The Difference We Made | 2018-2019 Impact Report | Hubbub

Hubbub I The difference we made 2018 -2019

THE DIFFERENCE WE MADE IN 2019

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Hubbub I The difference we made 2018 -2019

Hubbub I The difference we made 2018 -2019

INTRODUCTION 2019 has been a very busy year for the environmental sector as a whole, and Hubbub is no exception. We’ve been doing all we can to make the most of opportunities presented by increasing public interest in the environment, including plastics, climate change and air pollution, to name a few.

From teaching kids in schools about plastic to building city wide bright recycling bins in Leeds and from creating a giant washing machine aquarium in Old Street to launching our first podcast this last year has been as varied as it has exciting.

As an organisation we’ve grown from 19 employees at the start of the year to 31 people by the end of our financial year. We’re proud of the impact we’ve had, the people we’ve galvanised, the partnerships we’ve fostered, and the campaigns that have gone on to have a life of their own.

And, given the scale of the environmental challenges we face, we’re ready to do even more next year, so look out for many more campaigns and bigger collaborations in 2020!

the Hubbub team 4

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Hubbub I The difference we made 2018 -2019

Hubbub I The difference we made 2018 -2019

2019 IN NUMBERS

23 projects

We’ve enabled people to

330 partners

focussing on food, fashion, homes and neighbourhoods.

collaborated with across the UK.

1.5 billion opportunities to see our campaigns through

Recycle over 1 million single use coffee cups.

Recycle 300,000 plastic bottles and cans.

Prevent 692 tonnes of food from being wasted.

Get growing in London,

1.56 million people engaged

media reach.

to start thinking and talking differently about environmental topics.

520,083 people activated to change a

575 people transformed their

behaviour, from making clothes last longer, to wasting less food, to reusing and recycling coffee cups.

no matter what space they have through 10,000 Give It A Grow kits.

lives and attitudes through involvement in Hubbub projects.

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Hubbub I The difference we made 2018 -2019

Hubbub I The difference we made 2018 -2019

Collaboration is key One of the key factors behind the success of campaigns is the variety of people and organisations that we collaborate with. We aim to work with anyone who shares our vision and values to have a greater impact.

We believe collaborating enables us to: • tap into broader and deeper knowledge and different perspectives on a topic at the planning stages • build on what’s already being done and avoid reinventing the wheel • reach a wider audience • give us a greater chance of changing the systems, infrastructure and policies to make a long lasting difference

Cross sector, multi stakeholder collaborations Leeds By Example is a collaboration of leading retailers, brands and manufacturers aiming to tackle recycling on-the-go, working alongside Leeds City Council (local authority), the waste industry and local stakeholders such as businesses, universities, shopping centres and local charities. This enabled all 57 partners to feed in their expertise, facilitate the different interventions and amplify key messages, as opposed to all of the onus being on the local authority to tackle this issue alone.

The Cup Fund provided funding for 12 projects to set up cup recycling across the UK, which will collectively recycle 35 million cups in the first year. The fund encouraged collaboration among stakeholders which has led to the formation of unique partnerships within each location.

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The 35 partners include local authorities, Business Improvement Districts, waste management companies, universities, landowners, shopping centres, businesses and transport hubs. This is ensuring that in each location a consistent message about cup recycling is being conveyed, making it easier for the public to understand how they can play their part.

Collaborating with communities Through our Community Fridge Network we’re supporting over 80 community champions to open and safely run a Community Fridge. By helping them get set up and facilitating peer to peer sharing of best practice advice, we’re enabling them to get on with running the fridges, engaging the volunteers and the wider community and developing a range of activities and initiatives around the fridges.

Through our Love Where You Live project we’ve worked closely with residents of urban, fly-tipped areas to transform the alleyways into bright, friendly community spaces. The project works by combining ideas, inspiration, funding, and training together with the people in the community with the local knowledge and desire to make a difference.

Collaborating with business Since 2018 Hubbub and Starbucks have partnered to tackle singleuse cup waste. Together we launched the 5p cup charge, donations from which are funding a range of projects across the UK to cut plastic pollution, increase the availability of cup recycling and promote the use of reusable cups.

Collaborating with academics One of the problems with air pollution is that most air quality data comes from static monitoring stations, which means we have a limited understanding of how individuals are exposed to poor air quality. As 7

Hubbub I The difference we made 2018 -2019

Hubbub I The difference we made 2018 -2019

part of the Air We Share campaign, Hubbub teamed up with Kings College London to understand how, when and where people are more exposed. We gave ten Londoners portable air pollution monitors for one week. We’ve published the results, combining Kings College London’s academic rigour with Hubbub’s communications approach, to interpret the findings and produce clear, accessible recommendations for how we can all take action on air pollution.

Collaborating with local authorities Norfolk and Suffolk Councils have a bold target to cut food waste by 20% by 2025, and Hubbub is helping them do it. Through Food Savvy we’ve brought together over 30 local organisations including regional employers, community groups and bloggers with the councils to run the campaigns and engage the entire region in tackling food waste.

Collaborating with designers Engaging and disruptive design is core to Hubbub’s campaigns. As well as having a team of in house designers, we collaborate with design students and agencies to bring in eclectic ideas. One example of this type of collaboration is with our What’s In My Wash? campaign. The issues of microfibres is difficult to visualise, so we wanted to create a fun and informative installation to engage the public on the impact of this hidden issue. We collaborated with design agency Common Works to create a giant washing machine aquarium which was housed in both Bond Street and Old Street stations.

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HUBBUB C A M PA I G N S

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Hubbub I The difference we made 2018 -2019

Hubbub I The difference we made 2018 -2019

Air We Share Exploring different Londoners’ exposure to air pollution and using their stories to inspire wider action.

83% of us are worried about the effect of air pollution on our health.

Large monitoring stations provide data on overall air pollution levels in towns and cities, but little is known about how much individuals are exposed.

Impact

We created the ‘Air We Share’ campaign to investigate how our daily actions affect how much pollution we’re exposed to, and to explore ways we can all reduce our exposure, cut pollution and add our voices to the call for cleaner air.

• The Times published the results of the personal exposure monitoring as part of their ‘Clean Air For All Campaign’.

We gave 10 Londoners air quality monitors for a week, to track when and where people are most exposed to air pollution. The monitors, provided by Kings College London, track black carbon - which is most likely to be from traffic. We discovered:

• Jeremy Vine also participated in the personal monitoring and revealed the results on his Channel 5 show.

• Individual exposure varies enormously.

• The HGV driver had the highest cumulative pollution exposure, followed by the outdoor worker.

• Participants who walked and cycled had the lowest exposure, which was significantly less when travelling on back routes, away from busy roads.

• The monitors revealed high concentrations of particulates on the London Underground, with deeper lines being more polluted than lines closer to the surface.

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• Karen Buck, MP for Westminster North, participated in the personal monitoring and cohosted an All-Party Parliamentary Group event.

• The ‘Air We Share’ film had 30,787 views and the website had 7,638 views in the first month.

We’re now building on the insight, learnings and interest from phase 1 to develop new targeted campaigns and partnerships for phase 2.

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Hubbub I The difference we made 2018 -2019

Hubbub I The difference we made 2018 -2019

Collaboration with Starbucks We collaborated with Starbucks to tackle the problem of single use cups through recycling and increasing reuse, and to tackle plastic pollution more widely.

Every year in the UK we use almost 3 billion coffee cups and only 4% get recycled.

Since 2018, Starbucks has voluntarily trialled a 5p charge on single use coffee cups across its UK stores, to encourage customers to switch to reusables. Starbucks donates all these 5ps to Hubbub to run practical and positive campaigns that reduce plastic waste and pollution, increase the use of reusables, and increase recycling of on the go packaging. We’re starting with coffee cups and will roll out to other on the go packaging.

2) Increasing recycling of cups and ‘on the go’ packaging #5pCupFunds are making it as easy as possible for people to recycle coffee cups and other packaging when on the go: • On the go recycling has been set up in Leeds, Swansea and Edinburgh, supported by vibrant communication campaigns.

• The ‘Cup Fund’ will enable 35 million cups to be recycled in 12 locations across the UK supporting local organisations with funding, infrastructure and communications..

• Plans are in place to extend recycling facilities to some of the busiest transport hubs across the UK.

1) Switching to reuse

3) Reducing plastic waste and pollution

We’re exploring ways to increase the use of reusable cups. We aim to get from 5% to 10% of all hot drinks sold at Starbucks, with people reusing their cup at least 20 times each.

#5pCupFunds are helping to reduce litter and create greener, healthier cities.

• At Gatwick Airport, we ran a pilot of a ‘borrow and return’ cup system, making it easy for passengers to cut cup waste. We’re aiming to generate learnings that could be applied to all airports.

• We trialled a 5p charge in Starbucks stores to measure whether it encouraged people to switch to reusables. During the trial across 35 stores, reusable cup use increased from 2.2% to 5.8%.

• A Plastic Fishing Tour has taken Plastic Fishing trips to Bristol, Manchester, Scotland and Birmingham, helping people to fish plastics from local waterways in a boat made from 99% recycled plastic. One Plastic Fishing boat has been given to Birmingham, helping the local community keep the canals free of plastic litter.

• In London we gave out 10,000 ‘Give it a Grow’ packs helping people create their own green space, bringing nature nearer.

• We’re trialling a city-wide campaign that will encourage people to use their reusable cups, helping them to save money and cut plastic waste.

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Hubbub I The difference we made 2018 -2019

Hubbub I The difference we made 2018 -2019

Impact Tripled the number of Starbucks customers bringing their own cup since the introduction of the 5p cup charge over a year ago, saving more than 3 million cups from being used.

Funded 12 large scale cup recycling projects across the UK through ‘The Cup Fund’ which launched in September 2018 and is projected to recycle 35 million cups.

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Recycled over 1 million cups through the ‘Leeds By Example’ campaign which has now been rolled out to two further cities Edinburgh and Swansea.

Built two Plastic Fishing boats which are clearing litter from rivers and canals in five locations across the UK.

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Hubbub I The difference we made 2018 -2019

Hubbub I The difference we made 2018 -2019

Food Savvy Helping Norfolk and Suffolk councils cut food waste by 20% by 2025.

In the UK, 7.3m tonnes of food waste was binned by households in 2015 – over 60% of which was avoidable. In Norfolk and Suffolk, this equates to 118,000 tonnes of wasted food. As well as eating into household budgets, food waste costs the local taxpayer over £12m annually.

Hubbub is working with Norfolk and Suffolk councils to help them deliver their ambitious target to cut food waste by 20% by 2025 through ‘Food Savvy’, a county wide series of campaigns. These campaigns included ‘Pumpkin Rescue’, using the hook of wasted Halloween pumpkins to draw attention to food waste more widely; a Christmas advent calendar featuring tips on making the most of food over the holiday period, when food waste often spikes; ‘Travellers Check’ which targeted the waste created when people go on holiday; a ‘Food Savvy Quiz’ which asks users about their food habits and offers tailored advice based on their answers; and ‘Kitchen Love’ which built a community kitchen as a space for running cooking courses.

The ‘Food Savvy Challenge’ invited people (including social media influencers) to cut their food waste by 50% in one month, offering tailored advice and support. The ‘Food Savvy Lunch Club’ recruited employees to tackle waste from office lunches and they cut food waste and the use of single use plastic by over 55% in one month.

And ‘Banana Drama’ featured banana themed installations at 9 events across the boroughs where the 1800 visitors received recipe cards and tips.

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Impact During the first year of ‘Food Savvy’ we delivered 9 campaigns and have recruited 44 local champions which together have engaged over 12,560 people through events and activities. We’ve also generated 218 pieces of media coverage with opportunities to see/hear of more than 200 million.

In year 2 we’ll build on the learnings of what has worked well and what hasn’t, we’ll grow the partnerships and deliver more campaigns in more locations.

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Hubbub I The difference we made 2018 -2019

Hubbub I The difference we made 2018 -2019

Leeds By Example We ran the biggest city centre recycling ‘on the go’ campaign to date in Leeds, and expanded it to Swansea and Edinburgh.

We’re eating and drinking more and more whilst on the move. Last year we spent a whopping £17.4 billion on food and drink to eat on the go in the UK. That’s about 13 billion plastic bottles, 9 billion drinks and 3 billion coffee cups every year.

That’s a whole lot of packaging, and less than half of local authorities have the street infrastructure to collect and recycle it. This is often because the quality of what’s collected on the street is so poor that the costs don’t stack up to collect it.

Since October 2018, the ‘Leeds By Example’ partnership has been trialling everything from bubble blowing bins, to recycle reward machines and bright, bold communications harnessing local pride to increase recycling on streets and in managed public spaces.

“Hubbub have established themselves as a strong, creative partner for our Authority in the two years we’ve worked together. Thorough, well informed and generous in sharing what they know, we’ve gained insight and learning beyond our original expectations. Hubbub have proved to be a genuine organisation whose people stay true to the ethos of creativity and playfulness whilst also keeping it meaningful with a focus on real change. Whilst not located close by, they’ve shown a genuine interest in our city and its people. - Helen, Leeds City Council 18

Impact Recycled 1.2 million cups, 140,000 cans and 160,000 plastic bottles. through the introduction of 186 eye-catching new recycling points

Increased the number of people recycling on the go from 17% to 49%.

Model has been scaled to Swansea and Edinburgh under the banner ‘In The Loop’, building on all the learnings and insights gathered in Leeds.

The success of the campaign has led to Leeds City Council committing to keeping the bins and recycling collections going, ensuring a lasting legacy in Leeds.

We believe that combining the learnings from the three cities (and countries) will provide robust data to inform a new approach to recycling on-the-go throughout the UK. 19

Hubbub I The difference we made 2018 -2019

Hubbub I The difference we made 2018 -2019

What’s In My Wash?

Highlighting the previously neglected problem of plastic microfibres which shed off synthetic clothing.

Synthetic materials containing plastic make up the majority of our wardrobes, and when washed, shed tiny plastic microfibres. Half a million tonnes of plastic microfibres a year are released, making them the largest source of primary microplastic pollution in our oceans (Ellen MacArthur Foundation).

‘What’s In My Wash?’ is a campaign and collaborative website that aims to raise awareness of the topic. It collates the latest research and thinking and calls on industry to take action. It shows how people can extend the life of their clothes and reduce the likelihood of microfibres shedding.

‘What’s In My Wash?’ launched with a pop-up installation at Old Street tube station which visualised the connection between the way we buy and care for clothes and the impact this has on the environment. The installation has also visited Bond Street tube and university campuses.

A series of videos featuring researchers opened up an informative and honest conversation with the public on what we know about the issue, and public polling investigated the level of public concern.

Impact The campaign had a reach of over 104 million and gained over 200 pieces of media coverage including The Sun, The Metro, The Mail Online, The Stylist and Huffington Post.

Our research, insights and the visibility of the campaign led to the House of Commons asking us to submit evidence to the Environmental Audit Committee enquiry into fast fashion, and House of Fraser, ASOS and Friends of the Earth getting in touch to use our campaign messaging and content to engage their audiences in the topic.

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Hubbub I The difference we made 2018 -2019

Hubbub I The difference we made 2018 -2019

Other projects at a glance...

We rolled out our successful ‘Love Where You Live’ flytipping campaign to Leeds and Fleetwood, working with residents, Groundwork and the local authority in each area to transform even more fly-tipped alleyways into beautiful community spaces to be proud of. Town centre showcases will take place in spring 2020 to encourage further uptake of the project.

“I’ve enjoyed meeting neighbours I didn’t know before and working together as a community to brighten up the area we live in” – Ben

We managed the Waitrose Plan Plastic £1 million grant fund, supporting 5 projects across the UK to tackle plastic pollution through innovative research, practical solutions, and communication campaigns. The 5 winning projects were chosen from 150 applications, because of their innovative ideas and clear impact.

We supported the opening of 39 Community Fridges, building our Community Fridge Network to 80 open fridges throughout the UK. Each fridge is visited by an average 270 people a month, distributing surplus food from retailers and the community, all together saving approximately 455,233 kgs food waste over the year.

“I have no cooking skills whatsoever, but now I’m actually learning.

I hope to learn the necessary skills to go to uni and survive on other things than ready meals” – Andrew, 17 year

We worked with community centres in Leeds and London to transform underused kitchens into state-ofthe-art spaces for cooking and learning, and asked local people what they wanted to learn.

The kitchens are now being used for ‘Fit and Fed’ sessions for children and weekly lunch clubs for isolated older adults, as well as cooking classes and one off social events.

We’re exploring using the spaces for flourishing small businesses and social enterprises

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We partnered with NEFF and Howdens on ‘Kitchen Love’, which puts cooking skills and great food at the heart of communities.

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Hubbub I The difference we made 2018 -2019

Hubbub I The difference we made 2018 -2019

AWA R D S 10 shortlisted 7 won

Business Green Leaders Awards We helped 10,000 Londoners start growing by giving them sustainably sourced growing packs along with advice and support through our ‘Give It A Grow’ campaign, in partnership with the GLA, IKEA and B&Q.

“What a fantastic way to involve the public, becoming more aware of our green future”

We’ve amplified the impact of our campaigns through our social media, vlog and podcast: we’ve grown our vlog subscribers from 3,636 at the end of 2018 to 4,680, we’ve got 34,656 followers across Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, and we’ve launched a new podcast gaining over 3,000 listens and nearly 400 subscribers in just a few weeks.

We’ve explored new environmental topics on the vlog and the podcast such as sustainable periods and London’s air quality and we’ve spoken to more experts, activists and brands than ever before providing them with a platform to share knowledge and speak about their work to a broad and engaged audience.

– Give It A Grow recipient

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CSR/Marketing/ Advertising campaign Community Fridges

NRA Food Waste Initiative Community Fridges

Natwest SE100 Storyteller Hubbub Enterprise Plastic Fishing

Global Good Awards

Better Society Awards

Best campaign of the Year

National Commitment to the Community Award

Community Fridges

Community Fridges

Better Society Awards

Edie Sustainability Leaders Awards

Local Authority and Social Enterprise Award

CSR Engagement/ Marketing Campaign of the Year

Plastic Fishing

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IKEA Live LAGOM

Hubbub I The difference we made 2018 -2019

Inspiring ways of living that are good for the environment HELLO@HUBBUB.ORG.UK

H U B B U B Reg Charity No 1158700 3