Living in Italy #17: Letter to the owner of the Italian Trash Company

When I landed in Rome, finally home after five months, there were three things I noticed on the way back from the airport:

1. A beautiful sunset, the kind you only see in Italy;
2. I had no mobile phone signal most of the way;
3. Trash piled up everywhere next to the waste bins.

Sunsets, we always cover extensively here on The Road. The paleolithic Italian mobile phone coverage, is a subject I will bitch about later. But the garbage problem, I have to revisit now. After all, it was the UN World Environment Day yesterday.

First, let me get this clear: I love living in Italy. But I never got my head around the fact why garbage is such a problem here. I mean, I don't live in a slum area, but in a village close to the capital, known as a weekend resort for the rich and famous - how much I fall out of that category. Still, trash piles up as if we lived in a slum...
And it is not as if people don't mind: People stopped I was walking around to take pictures of the three trash bins around my house. They looked at me, and at the rubble, only to sigh "A disgrace, isn't it?". One elder woman says: "Yes, young man, take pictures, document it, and do something about this scandal!".

So I will. Problem is, where to start? Luckily, one of the trash skips had a man's picture on it:


With my limited Italian, I understand this Mister Armeni must be the proud owner of the trash company called "Forza Italia". I guess the mother company is called "Il Popolo della Liberta - Berlusconi". Probably "Berlusconi" must be the overall umbrella of all Italian trash companies, then. At least that was the old lady's claim: "Berlusconi: Rifiuti! Rigiuti!"

As this Mister Armeni kindly displayed his picture on his company's trash cans, I gather he was asking for feedback. So I wrote him a letter:

To:
Mister Armeni
Owner
Regional Trash company "Forze Ragione Regione"
Member of National Trash company "Forza Italia"

Dear Mister Armeni,

Thank you for soliciting feedback on the services of your trash company. I would like to tell you how much I appreciate you must be owning a lot of wastage, and as part of the national trash conglomerate "Forza Italia", I am sure it must be a real challenge to daily hide garbage from the public eye.

Still, I would like to tell you that despite your best efforts, garbage seems to pile up more and more since you took over the company.

I hope you will soon deal with the situation, or speed up selling out your company to the well-known South Italian alliance specializing in the disposal of (radio active) trash (in the Mediterranean). I heard that company is already part of the National Trash company "Forza Italia" anyways...

Looking forward to see progress in your national programme "Trash Italy Fast"!

Kindly,
Peter

Post Scriptum: I googled the chairman of the Italian Trash company, and found this video, in which he explained his views on emancipation: