It 's time of plan B: recommendations for a sustainable living? 
Welcome to the tropics. The Italian cities of northern Italy is fast becoming a cause of climate change. For the third time in just over two weeks this evening Milan was swept by a storm in twenty minutes, flooded streets, subway stations and housing facilities. The force of the wind and the amount of water made me think of a summer storm certainly not end "tempered". In Turin has happened even worse, as the wind gusts uprooted a traffic signal that killed a motorist. The signs of serious environmental destruction caused by human activities are now daily and touch on all of us. The natural balance of the planet are very close to collapse: experts call it "point of no return" and it seems that the time for real change before final irreversibility of the degradation process of natural systems has been reduced to ten years . E ' must be quickly released from dependence on fossil fuels and launch a comprehensive process of decline : it's time for plan B (b -rod?), Writes the economist Lester R. Brown in his latest book, published by Edizioni Ambiente . Read it. On it is written in the subtitle on the cover: Mobilizing to Save Civilization . This, on the plate. The policy has one very important game to play, and that is to save the planet. Who hesitates and points to the future must be considered a criminal . Or a huge ignorant. A coward. Outside the courage.
In our small are already several things you can try to do. Some of my suggestions:
- stop considering cars as our appendix: should be used only when public transport, bicycles or legs are not available. The car, for those who live in metropolitan cities or small towns, are often completely unnecessary : a whim, an object of status symbol, now a commodity out of time. Rather, try car-sharing (recently in Milan has launched a campaign in favor of this approach: it is called guide me ). It 's very important then, for those who own a car, switch to hybrid or CNG systems.
- rediscover the small direct production : Buying directly from the manufacturer can not only ensure high quality in what you buy, but also to initiate a virtuous circle in which you avoid waste and unnecessary transport and road travel products, use of chemical fertilizers and harmful non-biodegradable packaging (tons of garbage is often not recyclable) or simply not be reused. We discover the GAS ( purchasing groups http://www.retegas.org/ ) in our area.
- When we go shopping in any store, let us go into shoulder bags, canvas or anything, but avoid buying plastic bags , one of the most polluting and already banned from 'European Union.
- We drink tap water : is controlled drinking. In Milan there are even two controlling bodies of public water. To remove the smell of chlorine that can sometimes be bitter, just put water in a jug in the fridge for a few hours. We are the country in the world that uses more water bottles: a tide of plastic (and money) for a product that would free in every home, the same if not better. Tap water also require the premises: who will look wrong (it happens) do a nice smile response. No one can deny you of your tap water!
- reusable reuse it, the rest painstakingly ricicliamolo . Awarded because the municipalities initiate or improve the collection. It 'the only way to not end up submerged in trash: incinerators are an illusion, according to many doctors cause cancer and are a failure from the point of view.
- sharpen our diet to make it vegetarian: l ' excessive meat consumption globally brings with it very complex problems, which cause a strong side from lack of food in poor countries, the other, a remarkable reflection of pollution (from deforestation to methane of animal origin). The studies in this regard are many, just do a jump on the network. And use common sense. Being vegetarian is not difficult: proteins are recovered without great difficulty from eggs, vegetables, etc.. No to fundamentalism, to ensure awareness of what we eat: we know what's behind it?
- making more efficient use of energy in our homes: to promote alternative energy (and managers that they distribute in a transparent manner), eliminate all incandescent bulbs , we use the ' energy of the sun (in Italy is great) by installing photovoltaic panels on the roofs of our homes.
- Let us never forget that we are all interdependent on each other . And the future is decided in recent years.
What other practical advice and newspapers can give us? Write them down.
Two days ago the Regional Council of Veneto, my native land, hunted by law made four species of protected birds : The transfer, the Brambling, Chaffinch and the Meadow Pipit , insectivorous bird (in photo ) weighing a few ounces, served in our country since 1982. "It will be a massacre - said the League Abolition of Hunting Veneto - because pipit approach the hunting lodge at all frightened by the shots and it attracted curious to recall and mirrors." 
