The petition is now online, allowing the general community to support the project, and by the end of next month, it will be presented to the Ministries of Education and Environment, stated Sara Morais Pinto, co-founder of the Zero Waste Lab, an association aimed at combating waste and leading the initiative.
The “Manifesto Wasteless,” advocating for a generation “with a future, action, and no waste,” introduces a generation “inheriting a planet in imbalance, but also one possessing the power and duty to change the course.”
“We do not wish to continue in a waste model that consumes our resources, destroys ecosystems, and compromises our quality of life and that of future generations,” assert the youths, who vow to commit to a world where nothing is lost, where waste is avoided from the outset, and “where the value of natural, human, material, and financial resources is respected and enhanced.”
The document outlines four action pillars; the first, “Knowledge to Act,” in which youths seek to be informed to make choices, influence, and act, demanding clear information on products and accessible, ongoing environmental education. It is necessary, they argue, to know consumption alternatives, their locations, costs, and impacts.
“Zero Waste,” symbolizing intelligence rather than scarcity, forms another pillar, with youths demanding clean cities, resilient communities, and regenerative production and consumption systems.
“We demand ease and incentives for reuse and return systems, repair, second-hand consumption, public or soft transport, incentives for local and bulk consumption,” they state.
The third pillar, “Change,” calls for public policies, incentives, and infrastructures facilitating reuse, repair, and reintegration, ensuring transformation occurs.
The fourth pillar sees youths pledging to reduce generated waste, choose and support reusable products and services, reject excessive and impulsive consumption, and influence their communities.
Sara Morais Pinto explained that youths were the manifesto’s architects following an extended process facilitated by Zero Waste Lab among youngsters from various regions, who contributed testimonies and proposals.
She acknowledged the process wasn’t without challenges, marked by “taboos and resistance.” The youths, aware of environmental importance, ocean protection, and cleanliness, struggle with implementing change. “It’s not resistance against doing, but against knowing how to do,” she noted.
However, once time is invested in addressing problems, “the opposite happens, and there is an intense desire to act.” This was the case with the manifesto and now with the petition, deemed “another form of involvement.”
The aim, she confirmed, is to reach a broader audience, involve schools, leverage social media, and expand the movement “drop by drop.”
The project is co-financed by the European Union, with additional support from NOPLANETB, an initiative uniting several European countries, developed in Portugal by AMI — International Medical Assistance, and partnering with two youth organizations: RYSE (founded in 2022 for a more sustainable planet) and the Lisbon Youth Center.
The initiative’s promotion coincides with a date to raise awareness of one major type of waste, food. The International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste, proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly, is observed on Monday.
