by Lea Fabbrini

Our consumer society is becoming unsustainable for the planet. The European Union is trying to raise awareness by launching the ‘European Week for Waste Reduction’. This initiative is going from the 18^th until the 26^th of November 2017 trying to mobilise actions encouraging people to lead a more sustainable lifestyle.

Laura Brown, the Development and Marketing Manager for Ayrshire Cancer Support, said: “There is lots of things in the news right now where people are starting to monitoring what is called a fashion footprint and that the waste that goes into the landfill, which is a lot of synthetic material, and particularly women’s clothing that are dumped in local landfill sites and these plastics never disappear. Women I suppose are particularly bad for just going out and buying the latest new trends, the latest looks.”

Brown thinks that a raised awareness of the unnecessary waste which is currently normal for our society, paired with an uncertain economy is opening a gap for upcycling.

To find out more about the ‘European Week for Waste Reduction’ and how to reduce your own waste on a daily base you can go to http://www.ewwr.eu/en or contact lfhw@zerowastescotland.org.uk