Time's up on waste

Ecobuild 2018, the largest free-to-attend show of its kind in the world, runs from 6 March at ExceL London and comprises three days of talks, presentations, workshops and debates engaged with waste as a global issue.

One of the Brighton speakers will be Cat Fletcher, Reuse Manager Brighton & Hove City Council, who said: “Time’s up on the pointless manufacturing and buying of stuff that we really can live without or stuff that we already have enough of that can be reused for eternity.”

Responsible Futures – the University of Brighton’s research-focused initiative aimed at encouraging sustainable economic growth, improved environments and more inclusive societies – is supporting the University’s ‘WasteZone’ symposium and exhibition.

Curated by architect and Senior Lecturer Duncan Baker-Brown and Principal Lecturer Nick Gant, from the School of Architecture & Design, WasteZone will see over 20 speakers from across Europe and the US discussing innovative design solutions aimed at cleaning up waste and working with new materials that will one day turn into compost.

Duncan Baker and Cat Fletcher

Students attending a previous WasteZone - Ecobuild event

Mr Baker-Brown, environmental activist and author of ‘The Re-Use Atlas: a designer’s guide towards a circular economy, said: “A true circular economy requires the re-design of systems, services, new materials, products, buildings; whole cities even – Ecobuild brings global focus these issues and the pressing need for all of to act now to safeguard our precious resources and protect our threatened planet.

“I believe it will be our designers and architects, as well as our makers and constructors, who step up to this important task. We have the knowledge now. We know what to do. For example, we can currently recycle or re-use 95 per cent of the material that makes a smart phone. We just choose not to.”

He added: “Ecobuild is an exceptional opportunity for University staff and students interested in the re-use of waste, sustainable design, the circular economy and the built environment to attend a globally significant event free of charge.”

Cat Fletcher will speak on ‘We really need to talk about over-consumption’. She said: “Not only do we need to redesign things for repair, durability, and easy recycling, and escalate delivering circular economy friendly infrastructure to get us out of a poisonous polluting linear economy, we also have to face the reality that we simply make too much pointless stuff and that has got to stop.

“Let’s make less stuff and make it better. That’s needs a lot of buy in but the planet depends on it.”