Over the years, we have worked in the Arctic, the Mediterranean Sea, along coastlines, rivers, plains, and hills. We felt it was essential to focus on mountains, an environment that has been little studied in this regard.
In 2021, we therefore promoted the project 'Stop the Alps becoming plastic mountains', which produced important research on microplastics in snow: the first to monitor a large area (the entire western Italian Alps) over an entire winter season.
During the operations, an average of half a kilo of plastic waste per kilometer was collected along 197 km of high mountain trails, with awareness-raising and clean-up excursions in the same areas.
E.R.I. has therefore launched a new project which, in addition to operating on various levels such as awareness raising, education, training, and prevention, also focuses on research, documenting the type and brand—where recognizable—of objects lost in the Alpine environment. CleanAlp, running from 2022 to July 2024 and funded by the EOCA (European Outdoor Conservation Association) and The North Face Explore Fund, has therefore produced three years of activity across the northwestern Italian Alps (Piedmont and Valle d'Aosta) with extraordinary results in terms of participation, data collected, and awareness-raising and dissemination initiatives implemented.
The numbers and results were very significant: 940.79 km covered during 84 excursions, 1,302 participants involved, 404.923 kg of waste collected with an average of 0.430 kg per kilometer, 1,536 students and 695 professionals involved in education and training activities, as well as several thousand people reached by awareness-raising activities via the web or at public events.
With CleanAlp2, funded by Compagnia di San Paolo as part of the Simbiosi call for proposals, E.R.I. has planned activities aimed at deepening and expanding its work with greater depth of intervention in the territories, with the aim not only of learning but also of using this knowledge to prevent.
• 100 excursions/clean-ups, directly involving at least 1,200 people in this activity on more than 1,000 km of trails that will be completely cleaned up
• training of stakeholders and volunteers (at least 500 people)
• educational activities with schools (at least 1,000 students) - training for mountain professionals (at least 6 events, at least 500 people)
• public events and workshops (at least 10 events, at least 2,000 people involved, live and online)
• produce informational and educational material (signs for shelters and protected areas, brochures, content for websites, etc.)
• Produce videos to showcase the work carried out and the waste situation in the Alps
• Produce a traveling exhibition, not only in the valleys but also in the cities of the regions involved in the project (Piedmont, Liguria, Valle d'Aosta)
• Produce objects (gadgets) and works of art (contests for young artists and schools) using some of the waste collected
• 'Systematic' prevention actions to be chosen (based on co-design with the territory and operators) from among: initial supply of sample vegetable sponges for hospitality activities (e.g., mountain huts), support for the development of bulk product sales (reduction of packaging), supply of information materials for customers and tourists
• Communication activities (press and social media: Facebook and Instagram);
