The vision of the Zero Waste Scotland Volunteer Programme is to create a community based partnership of volunteers, who work together across Scotland to help local communities to make Scotland a genuinely zero waste society, where all resources are valued and used responsibly.
The Zero Waste Programme is a valuable and effective scheme whose main focus is to help local communities take further steps in reducing their waste. This can be achieved by delivering Zero Waste Scotland messaging and using locally relevant resources to provide advice to householders across Scotland.
The Programme enables local groups to work successfully with a range of partners and key players in their communities by giving individuals and groups a focal point to work towards; that of making Scotland one of the world’s first zero waste societies. This can only be achieved by changing behaviour at all levels of society and enabling everyone to see waste as a resource, rather than as a problem. The volunteers participating in the programme play a vital role in taking this work forward and make a real difference in delivering the campaigns across the country.
Zero Waste Scotland’s Volunteer Programme will:
- Play a vital role in delivering the Zero Waste Scotland messaging to householders and communities
- Engage locally with communities to create a greater impact across the country
Zero Waste Scotland funds groups across Scotland to create local, long lasting and positive impacts towards waste reduction. Each group employs a Coordinator who recruits, trains and coordinates the group’s activities to deliver the Zero Waste Scotland messaging effectively at a local level.
Coordinators and volunteers undertake a full training programme supported by the Zero Waste Scotland Regional Partnership Managers and are encouraged to share best practice across the network. Volunteers can specialise in their own areas of interest and can choose the number of hours that they contribute, by attending events, generating media coverage and providing advice and support to householders. Drawing on their own skills, experience and local knowledge they will work to encourage a change in public opinion and behaviour towards waste.
As Scotland works towards ambitious targets to reduce its waste to landfill to 5% by 2025, everyone has the opportunity to work together to make real change locally and nationally. The Zero Waste Scotland Volunteer Programme will enable and equip local volunteers and communities to take action together and make a significant contribution towards achieving this target.
