Cabinet Office Homepage
10 November 2008
CAB/105/08
Recycling will become much easier for millions of people thanks to the winner of the Government's Show Us A Better Way competition.
The winning idea, Can I Recycle It, will tell people what the recycling facilities are in their area, based on their postcode.
The competition asked people to invent a website that provides a useful public service using information already held by the Government.
Cabinet Office minister Tom Watson, who spearheaded the competition, said:
“This is a world-leading competition that has attracted entries and praise from as far away as Australia, India and the USA. Show Us A Better Way has really captured the imagination of people in their own communities. This is about taking service design out of Whitehall and to the people who use it.
“By trusting the public and throwing it open to them to put forward their ideas, the solutions are of real, practical use. Ultimately, this is about building something from the bottom up rather than having Whitehall dictate from the centre.”
The winning entry will now be taken forward by a team of developers funded from part of a £60,000 prize fund. Four runners-up ideas to plan cycling routes, show the boundaries of school catchment areas and find the nearest postbox and public toilets, will also be built.
Five other entries will be given help developing their ideas and making a website, with funding supplied by Communities and Local Government. Four other ideas will share £20,000 for not only coming up with an innovative website, but also for building it themselves.
Cabinet Office Minister Tom Watson said:
“I am delighted by the winning site, Can I Recycle It. This ingenious idea is a simple map showing you where recycling facilities are and what they will accept, so you can quickly and easily find out where to take your rubbish.”
Communities and Local Government Secretary Hazel Blears, said:
“The positive response to this competition rightly highlights the power and benefits when local people have their say, have access to good information and have the enthusiasm and the chance to make a difference locally. I am pleased that extra funding from CLG will help take some of these creative ideas forward and help encourage the use of new technologies and community media. Access to information – which these awards aim to promote – is an important part of empowering communities.”
Michael Wills, Minister for Democratic Engagement, said:
“The Government is committed to encouraging people to get involved in civic activities within their communities and across the country. Show Us A Better Way highlights the innovative ways in which people can do this.”
The winning entry was created by Adam Temple, aged 26 from London. He said:
“Each area has a different recycling scheme with different capabilities, so it is not surprising that households are unsure what can be recycled. Local information may be of some use, but there are a million and one things that people want to know about recycling.
“Having put in their postcode, the householder will get an easy-to-read version of what is recyclable and what is not in their area. After that, they could type in keywords for the specific piece of rubbish that they are concerned about. If it is in the database, the householder would get an immediate answer.
“If not, the question could be forwarded to the appropriate person in the local council. That person could then amend the database, and that way the website would gradually get more useful.”
Show Us A Better Way attracted more than 450 entries from around the world, with around 70,000 people visiting the website over the summer. The total prize fund was worth £80,000.
Websites to be built:
Ideas to be developed:
Prototypes to be developed further:
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