Southend-on-Sea’s Recycling Champion network has continued to be in the spotlight since National Recycling week when we trained sixteen new Recycling Champions. It is all part of Southend’s endeavour to beat the waste mountain. Southend-on-Sea Borough Council working in partnership with Cory Environmental commissioned Sauce Consultancy to deliver the project for the next five years.
The purpose of the Recycling Champions network is to promote recycling in local communities. Our champions scheme is geared for green minded residents who are keen to get involved in the promotion of recycling and waste minimisation activities in Southend-on-Sea. It encompasses community activism, volunteering and environmental advocacy.
The Recycling Champions network is a grassroots initiative to encourage keen recyclers to promote recycling in their personal networks and ultimately in their local neighbourhoods. This is a powerful tool that encourages local advocacy, illicits behavioural change and builds strong community networks around a common goal.
Southend’s Recycling Champions attend a training session which equips them to engage fellow residents and educate them about existing local recycling services such as:
• the doorstep collection service
• the new public place recycling facilities in the high street and along the seafront
• the local HWRCs
• the home composting scheme
Southend-on-Sea is currently recycling an amazing 40% and the next big challenge is to increase this to 60% by 2015. Recycling Champions have surprised us by not only promoting recycling but suggesting that we focus on the 3Rs-Reduce, Reuse and Recycle – and zero waste as well. It is these initiatives and shifts in thinking that will lead to a greener Southend-on-Sea.
So far activities arranged by local champions range from hosting recycling stalls at community events, knocking on neighbours doors and encouraging them to recycle, hosting coffee mornings for friends, colleagues and family and challenging them to sign recycling pledges.
One of Southend-on-Sea’s prominent Recycling Champions, Nicolette Denkamayer has been busy organising events in her local area in Leigh-on-Sea. At the local farmers market on Friday 24 July, Nicolette worked tirelessly to explain to her fellow residents that more than 70% of all rubbish could be recycled. After visiting the Bywaters MRF, she also highlighted the fact that in Southend-on-Sea you could recycle most of your food packaging due to the sophistication of the MRF. She also gave out reusable shopping bags, recruited recycling champions and encouraged over 30 people to sign pledges to recycle more.
The Champions’ network will continue to grow over the next few years and tap into national campaigns such as the National Recycling Awards which recognise those individuals and organisations that are making a real difference to prevent waste going to landfill. As long as there are Recycling Champions in Southend-on-Sea, their waste mountain will continue to shrink.
By Rutendo Chitiga
Tags: Cory Environmental, National Recycling week, Recycling Champions network
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