Hubbub communicate environmental issues in a fun, positive way.
They try to improve sustainability in a way that resonates with the public. This includes basing campaigns on fashion, food, homes and neighbourhoods.
They set up the Leeds by Example initiative. This is a 6 month program to recycle food and drinks packaging. One machine in town gives you a 10p token for recycling plastic bottles.
Plastic was first invented in 1869 as a substitute for ivory. Mass production for it began in the 1950's and since then we have produced 18.3 billion tons of it. And the production of it is expected to increase by 40% in the next decade.
1 million plastic bottles are bought around the world each minute.
Plastic takes 400+ years to degrade. 8 million tons end up in the ocean each year. 38 million pieces of plastic have been found on Henderson Island, which is uninhabited by people. Microplastic has also been found in 50% of human stools sampled.
Only 58% of water bottles are recycled. The bottles are made of PET plastic, which can easily be recycled, however 15 million per day are not when they could be.
300 tons of litter are cleared from the River Thames each year, 75% of fish have plastic fibres in gut.
There are campaigns such as
Sky's Ocean Rescue
Daily Mail war on plastic
Blue Planet
Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall also bought to the public's attention that 1 in 400 of 2.5billion coffee cups are recycled. Since this now 1 in 25 are recycled.
The government has been attempting to make changes to reduce the use of plastic
- introducing a 5p pay for plastic bags. This has reduced the use of plastic bags by 83%
- eliminate all avoidable plastic waste within 25 years
- proposed plastic free aisles in supermarkets
Companies have also been trying to do their bit to reduce plastic use
- Iceland are aiming to go plastic free on their own brand products by 2023
- wetherspoons have replaced their plastic straws with paper ones
- waitrose have eliminated disposable coffee cups within their cafe and only serve drinks in a reusable cup
- Starbucks introduced a 5p levy on their cups which is donated to Hubbub
- Sky have created a 25 million innovation fund
Zero Waste Leeds
directory of zero waste shops
ecotopia
seagullsreuse,org
the jar tree
leedsbikemill.org/volunteer
leeds repair cafe
Leeds union zero waste shop
One interesting thing I learnt was about contamination. If something is thrown into the recycling and cannot be recycled, or leaks etc. all over the rest of the recycling then the whole lot is contaminated and will be thrown away. Also, compostable cups aren't always the best option either. The cups cannot be thrown into the recycling, and can't be composted in a landfill. The conditions need to be just right in order for the cups to break down. This is a problem as students do not have a composting system readily available to them, the cup will just sit in landfill and add to the pile of waste.
Plastic is also found in surprising places
clothing
chewing gum
shampoo
teabags
sanitary wear
4 R's: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Responsible use
We then did a workshop in groups where we identified use of plastics within the home, on the go and at work and how we could swap these for something else to reduce the use of plastic.
This workshop was really useful as I got to learn about Hubbub, as well as different initiatives that have really helped to reduce the use of plastic and make a positive change. I also found some zero waste stores that I could research for my project, and I got the email of Lucy who works at zero waste Leeds so I could ask her questions in the future.
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