“Speak sustainably”, the green verb in Silvia Moroni’s book

1. How did the idea for the book come about?

The book started from the need to summarize the main points of sustainability more calmly than the speed of social media, which I learned during my university studies and with the experience of these 2 years of Parla Sostenibile. It is a book that talks about sustainability in a clear, simple and ironic way. It also talks about complicated or boring topics, without ever getting boring. With words, but also scientific data and pictures, my book offers daily advice for a low-impact life, but also the hows and whys of sustainability, helping us understand why we should change our habits. Its purpose is precisely that of the entire Parla Sostenibile project, which was born on social media during the pandemic period when, in the midst of a thousand difficulties, I felt the need to commit my expertise to something important, in which I strongly believe: respect for the environment and for people.

2. What was the challenge to overcome in order to carry out this project?

There were mainly two challenges: the choice of topics to discuss (sustainability is a huge topic) and how to transfer the communication from social media to paper. The first was a painful decision. In the end, I selected the topics that are essential to me: the climate situation, food, water, separate waste collection, energy, biodiversity, fashion, finance, social sustainability, travel and how to communicate sustainability to others. I especially think the last chapter is really interesting because, after reading the others and assimilating green knowledge, it offers ideas for how to transfer it to other people: children, parents, students, grandparents… Understand how to transfer information from social networks to printed paper, but it was easier than expected. My university education started with Literature and Linguistics, so writing is in my blood (and books are one of my passions). I took my time, which is great if you’re used to condensing all the information into 60 seconds of an online video! With the next two university masters, one in Food and Sustainability, the other in Sustainable Development and Climate Change, I have made a nice mix.

3. Sustainability for you: what are your daily sustainable gestures?

They are numerous and scattered throughout the day, here is an example of a sustainable day. I wake up and drink fair trade coffee with a mocha. I dress in second-hand clothes, I go to work by bike and I take a water bottle with me to fill with tap water (don’t forget). In the afternoon, I make a transfer with my ethical bank, check the electricity bill from renewable sources (I finally changed managers!) and try to remember if the plastic pen goes in the plastic collection (spoiler: no). For dinner, I go for local legume soup with some aromatic herbs I’ve grown on the kitchen windowsill (along with bee-friendly flowers). Before I go to sleep, I check the times of the next climate strike, I want to take my mother with me this time too. The more the merrier.

Regardless of the story, the normality is that I often face various dilemmas: “but is it true that tap water causes stones?”, “where to dispose of used oil?”, “how to organize a green holiday?”, “and where do I get protein if I don’t eat meat?” Well, these are doubts I’ve learned to solve. These and many others are included in the book, as well as explanations. For example: I’ll tell you how to shop more sustainably but also what the environmental and social impact of food Theory and practice together, awareness objective.