When is Zero Waste Week 2020 – and How to Take Part!

During Zero Waste Week 2020, we’ll be celebrating the 13th annual campaign!

What began in 2008 with 100 participants in the UK has spread its wings across the globe to become an international week of reducing, reusing and recycling.

If you’re new to Zero Waste Week or need a refresher on how to get involved, here’s a quick FAQ.

when is zero waste week 2020 7th to 11th september

When is Zero Waste Week 2020?

Zero Waste Week 2020 takes place 7th – 11th September.

What is Zero Waste Week?

Zero Waste Week is an annual awareness campaign that takes place the first full week of September. Because we care about the environment, the campaign is predominantly digital. This means we can keep our carbon footprint low, because we’re not asking you to travel to a large city or building. We communicate with you throughout the week via daily newsletters and social media updates, using the hashtag #ZeroWasteWeek

Pre Covid, we had small events taking place around the world such as film screenings, litter picks, workshops and talks. There are unlikely to be any Zero Waste Week events during 2020.

Who can take part in Zero Waste Week?

Zero Waste Week is suitable for everybody – householders, businesses, schools, organisations or community groups – there’s something for everyone.

How much does it cost to take part?

It’s free to take part!

What do I have to do to take part?

If you want the daily newsletters (recommended, as this is where you’ll get all the daily information and challenge), then sign up to our free mailing list here. You’ll get a daily newsletter each day, a couple of newsletters for two to three weeks before the campaign starts to give you a warm-up challenge and one or two after the campaign to gather and give feedback. After that, you might hear from me a handful of times throughout the year.

I don’t want to sign up to the newsletter, how else can I get involved?

You can read the blog throughout the week which is updated a few times each day.

What do you focus on each year?

Each year we choose a different theme to focus on. We know you’re going to love this one!

I want to support you, what can I do to help?

It’s free to take part in Zero Waste Week, but I do incur costs, so I appreciate any donations you can give. Your donations help fund website hosting, subscriptions to online services and technical support. If you’re excited to be taking part in this free Zero Waste Week campaign, please donate here.

Our sponsors provide vital support for the campaign, without them we’d be unable to run, so we encourage you to check them out and support their businesses. By supporting them, you support Zero Waste Week.

How can I follow Zero Waste Week on social media?

You’ll find me hanging out on Twitter most of the week – so keep in touch with the #ZeroWasteWeek hashtag. That’s where I spend the majority of my time during the week.

You can also participate in our engaged and active Facebook group. I’m very proud of our group, which has been handpicked and featured by Facebook itself as being a super helpful group.

Our ambassadors are a wonderful group of people who amplify the Zero Waste Week messages to their own audiences. You can find them here and please follow their sites and social media channels.

And you can always email me – I love to hear from you and will often reply back with a personal email.

I’m a business and need more help, as I don’t have the knowledge or time to plan a successful campaign

There are three main ways to get more help

1 – Each year we publish a forward planning guide [part of the supporters pack] for businesses and organisations. The guide saves you time and helps you align with the themes and activities for the year. This gives what you are doing more clout and gives you suggestions for activities to do with your team throughout the week. It will also give you guidance on how to plan a week so you get the most from the week. You can get your pack here.

2- If, after you’ve had a look at the guide, you need further help to customise this to your own needs, we offer ad hoc Skype to help you put together a tailored programme. This means you can hit the ground running and know exactly what to do and when to do it. Over the years, we’ve worked on all topics surrounding waste from food to plastics to lifestyle choices, so we know what works, what doesn’t and how best to engage your audience. Read more here.

3-We speak to businesses on site or via teleconferencing. We offer a one hour Zoom meeting with Anna for you and your team to include a brief talk, followed by a Q&A to get people inspired and onboard. This is the nearest thing we can offer to Anna being in the room, giving one of her inspirational talks; which people love. We find the Q&A to be the gold dust – this really fires people up, makes them feel valued and compels them to take action. Read more here.

We really recommend you getting the forward planning guide, have a read through and decide how much support you need to achieve your Zero Waste Week goals.