Last month Unpackaged hosted a workshop at Planet Organic Muswell Hill – everything you ever wanted to know about Zero Waste shopping but were too afraid to ask!
We started with a brief introduction to the philosophy and goals of the Zero Waste movement – thinking about why we should care about packaging, and what small lifestyle changes we can make to have a more positive environmental impact on our world.
We know that going Zero Waste can seem a bit daunting so below are our Top Ten Tips – go on, why not give it a go?
1. Start by looking at what waste you create in a week – make a list, photograph it, whatever you need to do to get your head around it.
2. Sort into categories – food packaging, household cleaning, toiletries products etc. What do you have the most of – that’s often a good place to start? Start slowly and change one thing a week to keep it manageable and sustainable long term.
3. Make sure your partner, family or flatmates are involved in the process – you all need to be on the same page to achieve success!
4. Do you have a local refill or zero waste shop (such as Unpackaged at Planet Organic Muswell Hill)? Search the internet to find out. If you don’t have a local shop, what can you refill locally at other shops? Milk bottles? Cleaning products etc.
5. Swap your bins around at home – create a small landfill bin and a large recycling bin – label them as such; psychologically it will help.
6. Manage what comes into your home - What can you refuse? Receipts, business cards, leaflets etc. This is about consuming less, as well as consuming “zero waste”.
7. What can you reuse? Blank side of paper become a shopping list, as your shower is heating up, put a bucket underneath and use it to water your plants – it’s all about being careful with resources.
8. If you can’t avoid it, choose clever packaging – e.g. Planet Organic sells toilet roll in compostable packaging, the packaging can go into your food waste bin.
9. Don’t believe the hype – do you need separate types of cleaner for the bathroom, the kitchen etc.? Most of the time, white vinegar will do, as will a mix of bicarbonate of soda + lemon as an all purpose cleaner.
10. What products can you make at home? Food such as bread, yoghurt & hummous are easy & cheap to make, just start carving out some time to do it regularly and get into a routine.
Want to share your #zerowaste tips? Please do using the #planetrefill hashtag on social media
and look out for more blogs in our Zero Waste series from Unpackaged.
from Planet Organic Blog http://ift.tt/28XVhc3
via How to Save Money When Buying Organic Foods
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