Jane Stephenson – Chief Executive Officer at Resource Futures
“I would like to move to a culture of belief rather than evidence based. I would like to help private sector moving ahead with promotion of recycling”, Jane Stephenson.
What is your job about?
We help people to understand what’s happening with materials in the economy and the impact of consumption and production on the environment and how to minimize this. We engage the public and our staff through things like our ‘Waste Doctors’ service for individual households who need help in using the recycling and waste services. We engage the community, working with schools and delivering workshops and we have some involvement in the private sector, working for example with clothes hanger manufacturer in Bristol to actually change their business model.
What issues do you address?
- Material resources
- Reuse
- Recycling
- Consumption reduction
What moved you to take action?
I always been passionate about the environment but after travelling, particularly in South America I realized how resource efficient some of the poorer communities were and how we re-used and recycled very little.
What were the obstacles that you had to overcome?
- Growing the organisation
- Downsizing the organisation
- Cultural change from a funded entity to a commercial one
What helped you keep going in hard times?
I never felt like having to give up. I was inspired by the nice people I worked with and the great stories that came in – the feedback was sustaining.
What first prompted you to become interested in environmental issues and when was that?
Always been passionate about the environment but after travelling, particularly to South America realized how resource efficient some of the poorer communities were and how we re-used and recycled very little. Entered the sector in 1983.
On a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being very happy) where would you rate how you feel about your life?
8
