The appointment with Rebecca Jean Spitzmiller the founder of Retake, is near their headquarters in Rome, in the Nomentano-Trieste area. The slight advance with which we arrive allows us to take a look at the streets around. Empty bins, uncluttered pitches, no accumulation of rubbish. The garbage situation doesn't seem to be as bad as it was in other parts of the city we passed through to get here. Today it is so. A striking contrast.
With Spitzmiller we decide to have a chat on the themes of decorum and then continue the walk together. She, with three other friends, Paola Carra, Lori Hickey and Anita Garibaldi, created in 2010 the Retake Rome group today evolved to a national dimension. Recently she was awarded by the President Sergio Mattarella with the honor of Officer of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic, "for his engaging commitment in the fight against urban decay and in the defense of common goods". “When I received the news, I felt immense joy as I was thinking of a joke”.
Her eyes sparkle and reveal great satisfaction. “Friends told me:”Rebecca, this recognition will tell all retakers that what they do with enthusiasm every single day is valid for them, it is valid for their children and for all Italians, it is to be emulated” he continues “for me every retaker has a piece of that honor. I couldn't have done much without them."
Spitzmiller was born in the United States where she graduated in art and then in law. In Italy since 1985, she has many work experiences in important universities and institutions, she is currently a professor of International Business Contracts and a researcher in Comparative Law at the Department of Law of the Roma Tre University. Let's start our conversation.
But what is Retake, how was it born and why? “For personal dignity. I live in Rome. The entrance to my building was in very bad condition. We have discovered the possibility of removing the writings from the travertine with a simple cleaning product, a solvent for ovens. With my son, I cleaned the facade of graffiti and tags with a few euros and a lot of effort. Then talking to our friends we said let's do something, gather some people and go clean up Villa Borghese which is full of rubbish. We immediately involved the Municipality, the councilor of the Historic Center, the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, the AMA and everything was born from that event. It was March 2010."
An unusual way of doing things around here. Is there a model that inspired you? “America has to do with it. Our idea comes from the initiatives of Keep American Beautiful, an American association founded in 1953 which is now 65 years old and runs very strong, fun and positive campaigns to urge everyone to do their part to keep cities beautiful”.
We move on. You have grown rapidly. “I wouldn't say quickly,” Spitzmiller says.It's almost 10 years. The boom happened in 2014 when we discovered the possibility of creating neighborhood groups on facebook. We are organized like this. As local as possible. If you clean under your house, a community is also created, you make new friends with whom to continue and expand the work together".
Spitzmiller speaks with enthusiasm and her American accent makes her distinctive. Therefore, a sociality is also formed. "Absolutely yes. A community. Retake brings together people with completely different backgrounds in terms of age, profession, income, politics”.
Local groups that communicate mainly through social media, it would seem all very spontaneous. “ It is spontaneous yes. You don't have to pay, you don't have to register, you don't have to do anything to participate to this great gentle revolution, you just have to be awake, understand and eagerly want to do something. Retakers are like that. We are like this” our interlocutor points out “there is also an organization which perhaps is not apparent but is necessary”.
Kind revolution almost an oxymoron, given the times then one could say a contradiction. "Yes, each of us is perhaps angry or perhaps frustrated but I have the scraper in my bag and I can let off steam on the next abusive sticker that comes my way" she says laughing.
The day is beautiful but stiff, the cold wind induces us to continue our chat in the comfort of a bar. But what is the purpose of Retake, what do you propose? “We want to become an irresistible impetus to everyone living in this country to keep the commons decent, clean, orderly. So that we can all be proud of our country, our city, our town hall, our street, our building. Start there. If everyone did his part at home tomorrow the whole peninsula would be clean. Not just the residents, the merchants as well. But above all the institutions, we must push on the institutions to do their part. We do it”.
The enthusiasm of our guest is visible. “Our slogan is in four parts; wake up, wake up; speak up, communicate, because I don't want to clean all my life, I have to convince you and many other people to do it too; clean up, set an example and grow up, responsibility. This creates a virtuous circle. Once you realize that it really works you have set in motion the circle which begins to rotate by itself and even if you stop the wheel goes on the same. You are changing the culture in this country. It looks huge and it is."
The goal is high. Also a long term job. Cleaning the street is also a personal satisfaction, a concrete goal but the purpose is to change a mentality, to affect people's minds, on education. “We start with the daily chat with the neighbor, with people, there is encouragement to clean. We go to schools to present our projects. From kindergarten to university. A news. A new law course will start at Roma Tre in March, which will be called Street Law. It will combine both theory and practice. We will train university students who will then go to high schools to explain the value of civic education. A nice chain of acquaintances and civic pride” and Spitzmiller's satisfaction as she says these things is also evident.
He then adds, “We have a program also for merchants, “Inretake”. To those who keep the shop well both inside and out, we propose to become partners. That is, having the right to display our logo, a sort of decorum sticker”.
Retake was born in Rome, it has expanded with many members, the project has been reproduced in other cities. “It's a model that can be replicated anywhere. Now we are in 40 cities in Italy with another 20 incubating. These are people who see our business through social media and say, yes, I want to do it too. So they write to us, we talk to them to understand who they are, we ask them to sign the guidelines that exactly explain our proposal, our philosophy, a bit the Retake rules and they become licensees of the logo, of our brand".
Spiztmiller gives us a preview "This year we will meet in Milan from 8 to 10 March during the "Do the right thing" fair and it will be the second national conference of Retake".
How are you organized at the national level? “Each citizen group organizes itself in its city and we exchange best practices through Facebook. Plogging was the first major collaborative event. Plogging mixes jogging with plockare, a Swedish word that means pick up, take, in short, run taking the waste. An idea from the guys at Retake Taranto. They wrote to us saying look we do it in Easter week, last week. Well. This year, under the patronage of the European Commission in Italy, in the span of two weeks we organized 15 events in 15 cities, all on the same weekend. I too participated in the one in Rome, in the Parco degli Acquedotti with about 50 children and their parents. Beautiful. Even the witch with a hat and her little dog came”.
Let's continue. Sometimes, in addition to the common activities, you also make symbolic retakes, more focused on the value in itself, of a city caliber, making use of prestigious collaborations. “Yes many times we want to send a message” clarifies Professor Spitzmiller “it is easier to find collaboration from the private sector. In the audience if we find a closed door we knock on another one, there are many doors and we use many techniques to push. But it is clear that keeping the city in good condition is in everyone's interest, especially for the economic sector because tourists don't want to see the rubbish and the writing on the buildings".
You also have important contributions, important partnerships. To do all this, spontaneity is not enough. “In Rome there is a structure with 9 councilors in the management, with 45/46 members, with 180 administrators of the local groups who organize the many activities in the area. There are around 50.000 of us in all” he specifies “behind the scenes there are talented people, to repair the machines we use, there are engineers, those who speak 3-4-5 languages who can go to embassies and convince them to participate in an initiative. We have an advisory board and many other people who support us with ideas, with networking, even at a high level". In this regard Spitzmiller gives us a preview “We are preparing for Earth Day this yearon March 31st. We will invite about 30 embassies, all those of NATO, the G8, the European ones, to participate in a huge event that will be located in four different places in Rome. Each will represent an element; earth, air, fire and water. There will be an announcement shortly, we will have the participation of a large international community. This city is the cradle of Western civilization. Rome is of interest to the whole world”.
A constant commitment that requires you to grow. “'The idea is to find sponsors, as they have done in the United States, which they argue because it is in their interest. We are already in contact with many large companies, with ENEL, with the Istituto per il Credito Sportivo. With the Rome Marathon wanting to involve us as it does every year, the plan is to incorporate collaboration into one of the four areas of Earth Day”.
The success and expansion of Retake is evident and will also have attracted the attention of subjects, political and economic groups perhaps with the intention of directing its activity. Laughs Spitzmiller as she replies “We know exactly what we're doing. They all try to influence us in some way but when you know it's the right thing you just do it. Did the parties try to infiltrate? Someone wants to manipulate us? They tried. We are all adults, there are valuable people among us. We take it as a compliment. We are not dumb. In short, don't worry because we are not being manipulated by anyone ”.
Do you ever look back and think about that American woman in Rome and her slightly crazy ideas from 10 years ago? If she would have ever expected all this? “The friends we started with were and still are fundamental. I thought, I hoped, then a lot of collaboration, many passionate retakers, grit, a little luck and maybe this American accent and a strange name helped”. Spitzmiller closes our meeting smiling, as it began. There would still be many things to say but these are already many. Time has flown by lightly. It's time to say goodbye, maybe at the next retake.
