How to do Zero Waste
On Monday 23rd November, we held our first event for Plastic Free Cotgrave: How to do Zero Waste’. If you missed it, head over to our YouTube channel: Plastic Free Cotgrave - YouTube
We were delighted to welcome Sarah Davey from The Simpler Life zero waste shop in Keyworth. People joined in from far and near – most from Rushcliffe, but others further afield such as Bedford and Kent!
Some of the main points discussed were:
- Why we need zero waste – more than 2/3 of the packaging in weekly shops is not recyclable or has confusing labelling
- Why are we inundated with plastic – the oil and petrochemical industry is betting on growth in demand from fossil fuels eg from new/virgin plastic (they actively discourage recycling)
- The global environmental effects of plastics
- The circular economy
- Local zero waste shops
- How ‘to do’ zero waste shopping – a rather different approach!
- How much plastic has been saved in 8 months at The Simpler Life? Here are some examples. We thought it would be fascinating to see this mountain of waste that has been saved – and this is only a few typical items. There would be much more than this:
Rice – 560 bags (500g)
Raisins – 150 bags (500g)
Sultanas – 200 bags (500g)
Pasta – 612 bags (500g)
Oats – 325 bags (1kg)
Shampoo – 140 bottles (500ml)
Hand soap – 1100 bottles (300ml)
Washing up liquid – 500 bottles (500ml)