Our colleague Rosanna from Bologna tells us about her participation in the Keep Clean and Run initiative that UniCredit has been supporting for three years. The eco-trail against littering this year crossed the Gothic line from the Tyrrhenian to the Adriatic sea, up and down the Apennines, carrying messages of peace and an empty bag to collect waste.

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Roberto Cavallo, the creator and protagonist of Keep Clean and Run (KCR), an eco-trail against waste abandonment, together with his coach Roberto Menicucci, at, often repeat that "A clean territory is at peace". They both travel accross Italy spreading an easy concept: “let's keep the territory clean, because its health is also ours”.

 

“Cavallo explained this to me, as we ran along part of the route of this 2021 edition”, - sponsored by the Ministry of Ecological Transition and of which UniCredit is Main Sponsor, explained our colleague Rosanna. The initiative moves along the Gothic line, from the Tyrrhenian sea to the Adriatic sea, along the paths of the Apennines, carrying messages of peace and an empty bag for plogging, i.e. for collecting waste. 

 

During his stopovers, Roberto explains this to primary school children, and reiterates it to local administrators and citizens thanks to his presence and via social media. Valuable information, that he does not spare on during the approximately 416 km covered during the seven day event.

 

Rosanna continued her story telling us that “Together we covered a dozen of them. From Grizzana to Marzabotto, on the green ridges overlooking Bologna from the south-west.Symbolic places of Italian partisan resistance and the ferocious absurdity of war.

 

As we ran, we collected mostly abandoned masks, plastic wrappers, cans and toy remnants. As a novice trail runner, I had already come across washing machine carcasses, shreds of metal sheets and synthetic materials along the way. And it seemed surreal to me. How can you possibly think of abandoning a tailpipe in a “living room” of mosses and peonies? 

 

By taking part in Keep Clean and Run, I learned that this is not only a stupid and aesthetically inconsiderate act: it is also an extremely dangerous one.  Leaving waste on the land, especially in the highlands, is not only an environmental insult to the place itself but will have a very bad and varied impact. 

 

That toxic waste will end up in the sea causing damage in the short and longterm. To say the least: fish will eat it. So we will eat that waste. We are already eating it. 

 

We are lagging behind, but we can catch up. Each of us can and must do our part now and always. How? To begin with - wherever you are, on the run or on a walk - plog and smile! “ 

 

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