About us
The Black Bag’s history, present and future
The Black Bag is a nonprofit association born on the beaches of Genoa and active throughout Italy.
We are a nonpartisan and apolitical Third Sector Entity, registered with the Single Register of the Third Sector as an Association of Social Promotion.
Since 2019 we have been promoting a culture of respect towards the environment and its inhabitants, organizing activities on the territory, implementing and supporting projects, interfacing with the scientific community and Public Administration, and maintaining a solid presence within the digital world.
In recent years, through the organization of cleanups in the Italian territory, we have gathered more than 1,250 volunteers and collected more than 8 tons of waste.
Waste that we have properly disposed of and sorted, cooperating with the relevant authorities.
With the help of our partners, we have also been involved in the reforestation of some areas of the city of Genoa, cleaning the seabed and monitoring certain phenomena that affect the health of our sea.
In recent years we have worked to spread knowledge and awareness about the environmental problem: we have curated our blog (read by more than 5,000 people a month), met students in schools, conducted corporate team building activities, held training courses, participated in events and conferences, recorded podcasts and spoken on the radio.
We have also appeared in several local and national newspapers and magazines.
Achievements
8 tons of waste collected
192 articles within our blog
I consigli del dodo (The Dodo recommends)
20 members and 15 collaborators
Over 1,500 people met on the territory
The birth of our network
Interested in learning more?
Check out the annual Mission Reports we have uploaded within the Transparency section.
Our history
The core of our association was born on December 27th, 2019, but The Black Bag was officially constituted on May 10th, 2021 at the Genoa City Hall.
Today The Black Bag has 20 members distributed throughout Italy.
From a walk on the beach with the dog of one of the founders, a desire was born. We wanted to try to offset the negative environmental impact on the Planet over the years with positive actions.
Thus from a group of friends was born a movement committed to wanting to clean up Genoa’s beaches.
This movement quickly turned into a community of people sensitive to the topic who, within a few months, found themselves under the identity of an informal group called The Black Bag.
With the need and desire to involve as many people as possible in our initiatives, we landed online, both through a website and on the main social networks. So our events began to involve dozens of people and produced the first significant results.
The advent of the pandemic, unfortunately, limited the possibilities of gathering our community on the beaches. Therefore, we decided that we wanted to start complementing our activity on the ground with an information and dissemination tool: thus, our blog was born, edited and maintained thanks to the voluntary work of several authors distributed throughout Italy.
Our creative department also took form, and on May 10, 2021, after having reached sufficient maturity as a collective, the deed and bylaws of The Black Bag, a Third Sector Entity registered with the Regional Third Sector Registry (and now migrated to RUNTS, National Single Third Sector Registry), were filed with the City of Genoa.
We are concerned about the health of our seas: so we decided to join the 30×30 Italia campaign, promoted by Worldrise Onlus and with the goal of protecting 30 percent of our seas by 2030.
When possible, we try to follow up the collection of waste with its reuse: the artist Mark Dion, at the Pink Summer Gallery in Genoa, makes some works with the plastic we collect on our beaches.
On September 18, 2021, in Genoa, on the annual World Cleanup Day, we gather over 200 people on the beach who collect over 800 kg of waste in a few hours.
We began to collaborate with research centers and companies committed to the environmental cause, consolidating relationships with various stakeholders distributed throughout the country.
We met with male and female students in schools, organized corporate team building activities, and were invited speakers at various events and conferences.
As we worked to optimize the procedures and internal organization of The Black Bag, we established loyal cooperation with other associations in the area and, on September 18, 2022, together with them, we organized a new event on World Cleanup Day.
While in Genoa over 120 volunteers collected nearly 1,000 kg of garbage, some of us engaged in another event organized on the beach in Savona.
Today the association focuses its efforts on territorial development and launching new projects.
If you are reading these lines you are probably curious about our story.
So, why don’t you help us write our next chapter?
Future goals
Towards our community
Organizing digital and on-the-ground initiatives that can raise community awareness of the topic, seeking to consolidate in other cities besides Genoa an active and constant presence.
Creating a network of associations engaged in dialogue with the Public Administration (in an attempt to streamline and optimize the bureaucratic aspects that characterize the Third Sector) and in the organization of events and activities.
Designing and executing high-impact projects on the environmental problem, both independently and in collaboration with the scientific community.
Collaborating with other leading Third Sector entities and companies that share our vision.
Launching the “Adopt a Volunteer” campaign that allows citizens and companies to support the work of The Black Bag by bearing the costs of maintaining the Volunteer Registry.
Towards our members
Developing proper awareness towards environmental issues and easy access to resources, products and services that can facilitate the transition to a more sustainable lifestyle.
Acquiring skills related to the world of sustainability, digital and the fundamental aspects that characterize the daily life of a Third Sector Entity active on the ground.
Identifying a few Community Managers who can develop The Black Bag community in other cities outside Liguria.
The association’s income
The Black Bag carries on its work thanks to the voluntary labor of its members.
The monetary income that characterizes the association comes exclusively from:
- donations from individuals;
- donations from companies;
- membership dues;
- revenues from 5×1000.
By donating to The Black Bag you can support our cause having the guarantee of a concrete and transparent commitment.
