Lesson number one: reduction!

by Valentina Tibaldi

The bell is ringing, it’s time for waste reduction. In the Comprehensive School G.B. Monteggia in Laveno Mombello, the reflection on waste reduction includes concrete actions aiming to educate young people to have a more reasoned relationship with… their garbage!

Along with the EWWR (European Week for Waste Reduction) style, the underlying belief is that preventing an overproduction of waste is easier than we think: we just need common sense and the right amount of creativity. 

Which snack generates less waste? The school managed to create a well-structured educational project starting from daily experience and ordinary questions like this. First of all, the project is based on a competition, where students have to use their skills to find the best way of approaching the issue of waste reduction. In order to win an award made of papier-mâché and other recycled materials, they are going to become: skilled communicators thinking up effective claims and coordinate graphic for the message they want to deliver; wise strategists drawing up a list of useful actions to reduce waste production; practiced craftsman designing different containers in order to make a proper separate collection of rubbish; estrous artists finding innovative usages to potential garbage.

But this is not the end. In fact, if reducing our own waste is easy, finding new ways of reducing it can be even funny: from November, 19th to 23rd, severe guardians of trashcans will be controlling their classmates’ behaviors, while artistic and informative exhibitions about environment sustainability will be filling the halls of the school.
In these terms, the event crosses scholastic borders, aiming to become a permanent project, extended to pupils’ families. With a unique purpose: transmitting to adults that same consciousness young people learn and experience at school.

Manuela Trevisan, teacher and promoter of the project together with Alessandra Annoni and Paola Zarini, claims that: “this project makes students feel real protagonists and part of a bigger system. United we stand: if all of us take even a small step in the right direction, then we can do many great things”.

In this way, European Week for Waste Reduction becomes what it has always meant to be: a Month, a Year, a Lifestyle.

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EWWR 2012 break all records!

by Francesca Morra


Ready for the European Week for Waste Reduction 2012? For 8 days will promote public awareness on the theme of waste reduction and try to realize the spirit of that reduction with practical actions. This 4th edition is characterized by breaking all records: the latest press releases issued in fact speak of more than 10,000 shares validated across Europe with the aim to inform and above all to convince people to produce less waste through the adoption of simple everyday actions.

Once again the "Week" has exceeded all expectations: 35 organizers, 23 countries and involved 10,793 shares officially validated. 5,261 are Italian! This number was announced during the official presentation at Ecomondo on November 9. This shows how the SERR works also in Italy, where it is organized with the support of CONAI (such as Main Sponsor) and CIC (Italian Composting Association).

To involve even more all Project Developer this year the Italian Organizing Committee (composed by Ministero dell’Ambiente, Federambiente, AICA, Provincia di Torino, Rifiuti 21 Network, Provincia di Roma, Legambiente, e i partner tecnici ERICA soc. coop. ed Eco dalle Città) has proposed three actions to be organized today, November 17. These have been enthusiastically received by many Project Developer who then organized nine reconstructions of the logo of SERR (organized by associazione HART, Circolo territoriale jonico Rifiuti Zero, associazione Qedora, Oratorio Santa Maria Maggiore, Comitato San Michele di Pagana, Comitato Civico Ripuliamo Civico e Terrasini, Comune di Arzachena, Augustea Holding spa, Comune di Rivalta); 5 NoTrash Mob (organized by: Comitato San Michele di Pagana, Ecogaia, Associazione R-esistere & Co, Rifiuti Zero Lentini, Comune di Capaci) e un Freeze (organized Comitato Civico Ripuliamo Civico e Terrasini).

Despite the underlying belief that the important thing is to take part, we remember that the most important actions will be proclaimed during the Awards Ceremony to be held in Rome on December 12 with the support of Sartori Ambiente, Edizioni Ambiente, Ecostore and General Beverage. Also this year, with the collaboration of Evvivanoè art exhibitions Cherasco (Cuneo), the winners will received a work created specifically for the awards.

Unfortunately they can’t reward everyone, but the SERR became social: secretariat propose to all the Project Developer to tweet their actions by using the hashtag # SERR12. The best tweets will be collected and disseminated. Follow the official page and on Facebook, and also on the websites of Media Partner: Econews, Rifiutilab, Gsa Igiene Urbana, GreenReport, and Alternativa Sostenibile and Free Service (Ambiente & Regioni).

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EWWR: let’s get it started!

by Francesca Morra



The National Organizing Committee (Ministry of Environment, Federambiente, Rifiuti 21 Network, Province of Turin, Province of Rome, Legambiente, AICA, ERICA Soc. coop., Eco dalle Città), after its meeting in Rome last July 19 at the Ministry of the Environment, officially opened the registrations to the fourth edition of the European Week for Waste Reduction to be held 17 to 25 November 2012.

The EWWR is an environmental communication campaign focused on reducing waste, originated within the LIFE+ project with the primary target of raising awareness among the institutions, stakeholders and consumers about all the strategies and policies for the waste prevention in the European Union, that Member States must pursue, even in light of recent regulatory measures (such as the waste Framework Directive, 2008/98/EC).

Event that has become indispensable for the supporters of a life with less waste, the past three editions have seen an increasing participation: 430 actions registered in 2009, 585 in 2010 and 960 last year! The significance of these numbers is mainly due to the fact that you have to be an institution or Public Administration, an association or a nonprofit organization, a school or a university or a company, etc. to became a project developer. So it is important to emphasize that the "week" works mainly because it is an opportunity to get together and develop action as a group. 

“This year’s innovation is the Italian Award. – Said Roberto Cavallo, President of AICA, which for the fourth year will be the Organizing Secretary- This will contribute to reward the most virtuous actions of each category that will display the reach of the week targets in terms of visibility and communications; originality; content quality and focus on waste prevention; action’s reproducibility and long term follow up”. In addicition, this year, we decided to advance the applications open up compared to the previous editions. 

In order to take part in the “week”and becoming a “project developer”, you have to subject the application form to the National Committee filling the form (Adhesion form), clicking on this link, in addition to the Committee’s other members websites and send it to serr@assaica.org. If the application will meet the European assignements, they will be convalidated by the Committee and will be named “Action for the European Week for Waste Reduction” and will receive the campaign’s kit and obviously the possibility to use the european logo. Also individuals can participate to the week by writing their personal commitments on the website board www.menorifiuti.org: everyone can write down their own waste reduction experience”.

Many other innovations are scheduled for this year edition, so follow the official website www.menorifiuti.org and the Facebook page. Be a part of the week!

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In Paris, a 3 days on waste reduction

by Francesca Morra

In the heart of the Ville Lumière, in the charming neighborhood of “Invalide”; a short walk from the Place de la Concorde, from the 18th to 20th June there was talk of waste reduction and how it is possible and actually achievable in many areas of France and Europe.

Three days of intense meetings: on Monday afternoon there was the COSTEC meeting (The scientific and technic committee of the European Week for Waste Reduction), which was attended by all the national organizers (Andorra; Austria: Styrian Region; Belgium: Brussels Capital Region, Flemish Region, Walloon Region; Brazil: State of Minas Gerais; Denmark; Dominican Republic; Finland; France; Germany; Ireland; Italy; Malta; Portugal: national, Greater Porto; Slovenia; Spain: Asturias, Bizkaya, Catalonia, Gipuzkoa, Navarra, Valencia; Sweden; The Netherlands; United Kingdom: Belfast, Buckinghamshire, East England Region, London, Scotland, Wales, Warrington; this year there will also be Estonia, Hungary, Iceland and Benin) and where there were presented the results of the previous editions. And what about the future? All the committed organizations want to continue to organize the SERR, despite the uncertain future of funding for the project Life+.

Tuesday morning more than 800 people gathered at the Maison de la Chimie, for the first European Meeting on the Prevention of Waste. On stage, different actors spoke in recounting their experiences of communication campaigns for waste reduction. For Italy, Roberto Cavallo spoke of communication campaigns on composting in Asti and promotion of detergents on draught of the Province of Turin. In the afternoon a representative of the European Commission unit, Alban de Villepin, talked about the 20 years of Life+, what is it and how it is structured. Then Valerie Jouvin, chef of the EWWR, explained and presented the results of three years project. After that, Mathieu Hestin talked about difficulties, strengths and outcomes of the impact of the communication campaign under way with the EWWR. The final outcome of the communication campaign will be presented in late July. After listening to 3 point of views of many project partners (Belgium, Catalonia and Porto) Olivier Declercq (ACR) and Toomas Trapido (foundation Let do it, Estonia) have discussed the future of the "Week": the 4 "historical" partners (ADEME - LIPOR-Port - Catalan Agency for Recycling - Brussels Environnement) have made available to ACR + (Association of Cities and Regions for Recycling, Brussels) a fund to ensure coordination at European level of the EWWR for the next 18 months. During the afternoon the awards for 2011 edition were held which has been discussed last week on envi.info.

The technical conference on Wednesday, June the 20th, organized by ADEME (Agency for Environment and Energy Management) witnessed several speakers, leaders of many seminars. This day allowed participants to have more information and better understanding of some specific issues: food waste, washable nappies and incentive methods for players in regions to reduce hazardous waste. In each of these events the public has participated actively interacting with the speakers.

 The effective participation of the public showed a real interest about waste reduction. The same can be applied to public authorities and the actors who daily work on waste reduction. For three days Paris was the center of waste reduction, we hope that the work will continue on this road and it will spread everywhere in Europe (and beyond).

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