'Waste Not, Want Not' Watched - Not (From Watford Observer)
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Few residents have seen £20,000 film about waste
2:52pm Monday 9th July 2012 in News
By Ben Endley, Senior reporter
A film noir-style detective drama, created to educate Hertfordshire residents and cut food waste, has itself been branded "a massive waste" of taxpayers’ money.
The professionally-produced three-part video titled ‘Waste Not, Want Not’ tells the story of private investigator Rex Green’s efforts to save the county from a compost catastrophe.
It was commissioned by WasteAware, a partnership between Hertfordshire County Council and other local authorities, to explain to people the issues around properly separating food and garden waste from other rubbish. The cost of production was £20,000.
It can currently be seen in a mobile cinema at events across the county and was at the Olympic Torch celebrations in St Albans yesterday (Sunday) before heading for Watford’s Charter Place Shopping Centre on July 21.
Despite this, the county’s Liberal Democrat party says it has obtained figures suggesting the video has only been viewed by 1,000 people this way – with an additional 61 ‘hits’ on YouTube since it was uploaded online last month.
Cllr Rob Prowse, Lib Dem environment spokesman, said: "The 15 minute film has been professionally made at a cost of £20,000 to Herts taxpayers yet very few people have ever heard of it, let alone seen it.
"WasteAware is funded by the county council but doesn’t seem to be accountable to anyone for how it spends taxpayers’ money.
"The Lib Dems agree with the aims of WasteAware but this is simply not on. At £20 per viewing, the film itself seems a massive waste."
Derrick Ashley, Hertfordshire County Council's cabinet member for waste and chairman of Hertfordshire's Waste Partnership, said: "Making sure people know what they can - and can't - put in their organic waste bin is vitally important for how we deal with household waste in Hertfordshire."
Leon Edwards, from producers Upside Out, said: "How do we make something interesting enough for people to want to watch while making sure we cover the important messages clearly and therefore changing attitudes? We think we have managed it."
Comments(7)
TRT
says...
3:22pm Mon 9 Jul 12
The council is bound by its statutory obligation to look after its citizens, otherwise I'd say when they come across these ineducate-able types they should leave them to rot in their own filth. A five-foot high pile of stinking garbage that the 'bin-men' refuse to take away is a pretty strong tool to encourage someone to listen.
LSC
says...
4:34pm Mon 9 Jul 12
TRT wrote:I think the majority do care. But the majority also know bu*****t when they hear it.
For those people who just don't care about where and what they dispose of waste, no amount of films, leaflets through the door or lecturing by the council is going to change them.
The council is bound by its statutory obligation to look after its citizens, otherwise I'd say when they come across these ineducate-able types they should leave them to rot in their own filth. A five-foot high pile of stinking garbage that the 'bin-men' refuse to take away is a pretty strong tool to encourage someone to listen.
Using phrases like "save the county from a compost catastrophe" attracts only a certain type of person.
I know I sound like a broken record, but I will say it again and again and again:
Don't spend £20,000 of my money telling me how to get rid of waste. Fine Amazon, Tescos, Perrier, Pepsi and Pizza Hut £20,000 every time they create too much of it.
I get around 7 pizza menus a week through my door. If I order one, they ALWAYS bring a new menu along. Why? I obviously HAVE a menu or I'd have been unable to order the pizza in the first place!
This is what has to be addressed, not the constant nanny nagging about I personally am killing the planet.
TRT
says...
5:02pm Mon 9 Jul 12
The Rover
says...
5:20pm Mon 9 Jul 12
There are lots of bigger concerns that consumers buying too much food.
Paul Gadd
says...
7:15pm Mon 9 Jul 12
d rather watch a full espisode of Big Brother than this HCC drivel
Roy Stockdill
says...
8:14am Tue 10 Jul 12
Who on earth do these arrogant, bureaucratic idiots think they are, trying to "educate" us all and telling us how to run our lives?
The phrase "compost catastrophe" is pure Monty Python!
I agree with the above comments, i.e. that £20,000 spent on a film hardly anyone is going to see is not the most conducive way to spend our money. Surely a simple leaflet left with every dustbin would have been a more effective way of getting the message across - and probably far cheaper.
Reg Edit says...
3:22pm Mon 9 Jul 12
Let's save money and abolish WasteAware altogether.
There are plenty of other council-funded organisations that could also be lost altogether to save us money. Some fake green scheme in Abbots Langley comes to mind, but there will be plenty more.