The project, carried out by the “Don Milani” middle School, part of the “San Giovanni Bosco’s” Comprehensive Institute in Barrafranca (Enna), aims to promote the reduction, reuse and recycling of waste through the active involvement of students.

This project is divided into the following actions:

1) Awareness of the classes: starting from 7th November 2022, to guide students towards active and responsible citizenship, helping to make them aware of the close and complex relationships that links man and nature. This, in order to arouse changes, even profound ones, in their everyday actions and therefore in their lifestyles, both individual and collective, to protect the resources of the Planet and its inhabitants. The project is in line with the United Nations “2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development” and in particular with its following objectives: guaranteeing sustainable production and consumption models (Goal 12) together with the fight against climate changes (Goal 13). Furthermore, students will be guided towards awareness of the complex problem of waste, with a specific focus on the “Circular and sustainable textile sector”, in order to reflect on the impact that the textile sector has on the soil, water and atmosphere for the promotion of actions that allow higher circularity in the textile sector. For this reason, the students will carry out the workshop “Ricipezze: The blanket of friendship” where each student will be involved in the recycling of worn clothes to create a patchwork blanket. The result of such collaboration of the students will be considered a symbol of union and friendship. In addition, pupils will carry out a collection of toys and books for children, with the activity called “RiGiocattolo and RiLibro: to give to these items a second chance, if they ere not of any use anymore“; these toys and books will be delivered to a Volunteer Association in Barrafranca which will make them available to families with financial difficulties, on the occasion of the upcoming Christmas holidays. Students will also participate in other Creative Recycling Workshops, such as: a) “Unwrap the paper”, an activity that aims to create new useful paper, reusing waste paper. b) “Play the plastic” which aims to create toys from recycled plastic. c) “From waste to resource” with the planting, in the school garden, of an avocado tree grown by the pupils themselves since last School Year and Celebration of the Tree Festival.

2) Students will raise awareness among the citizens of their school neighborhood by giving them a questionnaire, the collected data will be analyzed and graphically represented by the students themselves; they will also provide their interlocutors with information on the thematic focus of EWWR 2022 and specifically, on circular and sustainable textile and its impact on “fashion”, in order to motivate the purchase of ethical and sustainable products.

3) The conference is entitled “Use and reuse: no waste is excluded“, during which the students will meet and have the opportunity to talk with an Official of the Regional Department of Water and Waste of the Sicilian Region together with one of the disseminators of the “Vesti la natura” Association.

4) Press conference will be a means to invite parents to participate in the “Let’s Clean Up Europe” event, which will take place in Barrafranca on May 8th, 2023, during which students will help clean up the School neighborhood and the town hall park.