Waste Watch

Last updated
Waste Watch
Founded1987
Type Non-governmental organization
Focus sustainability, Environmentalism, well-being
Location
Method Working from values, Business engagement, Community engagement, research
Key people
Tim Burns, Head of Waste Watch
Website www.WasteWatch.org.uk

Waste Watch was a non-profit, sustainability organisation based in the UK, inspiring people to live more and waste less. It was a registered charity.

Contents

Waste Watch aimed to improve well-being and the environment on a local and global level, by changing the way we live; such as the ways we produce, buy, use and dispose of things. [1] The organisation primarily worked with community groups, businesses, schools and other not-for-profit organisations.

In 2011 Waste Watch merged with the environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy.

History

Waste Watch grew out of the community recycling movement in the 1980s. The organisation was founded in 1987, by the National Council for Voluntary Organisations, with a mission to make waste issues mainstream and to encourage waste reduction, reuse and recycling.

Timeline

During the 2000s, Waste Watch ran Rethink Rubbish, which later became the national Recycle Now public awareness campaign.

Recycler the Robot

In 1994, Waste Watch launched Recycler the rapping robot to deliver the ‘reduce, reuse, recycle’ message to British primary school children. The Recycler show involves story-telling with theatrical props and quizzes, and follow-up activities for the school. Along with an education professional, the robot shows pupils how they can put reducing, reusing and recycling into practice at home and at school.

Recycler has reached more than 1.5 million pupils since 1994, and has visited more than 7,200 schools, performing more than 15,000 times. [2]

Related Research Articles

Recycling Converting waste materials into new products

Recycling is the process of converting waste materials into new materials and objects. The recovery of energy from waste materials is often included in this concept. The recyclability of a material depends on its ability to reacquire the properties it had in its original state. It is an alternative to "conventional" waste disposal that can save material and help lower greenhouse gas emissions. It can also prevent the waste of potentially useful materials and reduce the consumption of fresh raw materials, reducing energy use, air pollution and water pollution.

Planet Ark Environmental Foundation is an Australian not-for-profit environmental organisation, founded in 1992, which works with the public and business alike to help find the simple ways in which they can reduce their impact on the planet, at home, at work and in the community. It is best known for its high-profile recycling campaigns including 'Cartridges 4 Planet Ark', Australia's 'National Recycling Week' and the country's biggest annual community tree-planting event, National Tree Day. The organisation is operated from its office in Sydney.

Zero waste Philosophy that encourages the redesign of resource life cycles so that all products are reused

Zero waste is a set of principles focused on waste prevention that encourages the redesign of resource life cycles so that all products are reused. The goal is for no trash to be sent to landfills, incinerators or the ocean. Currently, only 9% of plastic is actually recycled. In a zero waste system, material will be reused until the optimum level of consumption. The definition adopted by the Zero Waste International Alliance (ZWIA) is:

Zero Waste: The conservation of all resources by means of responsible production, consumption, reuse and recovery of all products, packaging, and materials, without burning them, and without discharges to land, water or air that threaten the environment or human health.

Keep Britain Tidy

Keep Britain Tidy is a UK-based independent environmental charity. The organisation campaigns to reduce litter, improve local places and prevent waste. It has offices in Wigan and London.

Computer recycling

Computer recycling, electronic recycling or e-waste recycling is the disassembly and separation of components and raw materials of waste electronics. Although the procedures of re-use, donation and repair are not strictly recycling, these are other common sustainable ways to dispose of IT waste.

Reuse Using an item again after it has been used, instead of recycling or disposing

Reuse is the action or practice of using an item, whether for its original purpose or to fulfill a different function. It should be distinguished from recycling, which is the breaking down of used items to make raw materials for the manufacture of new products. Reuse – by taking, but not reprocessing, previously used items – helps save time, money, energy and resources. In broader economic terms, it can make quality products available to people and organizations with limited means, while generating jobs and business activity that contribute to the economy.

Waste minimisation Process that involves reducing the amount of waste produced in society

Waste minimisation is a set of processes and practices intended to reduce the amount of waste produced. By reducing or eliminating the generation of harmful and persistent wastes, waste minimisation supports efforts to promote a more sustainable society. Waste minimisation involves redesigning products and processes and/or changing societal patterns of consumption and production.

TIDY Northern Ireland is a non-profit environmental organisation that runs the "Keep Northern Ireland Tidy Campaign", and manages a number of local environmental quality programmes such as Blue Flag, Seaside Awards, Green Coast Awards, Borough Cleanliness Survey, Northern Ireland Litter Survey, BIG Spring Clean, Coast Care, River Care and Lough Care, TIDY Business, Young Reporters on the Environment and Eco-Schools. Many of these programmes also operate beyond Northern Ireland.

The Green Student Council is a non-profit organisation concerning local environmental problems that was founded in August 1993, in Hong Kong, China. Members include accountants, teachers and lawyers, as well as university students. They are expected to bring the idea of environmental protection to the fields they are in.

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Upcycling Recycling waste into products of higher quality

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Balloon release Releasing gas-filled balloons into the air

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Bristol was ranked in 2008 as the UK's most sustainable city by the environmental charity Forum for the Future, and in 2015 it received the European Green Capital Award. The Bristol Green Capital initiative is managed by a partnership supported by the City Council. Bristol is home to the environmental charities Sustrans, the Soil Association, and the Centre for Sustainable Energy. The city provides a range of recycling services for household waste.

Mobile phone recycling

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Environment Centre (Swansea)

The Environment Centre in Swansea, Wales, is an independent charity organisation for environmental information, education and activity. Environment Centre may also refer to the building the charity is located in.

RREUSE is an international non-profit network (NGO) representing social enterprises active in the field of reuse, repair and recycling sector. The very specialised European network puts the three pillars of sustainability at an equal level: environmental protection, social equity, and economic viability.

Zero Waste Week Environmental campaign

Zero Waste Week is an environmental campaign to reduce landfill waste, and takes place annually during the first full week in September. It is a non-commercial grass-roots campaign to demonstrate means and methods to reduce waste, foster community support and bring awareness to the increasing problem of environmental waste and pollution.

Keep Scotland Beautiful is an environmental charity based in Scotland, which aims “to make Scotland a cleaner, greener and more sustainable place to live, work and visit.” The organisation campaigns and educates on a range of environmental issues including climate change and litter reduction.

References

  1. "Who we are · Waste Watch". www.wastewatch.org.uk. Archived from the original on 2010-10-25.
  2. Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine : Recycler the Robot. YouTube .