The nine-day-long initiative began on Saturday 4 October, and aims to promote recycling, reuse and waste minimisation with a programme of events and activities being held across Barnet, Camden, Enfield, Hackney, Haringey, Islington and Waltham Forest.
The scheme, which is also one of the first of its kind to be run in the UK, aims to tackle the one million tonnes of waste that is produced in North London ever year, a figure that is expected to grow to 1.4 million tonnes by 2020.
Councillor Clyde Loakes, chair of North London Waste Authority (NLWA), said: “This type of growth is not sustainable. More waste means more vehicles on the road, more waste facilities and higher costs associated with collecting, treating and disposing of it.
“Whilst recycling is great, preventing the amount of waste we produce in the first place is even better. This week is a great opportunity to get the message out there that there are simple things we can all do to reduce the rubbish we create.
“We hope to see as many people as possible getting involved in the week, championing waste prevention in north London and helping us keep as much waste as possible out of landfill,” he added.
The week-long initiative was launched on Thursday (October 2) at Camden's Roundhouse venue with a fashion show featuring outfits made from second hand clothes and reused materials, attended by organisations including Oxfam and textile recycling company LM Barry.
Activities
During the rest of this week, a range of activities will be held including compost workshops, reusable bag giveaways, Love Food, Hate Waste events, 'give and take' days and 'nappy natters'.
And, participants in the 'Watch Your Waste' challenge will be expected to try to only use things they can recycle, reuse or compost during the week, which represents a key aspect of the NLWA's attempts to divert an additional 80,000 tonnes of waste from landfill over the next two years.
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