Florence Zero Waste Altermeeting: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and REDESIGN

The inclusion of the 4 R to the group of the old "big 3” is one of the main conclusions of the Zero Waste Altermeeting that took place in Florence from 15 to 17 September.

 
Indeed, more than 60 speakers of the highest level (including academia, researchers, policy-makers, businesses and activists) agreed that instead of using the best minds to design machines to destroy resources such as incinerators and landfills our efforts should go to Redesign the way our economy works in a way that it is possible to Reduce the size of our waste-bin, Reuse as much as possible and Recycle what is left. The R to Redesign waste out of the system was one of the stars of the gathering.

 
The conference served to present a big number of Zero Waste projects and local solutions to Redesign, Reduce, Reuse and Recycle waste. For instance Claudio Germans CEO of DISMECO explained how in his company they manage to recover up to 98% of the materials in used washing machines and how that has created 30 new jobs. In the services sector the organisation of Zero Waste Hotels in the Island of Capri presented how they have practically phased out waste from their hotels. Also, a number of virtuous municipalities such as Capannori and Monterspertoli presented their successful collection systems. Right now only in Italy 91 municipalities (representing 2,5 million people) have adhered to the Zero Waste goal!

 
Besides Italy, on Monday there were a number of international speakers explaining interesting experiences from around the world. The meeting was a success with the participation of hundreds of people from several different backgrounds and geographical origins during the 3 days of the conference. The message to the city of Florence and to the region of Tuscany was clear: your region is one of the pioneers in Zero Waste in the world with Capannori as first European town to declare the goal of Zero Waste for 2020, follow the example and lead the road to a world without waste No-burn, no-bury there is a better way!

 

For a more in depth report in Italian click here

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Zero Waste Week 2012 in the UK, 3 to 6 September

The Zero Wasters in the UK are celebrating their 5th year of Zero Waste weeks in which many brits pledge to improve their recycling skills and renewe their commitment for a world without waste. So far this this is a solely UK initiative but it would be great to have it in other EU countries. If you are interested in running these kinds of actions elsewhere in Europe contact us and we can help you coordinate!

For the moment feel free to join the initiative from our friends from the UK, happy Zero Waste week!

National Zero Waste Week takes place week beginning 3rd September 2012.

This year’s theme is ‘One More Thing‘ which reminds us that the collective impact of taking baby steps can add up to significant change.

How can I join in?

This year we’re focusing on improving our recycling habits because if every household in the UK recycled ‘one more thing’, the total amount collected for recycling could increase by more than three quarters of a million tonnes.

So decide on your activity and leave a comment below telling us what you pledge to do, then come back during National Zero Waste Week and let us know how you are getting on.

Be sure to bookmark this page! If you have a blog or webpage, please help spread the word by writing about National Zero Waste week – you can grab one of our images below!

If you’re on twitter or facebook, encourage your friends and family to join in too.

FACEBOOK – Join our zero waste facebook page and check out the events page

TWITTER – Use the twitter hashtags #onemorething and #nzww and follow My Zero Waste.

 

What can I pledge to do?

As long as you end up increasing your recycling in order to reduce landfill waste in some way, you can choose anything you like. Here are some ideas:

• Find out what can be recycled at your kerbside and make full use of facilities


• Check your local bring banks to see what you can recycle locally


• Take home fruit peelings and cores to compost at home or set up a compost heap or bokashi bin at work


• Perhaps you’ve noticed battery recycling in your local shop; start using it!


• Take home your recyclables instead of using litter bins when out and about

Keep us updated in the comments section below – let us know what you are doing to improve your your recycling habits and how your actions are inspiring others!

Promote National Zero Waste Week 2012 by putting a click through image in your page

Below are two images that you can easily place in your web page Each image will have a click through to our page here where visitors can read more about the event and participate.



For the above 300x300px image, copy and paste this code into your html page

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1	<a href="http://myzerowaste.com/zero-waste-week-2012"><img title="Click here for National Zero Waste week 2012" src="http://myzerowaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/nzww-300x300.jpg" alt="Click here for National Zero Waste week 2012" width="300" height="300" /></a>

For the above 468x60px image, copy and paste this code into your html page

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1	<a href="http://myzerowaste.com/zero-waste-week-2012"><img title="Click here

READ MORE - Zero Waste Week 2012 in the UK, 3 to 6 September