Category: Free

How to shop sustainably at a zero waste shop, supermarket or online

Loose fruit and vegetables on a market stall

However lovely it might be, we can’t always buy our food direct from a local organic farmer. So how can you make the best choices from what’s available?

How to buy sustainably at the zero waste shop

dry goods bins at a zero waste shop

What does a typical zero waste shop stock?

A typical zero waste shop will stock:

  • Dry goods (flour, muesli, pasta & spices)
  • Washing and cleaning products (dispense-it-yourself clothes washing liquid, washing up liquid, vinegar, soap bars & laundry sheets)
  • Personal hygiene products (razors, sanitary towels, menstrual cups, shampoo bars, toothbrushes & tooth tablets)
  • Tins (vegan soup, beans, tofu & seitan)
  • Treats (sustainably sourced chocolate, vegan chocolate nibs, dried fruit & coated peanuts)
  • Household products (compostable bags & scrubbing brushes)
  • Sustainable gifts and cards
  • Plant based milks and nut butters, often made from scratch in the shop

What’s it like shopping at a zero waste shop?

Zero waste shops are usually run by passionately green people. They’re likely to be very knowledgeable about environmental issues and keen to encourage you, so it’s a great place to feel part of a “tribe”. You’ll be able to get advice on all sorts of green issues, from how to clean the interior workings of your washing machine, to which vegan chocolate is best.

You might be surprised to find that many items are cheaper at the zero waste shop, compared to the supermarket. That’s because you’re not paying for the packaging and branding. Spices and dried goods are likely to be very good value compared to what you’re used to.

How does shopping in a zero waste shop actually work?

  • Zero waste shops usually stock their dry goods in hygienic gravity-fed hoppers (so there’s no fear that someone else has sneezed on the food or rummaged around with dirty fingers).
  • On your first visit, you can either take your own containers or buy them from the store. Then you can re-use those containers on subsequent visits.
  • You buy your dry goods produce by weight, but they will deduct the weight of the container from the total so you don’t pay for that as well.
  • You’ll need to weigh your container before you fill it. There will be a set of scales in the shop or on the counter. You’ll probably need to write the weight on the bottom of your container with a Sharpie, and they should have one for you to use.
  • If you’re bringing your own containers, check out the size of the dispensing holes on the hoppers first, and bring a container with a suitably wide mouth (to avoid spilling food on the floor).
  • If you’re buying a large amount of dry goods (e.g. flour), use a paper bag to keep the weight down. The shop will probably have clean paper bags for that purpose.
  • The shop staff will be happy to show you how to dispense the produce.
  • They will also have towels to mop up when you inevitably dispense washing-up liquid onto the floor.
  • Go there last on your shopping trip, because washing liquid, muesli and flour get heavy really quickly.
  • Take several reusable bags so you can spread the weight across your shoulders and hands.
  • If you are lucky, they might even offer an online delivery service.

How to buy sustainably at the supermarket

loose kale and radishes on a supermarket shelf above vegetables packed in plastic

You can buy a lot from a zero waste shop, but there will inevitably be things you need from a conventional shop too. If you go to the supermarket and fill your own trolley, you have an advantage over online shoppers because you can see exactly what you’re buying.

  • Write a shopping list and stick to it, to avoid impulse buys or buying duplicates of things you already have.
  • Bring your reusable bags with you. Their critics say you have to use them hundreds of times before they’ve covered the cost of the water and energy used in their manufacture, but if you’re going to use them weekly for years, you’ve got that covered, no problem.
  • As you leave the house, put your shopping list inside your reusable bag. This makes it much harder to accidentally leave your reusable bags in the car.
  • If you’re buying food that you’re going to eat soon, or freeze, choose short-dated produce. This reduces the amount of food the shop throws away.
  • You can bring your own produce bags for loose fruit and vegetables (they don’t have to be fancy – a net bag or a reused clear plastic bag is fine).
  • If you eat cheese or meat, buy them from the deli counter to avoid unnecessary packaging.
  • If you can’t buy it loose, choose produce that’s packed in compostable or paper wrappers, cardboard trays instead of plastic trays, or glass jars instead of plastic containers.

How to buy sustainably online

close up of person wearing black gloves holding a red crate full of vegetables

If you buy your shopping online, you’ll have to rely on the descriptions on the website and learn as you go. But, it’s much easier to check the ingredients and see reviews from other shoppers.

  • Use an ethical online superstore to find products that tick all the sustainability boxes, but aren’t available in mainstream stores. Ethical Superstore has a great range of household goods, cleaning products and beauty products.
  • If buying online from a mainstream supermarket, choose one that delivers direct from your local store (e.g. Waitrose, Sainsburys or Tesco), or one that uses a local delivery driver who plans their route (like Riverford). That means your groceries aren’t being delivered from a central warehouse that could be hundreds of miles away (like Ocado) – an unforgivable waste of fuel and tyre wear.
  • If you’re buying an unfamiliar product, check the product description to see what it’s packaged in, and choose one that can be recycled. The photos can be misleading. Where possible, avoid plastic packaging, which can be recycled but often isn’t.
  • You can filter your search results so you only see vegan or vegetarian items.
  • Buying online from a list of favourites makes it easy to avoid impulse buys.
  • Choose a “green” delivery slot to minimise delivery mileage. (A green delivery slot means someone else who lives nearby has already booked a delivery in the same time window.)

Image credits:
Loose fruit and vegetables: photo by Jacopo Maia on Unsplash
Dry goods hoppers in a zero waste shop: photo by Benjamin Brunner on Unsplash
Vegetables on supermarket shelves: photo by Eduardo Soares on Unsplash
Delivery person holding a crate of food: photo by Liuba Bilyk on Unsplash

Categories: All actions, Food, Free, Quick & easy, Uncategorized

How to stop unnecessary flights – campaign for a frequent flyer tax

sad business people on plane

What is a frequent flyer tax?

A frequent flyer tax (also known as a frequent flyer levy) is an additional tax on people who take a lot of flights (or the businesses that make them take the flights). This makes the flights more expensive, which discourages unnecessary travel.

A frequent flier tax wouldn’t have any effect on people taking an occasional holiday or making infrequent trips to visit loved ones in other countries (although we would encourage you to think about taking more sustainable holidays instead of flying – see our travel page for ideas).

How would a frequent flyer tax help reduce emissions?

Flying is expected to be the biggest source of the UK’s emissions by 2050 [1], and just 15% of people are responsible for 70% of UK flights [2]. A frequent flyer tax could therefore significantly reduce emissions by discouraging a small-ish number of people (or the people who tell them what to do) from flying as often.

An important point is that the frequent flyer tax would need to be levied on businesses, not just individuals. That’s to prevent companies from avoiding the tax by sending a different person each time.

What can I do to help get a frequent flier tax introduced?

Lobby your political representative to introduce a frequent flyer tax. While one letter won’t change anything, trust that your letter will eventually be one of thousands, evidence of a change in public opinion that they can’t ignore.

Here are some useful facts from GreenWorld, the Green Party’s membership publication:

  • Introducing a frequent flyer tax would force frequent fliers to think more about their aerial carbon footprint and give them a financial incentive to lower it
  • Aviation contributes to about 2.5 per cent of global carbon emissions; this rises to 5% when all greenhouse gases, not just carbon, are taken into account
  • As more people reach the global middle class more people want to fly, so passenger numbers are expected to increase substantially in the coming decades
  • In the UK, just 15% of people take 70% of flights.
    1% of people in the UK are responsible for about 20% of flights!
    Meanwhile, more than half of the people in the UK don’t fly at all
  • The Green Party’s proposals would allow people to take one return flight a year, with no extra tax, so people could go on annual holidays and visit any family they may have abroad
  • Businesses and frequent fliers can and will have to adapt – trains can be used to get to Continental Europe instead of planes. Video conferencing can be done online. Longer stays at destinations can be arranged so multiple visits aren’t necessary
  • When properly explained, the public should be fully behind a frequent flyer tax because voters are keen on policies which follow well-established climate science but don’t make them change their own behaviour! 

How can I contact my MP or political representative?

In the UK, you can find out who your MP is and how to contact them on They Work For You.

In the US, you can find out who your representative in Congress is here.

[1] BBC News. 2019. Introduce frequent flyer levy to fight emissions, government told. [online] Available at: <https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-49808258> [Accessed 7 February 2021].

[2] Full Fact. 2016. Do 15% of people take 70% of flights?. [online] Available at: <https://fullfact.org/economy/do-15-people-take-70-flights/> [Accessed 7 February 2021].

Photo credit:  Hanson Lu on Unsplash

Categories: All actions, Free, High impact, Influence, Quick & easy, Travel & commuting

How to take climate action – use your vote!

I voted sticker

Actions taken by individuals are important but – let’s be honest – the effect is tiny compared to the impact of actions taken by governments.

We urgently need strong environmental action from our governments, so use your vote to support national and local politicians who put the environment at the heart of their economic and international policies.

Why should I bother to vote?

Many of our current politicians do not seem to care about climate breakdown at all – their promises are as empty as their pockets are full. Voting can feel pointless, particularly if you live in an area that votes overwhelmingly in the opposite direction to you.

But it’s always worth voting.

  • Even safe seats can be overturned, sometimes quite spectacularly
  • Winning parties will be keeping a close eye on the policies and popularity of their rivals
  • The incredibly close Brexit vote showed that literally, every vote counts
  • For women, our right to vote is comparatively recent and hard-won, and we have a duty to the campaigners who fought for our rights – particularly as the overturning of Roe-vs-Wade in the US has shown how easily women’s rights can be taken away
  • Our votes matter just as much in local elections, with the added benefit that you can often vote with your heart as well as your head and get a Green candidate elected

Don’t hold out for a perfect candidate – there isn’t one! Choose the one whose values and policies most closely match yours, because someone else is guaranteed to be voting for someone terrible, and at least your vote can cancel theirs out.

So, encourage everyone you know to use their vote – particularly younger people, who tend to be more progressive overall, but turn out to vote less than older people do. (The BBC states that in the UK 2015 general election, only 43% of 18-24-year-olds voted, compared with 78% of people aged 65 or over [1].)

Younger people’s failure to vote isn’t necessarily due to apathy. It could be because they aren’t sure how to register, or because they haven’t got the time to queue at a polling station while juggling work, children and/or study[2]. From 2023, it could also be because some younger people lack the forms of ID necessary to cast a vote in person. The rules on what ID is allowable discriminate against younger people, people who haven’t got passports or driving licences, and people who move addresses frequently, thereby giving an advantage to the party which is supported by more older voters (you know which party I mean).

How can I get more people to vote?

  • Talk to people, particularly young people, about the importance of voting. Fight apathy with recent examples of supposedly safe seats being overturned
  • Use your knowledge of the system, or your free time, to help people register to vote
  • Use your free time to help them actually vote (e.g. driving them to the polling station or babysitting)
  • Explain that there are new rules about voter ID from 2023, and ask them to make sure they have got the forms of ID necessary to cast a vote in person
  • For busy people, help them arrange a postal vote.
    Literally, everyone has time to vote by post
  • When people say all politicians are as bad as each other, list all the recent scandals you can find on the BBC news website in order of “badness”, and see which party comes up worse
  • Volunteer to support your local Green Party candidate (or whichever candidate they are stepping aside for)
  • Talk to your children about politics, sustainability and social justice
  • While they can’t actually vote yet, young people can register to vote from the age of 16 in England, and from the age of 14 in Scotland and Wales. Encourage/help them to register early, so they are ready if they are old enough to vote when the next election is called (remember, elections can often be called at short notice)

How do I register to vote?

In the UK, you can register to vote here.

When you’ve registered to vote, you can request a postal vote here.

Anyone can have a postal vote and you don’t need to give a reason.

In the US, you can find out how to register here:
Find out how to register (scroll down to the “States With Online Voter Registration” table)
Find out if you’re already registered.

And if you are a US citizen abroad, find out how to vote from overseas here. Please use your vote because the rest of the world really cares who’s in charge in the US, but has no influence over it!

Can I get a postal vote?

The short answer is YES – anyone who is registered to vote in the UK can get a postal vote, and you don’t have to give a reason.

Postal votes are great if you’re short of time, forgetful, or just don’t like queuing. It means last-minute problems can’t prevent you from casting your vote. And it’s super-useful for people who work full time, have kids to put to bed, have to prepare dinner, have limited mobility, have evening classes to attend, feel vulnerable walking at night, or just don’t like queuing in the rain… which is just about everyone.

I’ll say it again – in the UK, anyone who’s registered to vote can request a postal vote here. You don’t need to give a reason.

So the steps are:

  1. Start early
  2. If you plan to vote in person, make sure you have one of the accepted forms of voter ID
  3. Register to vote here
  4. When you’ve registered to vote, request a postal vote here
  5. Use your vote

In the US, some states automatically send mail-in ballots to everyone who’s registered to vote, but in other states, you have to request them. Find out what your state’s rules are here (scroll down to the “States With Online Voter Registration” table).

References:
[1] BBC News. (2020). Election 2017: If more young people actually voted, would it change everything? [online] Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-2017-39965925 [Accessed 8 Mar. 2020].

[2] BBC News. (2020). Why don’t more young people vote? [online] Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-51763333 [Accessed 8 Mar. 2020].

Photo credit:  Element5 Digital on Unsplash

Categories: All actions, Free, High impact, In Lockdown, Influence

How to get your favourite brands to stop using plastic

woman in green top with coffee and laptop in a cafe

Why should I ask my favourite brands to stop using plastic?

While plastic can be recycled, it often isn’t, leading to plastic pollution in oceans, rivers, and even our own bodies via the food chain. We need to stop producing and using single-use plastic items, except for where it’s absolutely necessary.

As individuals, we can make better purchasing decisions – but changes made by companies make it easy for everyone to go greener – whether they want to or not! 

So ask your favourite brands why they’re still using plastic in their products or packaging. A single change made by a company can have as much effect as thousands of their customers making the same choice.

Action:
Ask your favourite brands why they haven’t swapped to paper-based or plant-based wrappers for their products, or why they are still using plastic when they don’t need to.

How do I get companies to stop using plastic?

Start by emailing or tweeting and see what kind of answer you get. The company may be enthusiastic – they may already be doing something about it!

Twitter is a good place to put pressure on companies because they don’t like negative publicity. But however you do it, make sure you’ve got your facts right, and be polite – there’s a person at the other end. Feedback from customer services and the social media team can be a valuable mechanism for convincing management to make the change!

If you don’t get anywhere, see if someone else has already created a petition. Change.org and 38 Degrees are good places to start, or, to petition the government, use the UK government petitions site. If a petition already exists, support it by adding your name, writing to the petition target, or offering help to the petition owner.

If no one else is already running a campaign, you could start your own petition on Change.org or a similar site. But to give it the best chance of success, first, ask yourself if you’re committed to following it through. The most powerful petitions are started by people who are really committed and have the time to meet the petition target in the real world and work together for solutions – like the campaign we’ve highlighted below.

Finally, consider getting together with others to organise a boycott of the product or even protest at the organisation’s headquarters or sales outlets.

Cut the plastic – an inspiring example of a great eco campaign

Ella Daish’s campaign to encourage supermarkets to make all their menstrual products plastic-free is a great example of a successful campaign.

Ella was working as a postal worker when she noticed the amount of rubbish on her delivery route. First, she took steps to reduce the amount of waste she produced in her daily life; one of the changes she made was switching to eco-friendly period products. But no one else seemed to be aware of the problem.

She decided to take on the suppliers and started her campaign, on Change.org, in early 2018.

Ella’s petition, which calls on supermarkets and manufacturers to cut the plastic from their period products, now has more than 230,000 signatures. Ella met with decision-makers from Procter & Gamble, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Boots, Morrisons, Aldi, Kotex, Lil-lets, Carefree, Lidl, Bodyform, Asda, Superdrug and the Co-op, and the campaign featured in the national news and international magazines.

As a result of Ella’s campaign:

  • Sainsbury’s, Aldi, and Superdrug stopped producing plastic tampon applicators, which she says has prevented 17 tonnes of plastic from being produced annually
  • Eco-friendly ranges of tampons, pads and reusable products are now available in most supermarkets, giving customers a greater choice
  • Lil-Lets, Superdrug, and Morrisons developed and launched their own eco-friendly ranges

Photo credit: Adam Satria on Unsplash

Categories: High impact, Free, In Lockdown, Influence, Uncategorized, Waste

Think “second-hand first” – how to save money with second-hand and reuse websites

screenshot of listings on second hand clothing website depop

Why use second-hand and reuse websites?

Fashion waste is a huge problem, with waste occurring during manufacture, processing, transport, disposal of unsold stock and the quick discarding of fast fashion items.

According to Edge Fashion Intelligence, 94 million kg (208 million lb) of waste was generated from single-use outfits in 2019, and 64% of the 32 billion garments produced each year end up in landfill.

So whether you need something or don’t need something anymore, websites like eBay, Poshmark, Depop, Vinted, Freegle and Freecycle help keep stuff out of landfill and money in your pocket.

Facebook groups, Gumtree and Craigslist are also great ways to list or acquire things locally, with the benefit that you can easily collect them and don’t have to pay postage costs.

What are the best second-hand and reuse websites?

eBay

You’ve probably heard of eBay, the online auction and marketplace where you can buy or sell almost anything. It’s a great way to buy, or move on, second-hand clothes, household goods, and unwanted gifts.

It’s also a great way to find out what something’s worth. If you have some weird old collectables or vintage items, they might be worth a lot to someone else.

You need to create an account to buy or sell. Some items are offered as auctions, and others have a “buy it now” price. The price you offer to buy at is the price you pay, plus postage depending on your dispatch method.

As a private, low-volume seller, a basic listing is free – but eBay deducts a fee of 12.8% + 30p* before you get your money. However, there are lots of paid add-on services to help your item stand out, and a few weird quirks, for example, if you’re selling trainers.

Poshmark, Depop & Vinted

Poshmark, Depop and Vinted specialise in peer-to-peer sales of second-hand clothing, jewellery, shoes and homewares (i.e. people selling to other people). While some sellers take it very seriously, curating collections and wardrobes for their followers, the majority of sellers are just looking to make a little bit of money back when they clear out their wardrobes. It’s possible to pick up items from just a few pounds up to hundreds for second-hand designer items.

Vinted

You need to create an account to buy or sell on Vinted. Sellers can bundle items together and give buyers a discount for buying multiple items.
With Vinted, the price you see listed is what the seller gets. Vinted adds a fee of 70p + 5%*, and then you choose your postage method, which adds another couple of pounds. So while everything looks like a bargain, be prepared to pay a couple more pounds than the price you originally see.

Depop

You need to create an account to buy or sell on Depop.
As a buyer, you pay the price you see, plus postage depending on the method you choose.
Depop charges sellers 10% of the total sale price* (including 10% of the postage), then PayPal or Depop Payments charge around 3% + 30p* as well.

Poshmark

Poshmark is marketed as the site for higher-value items.
You need to create an account to buy or sell on Poshmark.
As a buyer, you pay the price you see, plus postage, which starts at $7.67 for items weighing 5 lb or less*.
Poshmark charges sellers $2.95 for items under $15*. For items costing $15 or more, it’s 20% of the total*.

Freegle and Freecycle

Try Freegle and Freecycle for stuff that’s too bulky to post, or too tatty to sell, but still has plenty of use left in it. Everything is free.

You can list things you just want taken off your hands, or pick up items for nothing, in your local area. It really is worth a try; I’ve given away stuff I thought no one would ever want, like a really ugly concrete bird bath that came with our house; the people who collected it thought it was great.

Freegle and Freecycle are great for larger items or things that charity shops don’t want, perhaps because they’re a bit tatty or broken.

So if you need, or want to get rid of, 3 yards of used chicken wire, a well-used sofa or an aloe vera plant… just post an advert, and someone may help you out.

Click here to find your nearest Freecycle group

Or here to find your nearest Freegle group.

Facebook, Gumtree and Craigslist

Like classified ads in local newspapers, you can also give away, sell or pick up items on local Facebook groups, Gumtree and Craigslist.

However you choose to do it, you’re keeping things out of landfill and helping to build a community of people who reject the throw-away culture.

*Fees quoted are correct as at March 2023.

Image credit:
Screenshot by the author

Categories: All actions, Community & action, Consumption, Free, Saves money, Waste

The problem with bee-killing pesticides – and how to help

bee on a yellow canola / rapeseed flower

Why are pesticides a problem?

Bees and other insects are essential to pollinate around one-third of the food crops we rely on – but bee populations are in decline due to the use of pesticides called neonicotinoids (neonics), habitat loss and disease.

Neonics were banned by the EU in April 2018, but, according to Greenpeace, at least 67 different emergency authorisations have been granted since that date. Many of these authorisations were granted repeatedly, or without any evidence of an ‘emergency’ situation being provided [1]. Neonic use has also been approved in the UK after Brexit, in certain emergency situations (although it was for a non-flowering crop).

Unfortunately, the next generation of pesticides are also believed to harm bees[2]. Indeed it’s hard to see how any future pesticides will be safe for bees and beneficial insects, given their physiological similarity to the insects the pesticides are intended to kill.

Legislators are under relentless pressure to approve pesticides that are known to cause the collapse of bee populations. This pressure comes from agrochemical giants like Bayer and Monsanto, whose business models are based on creating a reliance on their patented, proprietary seeds and pesticides.

How can I help end the use of bee-killing pesticides?

How can I contact my MP or political representative?

In the UK, you can find out who your MP is and how to contact them on They Work For You.

In the US, you can find out who your representative in Congress is here.

[1] Unearthed – Greenpeace. 2020. Loophole Keeps Bee-Killing Pesticides In Widespread Use, Two Years After EU Ban. [online] Available at: <https://unearthed.greenpeace.org/2020/07/08/bees-neonicotinoids-bayer-syngenta-eu-ban-loophole/> [Accessed 25 January 2021].

[2] BBC News. 2018. New Pesticides ‘May Have Risks For Bees’. [online] Available at: <https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-45185261> [Accessed 25 January 2021].

Image credit: photo by Tsing Wang on Unsplash

Categories: All actions, Bees, insects & rewilding, Chemicals, Free, High impact, Influence, Quick & easy, Uncategorized

Make our roadsides better with bee-friendly wildflowers

poppies and blue wildflowers in a wildflower roadside verge

Why do we need bee-friendly roadside verges?

According to the wildlife charity Plantlife, 97% of the UK’s wildflower meadows have been lost since the 1930s[1]. This habitat loss is one of the reasons bees and other beneficial insects, which pollinate many of our crops, are in decline. The other reasons are pesticide use and disease.

Roadside verges are part of the solution. There are nearly 500,000 km (310,000 miles!) of roadside verges in the UK, and every year councils spend hundreds of thousands of pounds maintaining them[2].

New national guidance (developed by Plantlife together with national highways agencies, industry bodies, Natural England and other environmental groups) recommends that verges should only be cut twice a year, and never before July when most wildflowers are in bloom. Previously, verges were cut four or more times every year.

Less frequent cutting and avoiding pesticides allows verges to act as wildlife havens, helping to spread wildflowers, insects and invertebrates via a network of “corridors” across the country. If this recommendation was adopted throughout the UK, the grassland habitat created would be the same area as London, Birmingham, Manchester, Cardiff and Edinburgh added together![2]

Write to your council about wildflower verges

Fortunately, many councils are keen to follow the example set by Dorset County Council, which estimates it has reduced the cost of verge maintenance by £100,000 in 5 years.[2]

It’s definitely worth contacting your council to encourage them to adopt the new national guidance. Councils are starved of cash and may well jump at the chance to reduce their costs.

Plantlife has written a sample letter, which you can use or adapt to help you write to your council. They also have a tool to help you find out which council you should be writing to, because it isn’t always obvious. Follow the link and scroll down to find the tool and sample letter.

[1] Plantlife. 2021. Real Action Needed To Save Our Vanishing Meadows. [online] Available at: <https://www.plantlife.org.uk/uk/about-us/news/real-action-needed-to-save-our-vanishing-meadows> [Accessed 25 January 2021].

[2] Barkham, P., 2021. UK Roadsides On Verge Of Becoming Wildlife Corridors, Say Experts. [online] the Guardian. Available at: <https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/sep/27/uk-roadsides-verge-wildlife-corridors-guidelines-wildflowers> [Accessed 25 January 2021].

Photo credit: Lucie Hošová on Unsplash

Categories: All actions, Bees, insects & rewilding, Free, High impact, Influence, Quick & easy