Rubbish Revolution
Imagine if universities from all over the UK rallied together to build a powerful movement that tackled the explosion of plastic pollution, reduced diseases caused by mismanaged waste and helped lift people out of poverty.
Download ResourceStudent movements have kick-started some of the biggest educational, social and political global changes – and today we’re calling on you to start a Rubbish Revolution at your university.
CAMPUS gives you a step-by-step guide to gathering a group, building support and making some noise.
A STUDENT CAMPAIGN HISTORY
December 1984
At UC Berkeley, California, student walkouts and sleep-ins result in the university divesting $3.1 billion from companies doing business with the apartheid government of South Africa.
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May 2006: The ‘Penguin Revolution’
Students in Chile march for a more equal and accessible education system. The campaign accelerated change and increased equality within Chile’s education system.
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March 2019
A student campaign targets university investment in fossil fuels leads to 76 commitments by UK universities to divest £12bn of investment.
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May 2019: Skolstrejk för klimatet
1.4 million students from over 125 countries, led by 16-year-old Greta Thunberg, march to demand action to prevent further global warming and climate change. The strikes push climate change onto the political agenda.
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Today
Students all over the UK build a powerful movement to tackle the explosion of plastic pollution, reducing pollution, sickness and disease for people living in poverty across the world.
The Plastic Problem
Our world has a rubbish problem, and it’s hitting people living in poverty the hardest.
Did you know EVERY 30 SECONDS:
- the UK throws away two double-decker busloads of waste
- 30 double-decker busloads of plastic waste are burnt or dumped in developing countries
- one person dies from diseases caused by mismanaged waste: diseases such as diarrhea, malaria, heart disease, and cancer. That’s up to a million deaths every year
Meet Rubina
She lives in a slum in Pakistan. She is one of the two billion people living among piles of waste in the world’s poorest countries; drinking polluted water, breathing toxic air, and battling sickness.
Meanwhile, here in the UK we throw away almost 300 billion pieces of plastic each year. That’s more than 4,000 pieces per person.
It’s the same brands whose packaging we throw away that are making things worse for people like Rubina. Here in the UK, our waste is collected – but that’s not generally the case in slums like Rubina’s. Big multinationals such as Coca-Cola, Nestlé, PepsiCo, and Unilever sell billions of single-use plastic products in poorer countries knowing people have no choice but to burn them or live among them.
But this rubbish situation can change, if we act together.
THE RUBBISH REVOLUTION
Universities play a key role in influencing change – that’s why we’re calling on you to bring the Rubbish Revolution to your campus. Sign up below to get everything you need to start your own movement.
Here’s how it works:
1. GATHER TOGETHER
To start, gather a small group of friends who can help be a catalyst for the campaign. We’ll send you conversation starters, information, stats and stories. You could even run it as an event – CU nights are a great opportunity for this.
2. BUILD SUPPORT
Focus on three areas: 1) encourage lecturers and professors to sign an open letter 2) add signatures to Tearfund’s Rubbish Revolution petition 3) ask your SU to cut their single-use plastic and pass a motion in support of the campaign.
3. MAKE SOME NOISE
Get creative and organise a stunt to step up the pressure. Creative actions inspire us all to imagine a better, more just world, and are a powerful and memorable way to shift the public conversation. Think up your own ideas or use one of the examples provided.