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For Release: Saturday, 24 August 2002
700 Trained to Drastically
Reduce Waste at Earth Summit
New Zero Waste manual distributed to volunteers,
caterers, cleaning staff
Contact:
Muna Lakhani, Earthlife Africa, Johannesburg, (mobile) +27-834-717276
Monica Wilson, GAIA, USA, (office) +1-510-524-4000 x104
Gary Liss, Consultant, USA, (office) +1-916-652-7850
Johannesburg,
South Africa, 24 August 2002 - By Monday, 26 August, a team
of Zero Waste experts will have trained 700 volunteers, cleaning
staff, caterers, venue management team, and others to reduce
and prevent waste at the Civil Society Global Forum, part
of the Earth Summit. These trainings are part of the final
stages of a months-long effort to help Summit organizers make
the events as close to Zero Waste as possible.
The
Civil Society Global Forum started on August 19 and runs through
September 4, 2002. The Global Forum will be the largest component
of the World Summit on Sustainable Development, also called
the Earth Summit; 30,000 delegates are expected to attend
the Global Forum daily at the height of activities. The Global
Forum is located at the Johannesburg Expo Centre (Nasrec).
Zero
Waste refers to a range of policies and practices designed
to achieve a sustainable use of materials and the minimum
of waste discarded. Zero Waste is consistent with the recent
Stockholm Convention's goal towards elimination of Persistent
Organic Pollutants (POPs), including incinerator by-products
dioxin and furans. Zero Waste systems will reduce the environmental
impact of the WSSD itself, set the highest standards for future
events, and demonstrate the viability of Zero Waste to thousands
of international visitors. Zero Waste also holds great potential
for livelihood generation and poverty alleviation as reuse,
recycling, and composting produce far more jobs than wasting.
An
extensive Zero Waste manual was produced for the trainings
which details purchasing policies and recommendations for
food services, maintenance services, and other support services.
The manual (available at www.earthlife.org.za)
addresses packaging materials, minimizing toxicity of cleaning
supplies, appropriate food and beverage utensils, water and
energy conservation, and other issues.
"The
volunteers will be stationed at recycling stations to assist
in the process of educating Earth Summit Global Forum attendees
to make informed decisions about the waste they create and
the potential of recycling," said Muna Lakhani, coordinator
of the Zero Waste Earth Summit team for Earthlife Africa in
Johannesburg.
The
Zero Waste project is supporting small businesses and communities
in and around Johannesburg. At least 90 jobs were created
for the unemployed on the Global Forum site, in addition to
carryover employment created in local recycling businesses.
The recycling centers with bins for different discard streams
are already placed strategically around the meeting areas.
When full, the bins will be picked up with specially designed
bicycles, taken to sorting areas and the recyclables distributed
by a locally-owned service to local recycling companies. Left-over
food items will be distributed to the poor and hungry. Kitchen
waste will go to a local Sowetan pig farmer.
Earthlife
Africa is a volunteer driven South African organization that
has been active on environmental and social issues since 1988.
GAIA is an international alliance working on waste reduction,
with over 265 members in more than 55 countries. For more
information please see www.earthlife.org.za
and www.no-burn.org
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