Congratulations!!!
Just by reading this and starting the conversation, you've joined the WASTE WARRIORS!
What is a WASTE WARRIOR, you ask?
A Waste Warrior is an individual or group dedicated to combating waste and promoting sustainable waste management practices. They actively work to reduce, reuse, and recycle materials to minimize the environmental impact of waste.
Waste Warriors are passionate about raising awareness, educating the community, and advocating for better waste management infrastructure and policies. They strive to create a cleaner, healthier, and more sustainable environment through their efforts in reducing food waste, promoting recycling, and encouraging the use of sustainable alternatives to single-use plastics.
Problem: Overflowing Landfills
Through firsthand observation of excessive food waste and overflowing landfills, our team empathizes with the unsustainable waste management practices in Hong Kong. To reduce waste through education, infrastructure, and technology, our project 'Waste Warriors' aims to implement recycling awareness campaigns, advocate for more waste sorting bins, educate through workshops, and learn more about waste management. By empowering society to reduce, reuse, and recycle, we strive to build a sustainable, waste-free Hong Kong.
Inspiration
While resesarching, we noticed large piles of general waste as well food waste being discarded. We felt bad seeing so much edible food going to waste when many families struggle to afford groceries. We were also shocked by the massive amount of waste, especially plastic, glass, paper and e-waste, that end up at landfills. The scale of the waste problem became real and we empathized with the challenge of properly managing all of this waste sustainably.
This motivated us to raise awareness and help provide solutions to reduce waste and increase recycling, especially with the new government waste charging scheme approaching. We want to empower our community to make changes that will lead to a cleaner Hong Kong for the health of its citizens and environment. By improving waste management, we hope to build a sustainable future that we can all feel proud to live in.
Pain Points
1. Lack of knowledge and access to proper waste sorting and recycling facilities.
- Many people do not know what can be recycled or how to appropriately separate their waste.This makes it very difficult for people to recycle even if they want to.
2. Lack of enough collection points or bins for the different waste types like plastic, paper, aluminum, etc. In the fast-paced Hong Kong lifestyle, people need to be able to recycle easily or they won't do it at all.
3. Excessive food waste from homes and wet markets, leading to missed opportunities for donation or composting.
- Tons of edible food gets thrown out daily when it could be donated or composted. Food waste takes up space in landfills and represents missed opportunities to help others.
4. Overreliance on single-use plastics, contributing to environmental pollution.
- Plastic waste is piling up in landfills and oceans. Cheap, disposable plastics are over-consumed when sustainable alternatives could be adopted. This wastefulness hurts the environment long-term.
- A recent article in the SCMP, also highlighted the difficulties restaurants have in finding quality alternatives to single-use plastics.
Solution propsal:
Our project 'Waste Warriors' aims to tackle these issues through education, infrastructure improvements, and technological solutions. We plan to implement the following initiatives:
1. Directing the community to the right people and organisations would help to redirect attention to the amazing resources already out there.
2. Recycling Awareness Campaigns: Launch informational campaigns through flyers, posters, and online content to educate the public on proper recycling and waste management practices.
https://www.wastereduction.gov.hk/en-hk/resources-centre/waste-less-mobile-application
3. Advocate for Waste Infrastructure: Identify high-need areas and advocate for more waste sorting bins and expanded recycling collection services from the government and private companies.
4. Educational Workshops: Conduct workshops to further educate the public and gain knowledge and skills to develop potential solutions.
Resources needed
- Collaboration with printers, government, and businesses for disseminating educational materials.
- Assistance in identifying suitable locations for waste sorting bins and recycling collection routes.
- Support for conducting educational workshops and researching technological solutions.
Who are we
This issue is important to us, and we're excited to make a difference through education and advocacy.
We are Waste Warriors, a passionate group of students from VNSAA St. Hilary Primary School, determined to raise awareness and implement sustainable waste management practices in our community. By focusing on education, advocacy, and waste reduction campaigns, we aim to alleviate the pain points and build a cleaner, more sustainable Hong Kong.
