Campaigners will present a giant waste bin to the public in London on Thursday to drive home the point of how much rubbish is generated every day.
Armed with statistics on the vast amount of waste generated and the very small amount that is recycled, the campaign hopes to make people alert to what they are throwing away every day.
“One Bin Day is designed to make people think about what they buy, use and throw away,” commented Envirowise programme director Dr Martin Gibson.
“Much of what we discard can be reduced or recycled but the convenience of a bin right by your desk makes for a big temptation to throw away valuable resources,” he added.
According to Envirowise, a government-funded programme whose goal is to put sustainability at the core of British business practice, Britons discard in waste the equivalent of their own body weight every five days.
Food waste accounts for one-fifth of all waste nationally. The average office worker uses 50 sheets of paper a day in unnecessary printing in addition to that amount.
As a whole, the country produces 335 million tonnes of solid waste every year but only recycles 17.7 percent of it. This accounts for one of the lowest recycling rates in Europe.
Britons throw away 12 billion aluminum cans and six billion bottles a year, Envirowise said.
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