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Zero Waste Week takes place between the 6th-10th September.

It started originally by Rachelle Strauss, following the Bostcastle flood 2004. Now reaching a global following with millions of people, action groups, businesses and organisations taking part.

Zero Waste week was founded by Rachelle Strauss in 2008 and began as a National UK Campaign.Campaigns last a week and take place annually during the first full week in September.

The campaign runs predominantly on social media and the website ZeroWasteWeek to reach a community of like-minded people who want to reduce residential or commercial waste, reuse materials and recycle as much as possible. The aim of the campaign is to help householders, businesses, schools and community groups increase recycling, reduce landfill waste and participate in the circular economy – in alignment with European recommendations and Directives.

Zero Waste Week was created a non-commercial grass roots campaign to demonstrate means and methods to reduce waste, foster community support and bring awareness to the increasing problem of environmental waste and pollution. The term ‘Zero Waste Week’ is now used by many organisations, groups and individuals not connected to the original campaign. Local and national events are held annually where participants and communities make a concerted effort to demonstrate that household, business and industrial waste can be eliminated or reduced.

The roots of the Zero Waste Week campaign emerged from the Boscastle flood of 2004. The Strauss family were caught in the village of Boscastle when a freak rain storm swelled 2 rivers meeting an incoming tide at the estuary. The ensuing deluge washed away many of the historic buildings and shops, along with several cars and possessions. The tragic event inspired Rachelle Strauss to set-up the Gloucestershire The Freecycle Network, a non-profit worldwide charitable organisation gifting reusable goods in order to divert from the landfill.

The freak weather event was her wake up call to the real possibility that man made climate change may have contributed to the Boscastle flood. During the following years the Strauss Family developed their interests in sustainable living as a personal challenge to lessen their environmental impact. In 2008 Rachelle Strauss setup her website and blog MyZeroWaste.com and in September 2008 she launched the first Zero Waste Week online campaign to reduce, reuse and recycle as an public participatory Zero Waste week event with this official announcement.

The campaign continued to be held on the the Zero Waste Website up until Zero Waste Week September 2013. In 2018 the campaign reached its ten year milestone. and grown an international following of over 56 million participants worldwide.

The term Zero Waste Week has been gradually adopted by other campaigns and organisations to run a week of events and activities to highlight the need to reduce waste materials and foster recycling methods and reuse. The themes and topics usually correspond with the original concepts to reduce, reuse and recycle waste materials, often with focus on specific current sustainability issues, such as reducing the use of plastics and food waste. Find out who is on the list on the Zero Waste Week website.

Source: Zero Waste Week