Research for the Green Rush

1: An introduction to the issue
Our campaign group aim to put forward the significance of recycling and raise awareness of this very common issue today. This campaign will allow us to understand and work together in making a change which we believe will contribute in making the world a better place for us to live. The main issue we are focusing as part of the campaign is to improve the recycling scheme in Enfield, in which we will concentrate on the flats above the shops which have no recycling facilities at the present.

Our campaign members have researched this matter and came to find out from the residents in Enfield, that the issue had been addressed before by the residents and an action from the Council have been promised by 2012 however we see this as a slow process and intend to speed up the process and inspire environmental involvement by the residents and students.

As we all know recycling plays a significant role in protecting the environment. Therefore, we see this as our turn in making a change for the better and the future. We are addressing the issue with much importance and value. Now the main question would be what will happen if we don’t recycle? Well, the answer is quite simple. We are denying our chances of a better life for ourselves and the future.

Landfill wastes around the cities and towns are to be noticed today. What does this mean? We are running out of space to hide our trash. If we continue like this, we are undoubtedly responsible in denying the better world for our future generations. Another con is that will run out of natural resources which means the production and the cost for the products made out of limited natural resources will rise. Pollution is another key factor, if we don’t use proper recycling methods we are simply polluting the environment further. Not the least but the last, we are destroying not only the human race but the wildlife is affected by our irresponsible actions. Why are we holding the poor creatures responsible for our careless deeds? We believe these are far too many reasons why we want to take action on the issue. At the end of the day, we will be satisfied knowing that we did our bit for the world and our future.

Our campaign request the support from everyone, as we believe this is an issue that affects each one us. Help and support our campaign in changing the world. Our main targets of this campaign will be the local authorities as well as residents in Enfield. We really believe we are one step ahead in making a change and achieving our goals.

Climate Change
These days Global Warming is one of the most common issue that we are confronting with. One small and very simple step that can be done to prevent this massive issue is recycling. Maybe now we can’t see any results but in years there might be a very big difference ,and that will be only because now we took precautions and started recycling our garbage. We have to think about our future, not only about our present time. This is another reason for speeding up the process of recycling scheme for the apartment above Enfield shops.

Here is a link to a study held by BBC and Oxford University, which explains everything about global warming and how it will affect UK and the planet.http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/climateexperiment/whattheymean/inevitable.shtml

Save the forests!
It is very important for everybody to have a recycling scheme. This is another example of why. Paper is one of the materials that should be recycled because trees are sacrificed to give it to us. By not giving the possibility of "re-using the same tree" for our paper the local authorities here in Enfield is putting the weight of disappering forests on it's residents shoulders. Here is a quote from this web site

"There are also some staggering and frightening facts regarding recycling that should cause any human living on this planet to increase their efforts to create positive change. Among these is the rate of the Rain Forests’ being cut down; this is a staggering 100 acres per minute!"

England and London
London is probably one of the world's most famous cities and therefore should be a good example on how a city should treat the environment. However, this does not seem to be the case.

This is statistics from DEFRA showing recycling in the European Union and in England.

These statistics are proof that something should be done to better England's and London's recycling schemes.

The L indicates London.

Something should be done before the 2012 Olympic Games, when all the world's eyes will be set on London.

Why is Enfield's authority so set on waiting until after the Olympic Games to evaluate recycling for everybody?

Our Area
Our campaign is a local campaign. Here are the recycling statistics for the chosen area, Enfield. These are obtained via DEFRA UK's "Local Authority Collected Waste Management Statistics"

 THE LONDON BOROUGH OF ENFIELD RECYCLING STATISTICS

This is in our opinion way to little rubbish to be giving a second (and hopefully a lot more) life here, and we believe this can change by giving everybody a choice.

Useful Web Sites that gives basic info on how to recycle and why.
http://www.recycle-more.co.uk has a very good basic explanation to why recycling is important. This is from the web-site:

Each household produces around one tonne of rubbish every year, which equates to around 29.1 million tonnes for the UK each year. That is the same weight of approximately 4.85 million male African Elephants!

The amount of rubbish that we throw away is increasing for a number of reasons: Today's rubbish, compared to pre-1960s rubbish, contains more products that don't break down when they are put into the ground. Packaging waste makes up about a quarter of all of the rubbish you put into your bin. Most of this rubbish could be recycled.
 * new packaging materials and technology is being developed
 * lifestyle changes. For example, a greater reliance on fast and convenience food
 * increasing affluence, leading to greater consumption of goods
 * increasing population

We need to increase the amount of rubbish that is being recycled, because we cannot carry on burying and burning rubbish forever. This is recognised by the government who are thinking of ways to reduce the amount of rubbish that we produce and increase the amount we reuse and recycle.

However, these changes will not happen overnight. To increase recycling we need to:
 * collect more rubbish in recycling bins and on doorsteps ready to be recycled
 * build more recycling plants
 * educate people about recycling
 * make sure there are enough rubbish trucks to collect the recyclable rubbish
 * find ways of making recycled materials into useful items. Did you know that some fleece jackets are made from recycled plastic bottles?

Here follows other useful websites we have used in our research and which we think have important information on recycling.

http://www.recycling-guide.org.uk

http://www.teenissues.co.uk/Recycling.html

http://www.benefits-of-recycling.com/whyisrecyclingimportant.html

Educational Video on Recycling found on Youtube

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Another Video found on youtube, this includes Jack Johnson's song "the three R's".

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3: Who else is involved?
 ﻿ No other groups are having a recycling campaign in Enfield. We are the only ones. This information is given us by the London Borough of Enfield, Environment & Street Scene Department.

4: How could change happen?
We have decided to try speeding up the process of recycling for everyone in Enfield. However, we have now received a message from a recycling officer in the Environment & Street Scene Department that "due to operational issues this will not be possible". So we believe the pressure has to be put on this department by showing to them an interest in recycling from residents in Enfield. This we will try to do by raising awareness (get the message on how important recycling is out) and involving residents and students in an event.

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