Green Portal

2019 - ongoing

Venice (Italy)

Everyone.

The objective of the “Venice Tap Water” app is to give information to tourists about drinking public fountains around Venice to refill their own water bottle in order to reduce the impact of bottled water in Venice, both in plastic or glass or other material, as there is no sustainable packaged water.

The impact of plastic on animals, environment and human beings has pushed Plastic Free to act: Plastic Free harness the power of social media for the awareness campaigns, they go to schools to talk to students to raise awareness on plastic pollution, they make cooperation agreements with institutions to facilitate activities, they support turtle recovery centers, they roll up their sleeves to clean and reclaim beaches, forests, parks.

Plastic Free is well aware of the fact the plastic is still necessary in some fields, like the medical one, since there are no viable alternatives. For this reason, Plastic Free does not oppose plastic use in these fields but helps companies and sectors understand how to properly dispose plastic so that it does not become a weapon of destruction for the environment and the animals.

Plastic Free is engaged in various activities and projects, such as clean up events, sea turtle rescue (surgery, feeding, rehabilitation, release at sea), events in schools, plastic free municipalities and plastic free corporates.

Clean up appointments take place in cities, beaches, parks and rivers; have grown exponentially since 2019 reaching more than 200 events per month. The main objectives of these events are to raise awareness on plastic damages and clean nature from plastic and waste. Volunteers can take part in clean up activities by signing on the Plastic Free’s website and choosing the event nearest them.

Plastic Free’s action also expand into schools: Plastic Free staff hold workshops to raise awareness among students to prevent environmental disasters, provide plastic free solutions to schools, explain how sort waste and not pollute. Thanks to the support of companies, they purchase and donate to schools water purifiers so that students can refill their water bottle for free, thus avoiding the purchase of plastic bottles.

Plastic Free cooperates with institutions and citizens. Plastic Free and municipalities sign cooperation agreements that aims at generating benefits for the local area, encourage volunteer activities and bring institutions closer to citizens committed to environmental protection. So far, 197 cooperations agreements have been signed in Italy. Each year Plastic Free award the annual “Plastic Free Municipality Award” to those municipalities that stand out in terms of measures to improve their territories for the sake of the environment and future generations. The evaluation is based on five criteria: fight against illegal dumping, awareness of the territory, collaboration with the Plastic Free association, urban waste management, virtuous activities carried out.

The app is beneficial to the city’s interest since encouraging the use of free drinking water produces less waste, less transport emissions and less pollution.

Many accommodations, hotels and B&Bs, have joined the project, thus resulting in a significant decrease in the amount of plastic being consumed and the number of plastic bottles.

The Hotel Flora in Venice has joined the project by printing a map on which all the fountains are marked with a small blue drop (the map is printed on paper derived from the algae of the lagoon). This map is given to guests when they check in so that they are aware of the fact that thanks to this small gesture they can actively join the fight against plastic. Tourists have the possibility to buy at the hotel a thermal water bottle whose proceeds are used for the restoration and maintenance of the fountains in the city. So far, the Hotel Flora has managed to eliminate over 40.000 plastic bottles in one year. Hotel Flora’s initiative has become a best practice for plastic reduction and sustainability in the hotel industry.

The app is very simple to use: it gathers official existent data and information, it is extremely quick to use thanks to a link and a flyer (downloadable from the website) that anyone can use and disseminate.

The initiative has high replicability because other cities can do the same to minimize the effects of mass tourism and address sustainability.