens, happiness is short-lived. A group of volunteers who have gone further afield make a shocking discovery: an illegal open-air dump! In what looks like a large hole in the ground there are an unspecified amount of tires of all shapes and sizes, as well as other bulky and dangerous waste of various kinds. The boys of Plastic Free activated themselves immediately to make the report. The disappointment is great, but the discouragement soon turns into a desire not to give up, to do better and better, to show, to those who commit these senseless acts, to be stronger. «I believe that active participation is absolutely the most important thing,» says Michele, «especially now that we are starting to talk about ecological transition, and even governments are starting to take steps in this direction».
So let’s not miss this opportunity, let’s become the generation that changed things. We at Cinema e Ambiente Avezzano believe in it! And you?
