EcoTeams initiative comes to Birmingham

• Mar. 12 by Christopher Smith (0)

Birmingham will become the latest city to be introduced to the  United Nations endorsed ‘EcoTeams’ community project, with the city’s first training event to be held on 20^th March 2010.

EcoTeams, which claims to have 30,000 members, is a community-driven initiative, with residents forming groups to help each other lower their carbon emissions and increase their recycling rates.

The scheme has already been a success in other regions of the United Kingdom, with Nottingham and London both involved in the EcoTeams concept.

EcoTeams is based off the idea of measuring ‘environmental impacts’, such as amounts of waste disposed and recycling rates, and attempting to cut these impacts week-by-week.

An ‘Eco Team’ is formed of members of the community who share the common goal of reducing their environmental impact. The group share ideas, facts and support each other’s eco-friendly drives.

According to the EcoTeams website, the average household taking part in the scheme reduces waste by 20%, whilst increasing recycling by 5%.

In addition to this, it is also claimed that those taking part will reduce CO2 emissions by 16.6% and water use by 15%.

Philip Moore of Global Action Plan, the group behind EcoTeams, says:

‘Joining an EcoTeam is a fun and sociable way to explore a number of topics (energy, water and transport use, as well as what is thrown away and recycled) so that people get a better feel for the issues. By discussing these topics as a team ‘EcoTeamers’ also benefit from other people’s experience.’

‘In Birmingham, CO₂ emissions from households make around 35% of the total emissions , the rest being emissions from industry, the public sector and transport. So, it’s clear that together we have a big opportunity to influence the bigger picture.’

The idea of using communities to spread the environmental message has become increasingly popular with authorities in recent years. One such scheme is Birmingham City Council’s ‘Recycling Champions’, which aims to recruit volunteer residents to spread the word about recycling to fellow residents.

Philip Moore added:

‘The ultimate aim is for our population to live sustainably. This means using resources at a rate that the planet can replenish as fast as we use them, and to manage the waste we produce.’

‘Currently in the UK we consume so much that if everyone in the world lived like us we would need three planets to sustain the population. In other words, we are living on three times beyond our means. By contrast, the average Indian lives on only half their fair share of the planet’s resources.’

The EcoTeams training event will take place at The Birmingham and Midland Institute on Saturday 20^th March from 09:30am – 14:30pm. Those interested in the scheme can find information and sign up for the event at http://ecoteams.org.uk/