The post-Covid recovery will have to start from the territories, from the communities and from sustainability. The initiative launched by Sienambiente for a green recovery of the Province of Siena hinges on these three cornerstones. The investee company, which operates in the integrated waste cycle, has in fact just started the #reazioniamoci project: a series of " ecoActions " aimed at citizens to react together with the crisis, always keeping the attention to the environment high.

Reaction and relationship

The motto of the Sienambiente initiative, #reazioniamoci, is a play on words that includes the concepts of reaction and relationship. To react positively to the crisis, in short, it is necessary to reactivate the network of social and economic relations in the area, however building a new "normality", more resilient, sustainable and respectful of ecosystems. There are three “eco-actions” that has been planned: a bicycle bonus for children, a donation to economically disadvantaged families with local agricultural products grown thanks to the compost “Terra di Siena” (produced in Sienambiente plants) and a competition in partnership with CiAl, the Italian National Aluminum Packaging Consortium, to reward citizens' sustainable behavior.
“With this initiative we wanted to promote good environmental practices - said Alessandro Fabbrini, president of Sienambiente - to make a contribution to families by facilitating the return to outdoor life of children and to enhance local companies such as those in our area that use compost Terra di Siena, an example of short chain production that starts from the commitment to make the separate collection and returns to the citizen in the form of an agricultural product. After the difficult lockdown period and the most critical phase of the pandemic, the challenge of a change of course towards another development model has become urgent and can no longer be postponed. The recovery we believe in is in the direction of sustainable growth, which we give substance and substance to with our plants, pillars of the circular economy”.

Environmental education and cycling

“The children are one of the social groups most affected by the lockdown. Without school, without the possibility of socializing and going outside, they spent particularly hard months. For this reason - explains Claudio Passiatore, Sienambiente's communication manager - we have now decided to focus our recovery campaign on the return to the outdoors and to start right from the little ones. Conveying a message of sustainability: you go back outdoors, yes, but on two wheels. Because the new mobility has to be sustainable ". So, to encourage light mobility and at the same time lend a hand to the local economy, the company has thought of a bike bonus for children: 50 euros to be requested through an online form and to be spent in stores in the province. To support the right to play and sport and together promote the culture of the environment. «Which, moreover, the company has been doing for many years - says Passiatore - with environmental education projects in the form of visits to our waste valorisation, composting and energy recovery plants, or with educational workshops in schools to teach the importance of separate collection and recycling”.

Sienambiente, Le Cortine

Oil and aluminum to awaken ecological awareness

However, the campaign for sustainable recovery does not only target children. To support local agricultural production and at the same time help families in difficulty, Sienambiente organized a solidarity spending initiative. The company will buy short supply chain products, especially olive oil, from local farmers who use Terra di Siena compost, derived from organic waste collected in the province, and will donate them to community-based associations. Finally, in collaboration with Legambiente Siena and Fridays For Future Siena and in partnership with CiAl, a contest was launched that will reward the most significant and original eco-actions. "We want to enhance not only the actions related to recycling and the circular economy, but any good sustainability practice", explains Passiatore. Anyone can participate by sending an image and a description: the aim is to emphasize even small gestures, witnesses of an awareness and individual commitment towards a more sustainable future. Up for grabs, a Ricicletta made by CiAl starting from the recycling of 800 aluminum cans. "There is still a lot of work to be done on citizens' awareness and knowledge of the circular economy - concludes Passiatore - But much can already be achieved by making it clear that even the act of correctly separating waste at home can increase the percentage of recycled materials. These 'gifts' to the citizens of Siena - oil, Ricicletta of Cial - are symbols, but also concrete examples of what is obtained by recycling the matter”.