The famous “zanzare”

One of the biggest problems I faced when moving to Milan (and arguably bigger than finding accommodation in September) were the mosquitoes, the famous “zanzare” that feasted on me from day one.

Tired of them interrupting my sleep with their particular buzzing in my ear and having their bites present practically all over my skin, I went to the supermarket to buy the famous electric repellents.

This gave me peace of mind for a few days. When the challenge of reducing my daily energy consumption presented itself, I decided that I had to sacrifice something important in my routine, so when looking for non-electric alternatives to the mosquito problem, I came across Citronella, a component capable of repelling mosquitoes in a non-energy consuming way.

I bought a citronella candle which I left burning near the window (where the mosquitoes entered) for two hours, during which time I took advantage of the time to ventilate and renew the air in my room. In this way I was able to survive without mosquitoes for two weeks and without consuming electricity during this process.