What is the Wastebuster Project?
Mission: Planet Earth. The Intergalactic Waste Federation has identified Earth as an endangered planet. Enter Captain Busta and his trusty sidekick, Lieutenant Pong, on a brave mission to protect the planet by reducing waste. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to help children join this exciting journey by using Wastebuster resources with your pupils and eco-teams. It’s all about sparking that eco-force… and making a real difference.
Main Benefits of Wastebuster
Wastebuster isn’t just a project; it’s a movement with some pretty cool features and facts:
- Join The Pod: An award-winning global education platform for teachers, community group leaders, and children.
- Switch off Fortnight: A popular energy-saving campaign with an online tool to calculate your school’s greenhouse gas emissions.
- Recycle to Read: New for 2022! Schools can recycle tech, toys, and textiles to earn great book rewards.
- What’s under your feet? Learn how climate change affects British bird populations and how to protect them.
- Waste Week 2022: A campaign that brings waste topics to life and measures how much your school community can save.
Environmental Education at the Core
Wastebuster believes environmental education is crucial. It encourages children to use their creativity to tackle sustainability challenges. More than that, it helps them believe in their power to create change. The project supports educators by providing the best mindset and resources to help children build a more sustainable future. It’s about planting seeds of responsibility and care for the planet right in the classroom.
Wastebuster and the United Nations
On 25th September 2015, 193 world leaders came together and adopted a set of global goals to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure prosperity for all. These 17 Global Goals aim to achieve three extraordinary things in 15 years: end extreme poverty, fight inequality and injustice, and fix climate change. Wastebuster supports the UN Environment’s work by developing partnerships that share knowledge, expertise, technology, and financial support. The goal? To create world-class education programs and campaigns that specifically support Goals 4, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, and 17.
Wastebuster’s Mission Statement
The mission is clear and powerful:
- Help children understand that living things, Earth’s resources, and the environment need protection.
- Embed sustainable development principles into regional education systems and school life.
- Explain industrial society’s structure, waste, and its environmental impact.
- Show how human activity and waste affect the environment and encourage responsibility.
- Help children see how today’s decisions impact tomorrow’s quality of life.
- Encourage recognition of environmental issues caused by change and sustainable management efforts.
- Teach children to debate, discuss, and share ideas about environmental issues.
- Help children appreciate that caring for the planet is a sustainable lifestyle choice.
Project Impact and Sustainable Development Goals
- Goal 4: Quality Education
- Goal 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities
- Goal 12: Responsible Consumption and Production
- Goal 13: Climate Action
- Goal 14: Life Below Water
- Goal 15: Life on Land
- Goal 17: Partnerships for the Goals
Engaging Communities and Schools
Wastebuster brings waste topics to life in schools and communities. Through campaigns like Waste Week and Switch off Fortnight, it motivates everyone to take action and measure their impact. The project makes learning interactive and rewarding—whether it’s through recycling challenges or exploring how climate change affects local wildlife. It’s about turning knowledge into action, one school at a time.
