Our world has a problem with waste – and it’s hitting people living in poverty the hardest.
Today, 2 billion people in the world’s poorest countries are living and working among piles of waste – that’s one in four of us. Drinking polluted water. Breathing toxic air. Battling sickness. Each day the waste mountains are growing.
Multinational companies are making this worse by selling billions of single-use plastic products in countries where waste isn’t collected, knowing that communities will have no choice but to burn or live among it.
But this situation can change, if we act together. We can call on companies to take responsibility for the plastic waste mountains their products are creating in poorer communities. And we can pledge to reduce our own plastic use too.
We believe this campaign will change lives – will you join us?
Here’s what you can do
1/ Get Social!
When we join our collective voices in a petition for the world’s most vulnerable people, we can really make a difference. People all across the world will be asking Coca-Cola, Nestlé, PepsiCo and Unilever to clean up their act and take responsibility for the plastic waste they are creating.
If you’re in Europe use these social me and tag @CocaColaCo_EU @NestleEU @PepsiCo and @UnileverEU. Ask them to take responsibility for the waste mountains their products are creating in poorer communities, using the template posts and tweets below. Add a photo of some of their branded waste and their hashtag.
- Hey @companyhandle is this yours? Please take responsibility for the plastic waste your products are creating #RubbishCampaign #RenewOurWorld
- Don’t be rubbish @companyhandle! Take responsibility for the #plastic waste mountains your products are creating in communities living in poverty #RubbishCampaign #RenewOurWorld
- Hey @companyhandle, don’t be a rubbish company! Could you work with waste pickers to provide employment with dignity? #RubbishCampaign #RenewOurWorld
- Hey @companyhandle, don’t be a rubbish company! Will you report by 2020 on how many units of single-use plastic products you sell? #RubbishCampaign #RenewOurWorld
- Hey @companyhandle, don’t be a rubbish company! Could you commit to halving your number of single-use plastic products by 2025? #RubbishCampaign #RenewOurWorld
- Hey @companyhandle, don’t be a rubbish company! By 2022, ensure one single-use plastic item is collected for every one you sell #RubbishCampaign #RenewOurWorl
2 / Commit to Campaign
- #RenewOurWorld – waste campaign https://renewourworld.net/2019/05/join-our-waste-campaign/
3 / Be the Change
- Reduce: think about ways to reduce your use of single-use plastic. For example, you could refuse plastic carrier bags. Why not make this into a challenge – could you give up single-use plastics for 40 days?
- Reuse: can you use or buy products that can be used many times?
- Re-think: become a zero-waste organisation: pledge to reduce single-use plastics in your organisation as much as possible, including committing to not using disposable cups, plates and cutlery.
