Italy is a pretty amazing place, but it is not perfect. It is important to recognize the negative aspects of anywhere you live, so that you can work to solve its issues. And one of Italy's biggest problems is pollution.
Similar to the cities in other countries such as the United States, Italy's major cities suffer from a big pollution issue - especially air pollution. Rome is particularly bad due to the high number of tourists and residents that smoke, throw cigarette butts onto the sidewalks and use motored transportation constantly. There is also a problem with littering, making some parts of Rome a bit of an eye-sore. I was a little sad sometimes to leave my Italian home and see the enormous amount of trash on the sidewalk-- it was so bad I could smell it as soon as I went outside. I realized within a couple of weeks that a major community need in Rome and in many other Italian cities is the need to spread awareness about not littering and keeping the community clean.
