ECOLOGY: THINKING BIG, ACTING SMALL

Sensitivity to environmental issues has grown enormously, particularly over the past few years. Climate change, desertification, Amazon deforestation, polar ice melting are consolidated facts and the events in favor of the environment, which we meet weekly in the squares of our cities, are only the symptom of a widespread youth malaise that opposes the excessive use of the planet’s resources made by previous generations.

Often this malaise is also supported by the frustration of not being able to make a valid contribution to the environment since truly important decisions are made elsewhere and we can only marginally impact them. But it is equally true that, if we all had an ecological approach and maintained an environmentalist behavior, the result of all our actions would certainly be respectable: therefore, without prejudice to the ultimate goal of safeguarding the planet from an environmental collapse, we all can change some of our little daily habits in the certainty of being able to make a difference in the long run.

Companies can also do something about it, such as reducing the use of paper and plastics to the bare minimum, if possible using recycled paper and materials, selecting suppliers who have made ecological choices, in the logic of correct use of environmental resources and constant energy savings.

ACTION ICT is an IT company committed to achieving its business goals but has always had a particular focus on its environmental impact, favoring, where and if possible, eco-sustainable choices and raising awareness among its employees and stakeholders on the most correct environmental habits, with the aim of safeguarding the remaining resources of our unique and wonderful planet.

With this in mind, we want to offer some tips, valid for all eco-sensitive people, on what we can actually do to live the environment in a more ecological way.

TRANSPORT

We must always choose the least polluting mode of transport. For long journeys, we prefer the more environmentally friendly train than the polluting plane. For medium journeys, we prefer public transport to cars and, among public transport, we prefer those that use alternative fuels (biofuel and biogas) or those with electric propulsion (trams, trolleybuses and underground trains). For small movements, we have now many alternatives: walking (a little physical activity certainly does not harm health), cycling (if possible on cycle paths and in respect of pedestrian traffic) and with recent electric vehicles (e-scooters, servo-assisted bikes, electric mopeds). If we really have to use the car, we first evaluate the car-sharing services and think about the use of new generation cars (hybrid or electric plug-ins).

FOOD AND CLOTHING

When doing our daily shopping, always prefer seasonal foods and local products, in this way we will greatly reduce the movement of goods, reducing road traffic and the use of highly polluting engines. Regarding clothing, we remember that, regardless of the quality of the garment purchased, almost all clothing can have various lives, particularly if it is donated in good conditions to charitable societies or to people less fortunate than us.

PACKING

A criterion, which we must always keep in mind, is the composition and size of the packaging. It is understood that the ideal is the reuse of the packaging/container, that is, the purchase of the bulk product (if possible), it is advisable to privilege all the ecological packaging (in recycled paper and cardboard, biodegradable plastic) trying to minimize the use of plastic material. Once we have assessed the impossibility of reusing the packaging for other purposes, it must be disposed of according to the right separate collection criteria. However, in our choices, we always try to reward those suppliers who offer the most eco-sustainable packaging.

DOMESTIC BEHAVIORS

If the goal is to reduce the waste of resources as much as possible (water, electricity and thermal energy), a short warm regenerating shower should be preferred to a long very hot bath (bath tube consumption is up to 4 times that of the shower), we recommend turning off the water while brushing your teeth or shaving (a saving of more than 10 liters of water per wash is calculated) and to use taps without leaks and equipped with breakers. Regarding electricity, once you have chosen a supplier that uses as much energy produced from renewable sources as possible, you must reduce as much as possible the waste by means of energy-saving lamps (LED, fluorescent, halogen with dimmers), always turning off the light when you are not staying in the rooms, using natural light as much as possible (avoid thick and dark-colored curtains), making the best use of household appliances (use full-load dishwashers and washing machines) and using both common sense heating system (rooms with no more than 19-20 °C) than the air conditioning system (3-5 °C less than the hot outside temperature).

PLASTIC

A separate discussion should be for plastic. Without demonizing plastic objects, who have simplified almost all our daily activities since the 50s of the last century, it must be reused as much as possible and properly disposed of for recycling. Instead, it is necessary to minimize the use of plastic as a container, for example by reviewing habits relating to drinking water bottles, that is, using tap water, possibly filtered, glass bottles or reusable aluminum bottles.

ACTION ICT

ACTION ICT is a young, dynamic and innovative IT company. It operates, both nationally and internationally, offering professional skills and design solutions in the ICT field to medium and large businesses. Our highly skilled know-how is housed in three expertise specific departments: ACTION DATA (Big Data and Analytics), ACTION APP (Web & Mobile Application) and ACTION IOT (Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things and Robotics).