waste less. live more
We inspire and help people to waste less and live more sustainably.
Bringing communities together
Stronger relationships, better understanding and group action are at the heart of more sustainable communities.
In stronger communities, individuals feel less isolated, are more active in their community and have a greater sense of pride and place in their neighbourhood. They are more empowered, lead local decision making and act together to lead sustainable lifestyles.
Our approach
We aim to support communities in living more sustainably and bring them together to build social cohesion.
Take the older and younger generations for example; people who often feel the most polarised in society and yet, have the greatest amount of time to volunteer in their community. By building intergenerational ties we can improve our environment, create deeper respect and mutual trust, and enable people to work together, make friends and build confidence.
Our work
Our Common Place is a new work programme helping communities to do just this.
Sustainable lifestyles are made up of a wide variety of sustainable behaviours. These behaviours become embedded when they are all underpinned by a core set of values such as generosity, kindness and selflessness. Through Our Common Place we seek to enhance these values and to lay the foundations for enjoyable and sustainable lifestyles.
This year we are engaging with communities across eight London boroughs. In our efforts to work from values we are bringing communities together to run a variety of social and environmental projects. Current emphasis is on using Our Common Place to improve recycling performance of residents living in large blocks of flats. Projects range from ‘help a neighbour recycle’ initiatives to the establishment of community composting, sharing and gardening schemes.
For regular updates on our progress and to keep up to date, please follow the Waste Watch blog and sign up to the Our Common Place group on our Sustainable lifestyles website.
