By encouraging people in Essex to rethink their rubbish, 32 graduates are taking their first steps into careers in the environment. In October last year the environmental charity StudentForce recruited a group of recent graduates to do the legwork behind one of the UK’s largest door-to-door recycling campaigns. Most of the recruits had degrees in geography or environmental science, but others had studied business, marketing and civil engineering. Before getting stuck into the rubbish campaign, the team completed a ten-day training course covering project management, teamwork and leadership skills. The Essex Rethink Rubbish Taskforce took to the streets to talk to householders, both on their doorsteps and at local events, about waste reduction, re-use of throwaway items and recycling schemes in their area. The campaign was promoted through leaflets, postcards, displays, news articles, radio adverts and a competition which gave residents the opportunity to win a year’s supply of organic fruit and vegetables if they could prove that they recycled their rubbish. The project exceeded its aim to improve the county’s recycling by 10 per cent and targeted 25 per cent of households in Essex. Now the campaign has been extended. “The project’s success has been due to the professionalism of the graduate teams and the commitment made by Essex councils and the charity Waste Watch to training, support and the needs of young graduates getting their first environmental job,” says Adam Cade, the director of StudentForce. “For many in the team it has been like an extended interview and they have been offered jobs with the people they have been working for. The good references and experience have helped them to pick up jobs easily.” Cade argues that CVs are “old hat” when applying for work with local authorities. “What they want to see is a project work profile; a portfolio with examples of concrete work experience,” he says. Some of the taskforce have gone on to work in consultancy roles and in environmental or waste management. Others have set up community recycling schemes around the country. “The contact with people through the free phone answering service and doorstepping boosted my confidence and communication skills,” says Keith Naylor, a taskforce team leader. “The team management training has made me more assertive.” Other graduates gained an improved understanding of the difficulties that councils face when implementing a new strategy and an insight into the public’s attitude towards recycling. For the council the scheme has covered uncharted territory and acted as a useful recruitment pool. “We would never have had the staff resources to go out and contact 100,000 members of the public,” says Jason Searles, the waste production manager at Essex County Council. “The information gathered by the team has led to a greater understanding and awareness of recycling programmes. It gives the students valuable experience in working in a local authority environment and building people and teamwork skills.” But would the human resources departments of big city employers be impressed by graduates who had taken part in “green” projects? “Multinationals look for graduates with an awareness of sustainability issues and real experience of project management,” says Cade, who hopes to organise the UK’s first sustainability careers fair. As proof that some corporate giants demonstrate a healthy interest in green issues, Barclays and O2 run schemes encouraging staff to be more environmentally aware. Since October 2001, 10,000 trees have been planted in Barclays’ forests. The bank’s staff engagement scheme aims to educate employees on the importance of energy efficiency and of contributing to the local community by planting trees in 11 company-branded forests across the UK. The objective is to plant enough forests to make some of the bank’s greenhouse gas emissions carbon neutral. This is the point at which the amount of CO2 produced by a company is equal to that removed from the environment by a process such as planting trees. Part of the graduate trainee course at Barclays includes a week focused on sustainable development. David Benson, the head of graduate recruitment at Barclays, says: “When recruiting graduates we look for an active involvement in other cultures or organisations, including the environmental field. We want them to show how they set out to achieve something tangible.”
Website address is www.rethinkrubbish.com