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Increasing public awareness with high profile events 

• Torino: Changing perception of refuse as waste into refuse as resource 
• Brussels: Denouncing the absurdity and uselessness of some products 

Changing perception of refuse as waste into refuse as resource 

The municipality of Torino has created a permanent exhibition entitled “R come… refuti” (R for … refuse). The exhibition targets pupils in primary and secondary schools. It focuses on the waste issue in the city of Torino. It further aims at changing children’s attitude towards refuse and to consider refuse as a resource rather than as a waste. During the week, guided tours are organised for classes. On Sundays, the exhibition is open to families. 

The mascot of the exhibition is named “R” and leads children through attractive, interactive and ludic displays presenting various waste and resource issues. 
For instance, children can lift bags containing either unsorted waste, or different types of sorted waste. They can quickly grasp the interest of sorting waste: the bags with sorted waste are much lighter. They symbolically represent how waste sorting can reduce the pressure of waste on the environment. The different collection systems and waste treatment facilities existing in Torino are presented. The interest of recycling as a means to provide secondary materials and to save resources is highlighted through concrete examples such as a reduced installation demonstrating the PET sorting and shredding process. A section is dedicated to the prevention of packaging waste. Children can also do their shopping in a mini-supermarket, to try and choose products that produce less waste. The visit of the exhibition is complemented with practical activities for children based on the reuse of waste. 

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Denouncing the absurdity and uselessness of some products 

In 2003, the public enquiry about the Third Waste Management Plan (WMP) has been launched in Brussels . To accompany the enquiry and increase population’s interest and participation, the Brussels Institute for the Management of the Environment (IBGE-BIM) and the Consumer Organisations Research and Information Centre (CRIOC–OIVO) presented a lively exhibition on useless products and gadgets. 

Entitled “At the useless and wastefulness department”, it aims at raising public awareness on the consequences of our ways of life on the environment. In our consumerist society, marketing and advertising encourage the most irrational consumers’ behaviours. They result in waste of resources, increasing production of waste, damage to the environment … that could be easily avoided. The Brussels exhibition confronts visitors with examples of useless and wasteful products and the most absurd sides of our consumption patterns. It also suggests greener, healthier and cheaper alternatives. 

For instance, nowadays disposable wipes are available for any kind of purpose. The exhibition compares disposable wipes and floorclothes to clean 100 m2 of floor during one year. The results are summarised below. 

Another striking example of useless and wasteful products are gadgets: lollipop spinners, music cards, blinking key-holders, candy dispense … they are just for fun, they are given almost for free, they have a very short lifetime … but they often contain batteries that are rarely removed before reaching the bulk bin. 

Identical products are often marketed under different packaging forms (one-serving/ multi-serving). Comparisons on the waste production and price of such products make clear both the financial and environmental costs of “toy-food”. This is also obviously striking for home-made and industrial snacks. 

There are 2 ways to eat a chocolate-coated biscuit. Traditionally, you simply take it out of plastic and cardboard packaging. This produces 0.8 g of non-recyclable waste and costs 0.38 Euros (for 30 g). 

Or you can play and assembly the final biscuit by dipping it into chocolate pasta then into toasted rice balls. Each of these contained into plastic cups. Eating in this “funny” way produces 16.5 g of non-recyclable waste and cost 0.83 Euros (for 30 g). 

Visitors could take away an explanatory brochure. It details calculations supporting the examples presented in the exhibition and further explains the issues at stake. 

At the end of the tour, they were invited to fill in a survey and to give their opinion about waste management in Brussels. The results of the survey contributed to the public enquiry on the Third WMP. 

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