“We care for the environment and believe in giving back to the communities!”
STI Italia and Legambiente clean up Unità d'Italia park in Bomporto
At STI we believe in giving back to communities and take our responsibilities as an ethical company seriously. That’s why we contribute to the world we love and live in. As part of our strategy to become more sustainable STI Italia joined forces to support the non-profit organisation Legambiente to clean up the Unità d'Italia park in Bomporto on 19th October 2021. Legambiente is the most prominent and widespread environmental association and regularly organises volunteer activities to help protect the environment and organising a common event was very special to our team in Italy.
The activity had a good start when volunteers from Legambiente welcomed STI employees with a nice breakfast, which also gave a great opportunity to have an exchange about why this voluntary activity was important for all and how valuable it is for companies to engage employees to be part of their efforts to be more sustainable. After a strengthening breakfast and being divided in three groups, the team went off to clean the park and surrounding areas.
During the waste collection it became more and more apparent how careless many people are when it comes to their own rubbish and how little it would take to simply throw the rubbish in the available bins to keep the area tidy and clean rather than just dropping it on the spot. After completing the activity most of the team was a little shocked to see how many bags they filled with collected rubbish. To give you an idea about what was collected to go into recycling:
• Total nr of medium sized garbage bags: 15
• Total weight of plastic: 1.5 kg
• Total weight of glass and cans: 4.3 kg
• Total weight undifferentiated : 20.8 kg
The activity had a good start when volunteers from Legambiente welcomed STI employees with a nice breakfast, which also gave a great opportunity to have an exchange about why this voluntary activity was important for all and how valuable it is for companies to engage employees to be part of their efforts to be more sustainable. After a strengthening breakfast and being divided in three groups, the team went off to clean the park and surrounding areas.
During the waste collection it became more and more apparent how careless many people are when it comes to their own rubbish and how little it would take to simply throw the rubbish in the available bins to keep the area tidy and clean rather than just dropping it on the spot. After completing the activity most of the team was a little shocked to see how many bags they filled with collected rubbish. To give you an idea about what was collected to go into recycling:
• Total nr of medium sized garbage bags: 15
• Total weight of plastic: 1.5 kg
• Total weight of glass and cans: 4.3 kg
• Total weight undifferentiated : 20.8 kg
What have our colleagues gained from this activity?
Overall, the team got a lot of appreciation from the people walking by for caring and cleaning up during the day. One person walking the park for example, joined the group to help collecting rubbish and another one stopped by for a conversation about his voluntary work in the past. In general, everyone involved was happy and satisfied at the end of the day as it felt good to have done something good for others and see the result of their efforts: a cleaned-up area. Some of the team even think about doing more voluntary work in their private life. What a great outcome, that shows how valuable and educational these kind of team activities are!
The positive comments made by our colleagues say it all:
Overall, the team got a lot of appreciation from the people walking by for caring and cleaning up during the day. One person walking the park for example, joined the group to help collecting rubbish and another one stopped by for a conversation about his voluntary work in the past. In general, everyone involved was happy and satisfied at the end of the day as it felt good to have done something good for others and see the result of their efforts: a cleaned-up area. Some of the team even think about doing more voluntary work in their private life. What a great outcome, that shows how valuable and educational these kind of team activities are!
The positive comments made by our colleagues say it all:
- Very interesting, useful, important to make people more aware, including our colleagues, to avoid unnecessary pollution and help the Earth.
- Very satisfied with the activity done; environment is dirty. I think I will involve my daughter and the school to clean the parks even in the hamlets
- Actually there was more dirt than I thought and if everyone, in our little way, used the methods to collect waste, it probably wouldn't reduce like this.
- Experience that gives value from different points of view: on a personal level, for the environment, for the community: some stopped to collect objects and brought them to us; an activity that is worth a lot at 360 degrees
- Interesting, beautiful experience, which should also be taught to children at school. Lots of candy cards in the play area. I found it educational. We all understand that it does not cost us so much effort to throw things in the bin.
What makes the Unità d'Italia park so unique is the Giardino della Gioventù, a garden dedicated to the Youth, with 15 trees that were planted to honor and celebrate the commitment of 15 persons to young people. Just to name a few: Karol WoJtyla (the pope Johannes Paul II), Malala: Pakistani activist and Eglantyne Jebb, founder of Save the Children. STI Italia might not have done as great things as these well-known people, but their efforts and commitment to help the community to enjoy a clean garden, is also something really special to create more social conscience to take care of our surroundings.
This was not the end of the “go greener” staff activity with Legambiente though. On 28th October, the team got together for the last sustainability activity – A two hours webinar about how one reduce plastic in our daily life and how to recycle cooking oils and create compost at home.
A big thank you to Legambiente for organizing all these events and sharing their knowledge! What a great organization with a great cause and a great Italian team making the effort to become more sustainable!
This was not the end of the “go greener” staff activity with Legambiente though. On 28th October, the team got together for the last sustainability activity – A two hours webinar about how one reduce plastic in our daily life and how to recycle cooking oils and create compost at home.
A big thank you to Legambiente for organizing all these events and sharing their knowledge! What a great organization with a great cause and a great Italian team making the effort to become more sustainable!
