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Bristol & Plastic A Lot Less

Plastivist of the month is Michelle Cassar……

I started Being PALL – Plastic A Lot Less in November 2008. I had a life changing day, literally!

I´d always “recycled” but on this particular day I did my first beach clean on a deserted beach on the West Coast of Portugal where I was living. The beach was covered in plastic,  we removed as much as we could carry back up the steep cliff. We took it to the recycling bins, most I didn´t even know was plastic!  That evening I came across an article in The Surfer´s Path that simple said, “Every piece of plastic that has ever been made still exists and much of it is in our oceans.”  There was a you tube link to; A Tale of Entanglement. Which is a pretty graphic film of animals entangled in plastic. I was upset and looked around the camper… at all our plastics.  The next day I started refusing and researching.

Some people may doubt this statement. As some plastics have been burnt and there is still plenty on land, but no one can deny, our Oceans are choking in plastic.

I´m a photographer and I surf (when the conditions are small enough).  I was shooting surfschools. This meant I was spending a lot of time at the beaches, surfing or shooting.

With the Atlantic swell, it´s hard not to notice the ever-changing plastic washing up on the beach.  Especially when I was shooting, often even in small Summer swells, plastic washed up around my feet.  I was constantly reminded of the presence of plastic pollution, so I couldn´t help but do something positive about it.  Firstly be reducing my own plastic drastically and then helping other people reduce theirs.

Although I´m still coming up upon obstacles all the time, I try my best to over come the challenges as refusing plastics is a way of life for me now.  I don´t claim to be perfect, there´s always more anyone can do, but PALL-ing´s a good place to start.

I am   Photographer, Blogger, Educator on plastic pollution, Consultant to businesses, with regards to reducing their single use plastics.

I refuse single use, and many many other longer use plastics. After 3 years I´d calculated I alone had refused in the region of 10,000 SUP items, and that number has continued to grow over the years that have followed.

Over the six years I have also helped many other reduce theirs. Some things are simple but add up to incredible amounts. For example, a Surf School I worked with back in 2008 swopped single use bottled water for a water cooler and filter. Over the years they have gone on to refuse 12,000 SUP bottles and the plastic wrapping. They have also saved themselves over €1,500 and countless hours moving water bottles around.

http://being-pall.com/

https://www.facebook.com/beingpall

https://twitter.com/beingpall

A bit more…

This post was written by the contributor. It is a PfU.K. Directory submission.

And the Pf U.K. Directory is…?

…a directory of UK-based groups, organisations businesses and individuals who are responding to the problems presented by the misuse of plastic. That does not mean  anti-plastic necessarily but certainly plastic-problem aware.

The DIRECTORY is to promote their fantastic work. Read more here…

Got a project?
It is very easy to get a project featured. Each contributor submits a short synopsis of their project, focussing on the plastic aware element and I post it. You can read the submission guidelines here.

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2015 Plastic free July Mongolia

…..is hard. Here’s an update. So far we are totally about  4o items that contain some plastic and 4 plastic wrappers each.

It has been pouring down here (with a light dusting of snow – sigh!), so we have been sitting in a lot of cafes in an effort to keep warm and sometimes try to log on to what they advertise as wifi but is in fact an exercise in optimism. Something I am rapidly running out of.

When we sit we have to buy a drink. Here they serve milk tea. A confusing name because it contains no tea at all. It is a dash of milk a lot of hot water, a dollop of grease (butter?) and enough salt to make your lips twist. It tastes…..another sigh! I’ve tried, I really have – but I don’t like hot milk at the best of times. And these are most definitely not the best of times!

So we have been drinking a lot of plastic related beverages. Never a beverage from a plastic bottle! I’ll never sink that low but glass bottles with plastic lined lids, plastic lined cans and the occasional tea bag (which of course contains plastic).  You can find out more about these sneaky plastics here.

This adds up to around 2 items a day each.

When we have access to hot water we are making our own tea with loose leaves we bought in China.

For water we are using our Steripen to sterilize tap water.

But we have been trekking and camping in yurts so have had to buy some of our food. Outside of Ulan Batur the choice is poor. There are markets but they sell mostly pre packed processed food – plastic packed sweets, plastic wrapped processed sausages, instant noodles and packet soup. The only fresh food is weird buttery cheesy stuff that looks like grimy wax and tastes mildly yet unpleasantly of rancid butter. There are a few shriveled fruit and veg that are extremely expensive and meat. And lots and lots of meat. All around sheep are being skinned or carved up into bloody chunks. Furry feet are discarded on the floor, and once a sheep head staring up from the park bench where it had been absently left.

But we have had to eat something while huddled in our yurt and so we have bought 3 plastic wrapped loaves of bread and 3 packets of biscuits. Rather then leave them out in the national park rubbish bins I burnt the wrappers on the fire. There were simple polythene and so (it is claimed) safe to burn.

Back in Ulan Batur and our hotel gave us a sandwich for breakfast. It was included in the price and made as we thought in house. Today they served it in a plastic box. I ate it anyway. And I bought another packet of real coffee. Plastic packed of course.

Litter 

With all this plastic packaging hardly surprising then that there is quite a lot of plastic trash. Everyday we litter picked in the national park collecting huge amounts of bottles.

Waste disposal methods in the city also leave a lot to be desired. Plastic bags are dumped in the street to to be collected by truck at some point. Stray animals scrabble through it looking for food. Then bin men go through the garbage first looking for cans. Inevitably some plastic rubbish escapes in the process.

Check out our FB album for updated photos.

CAMFORR Keep It Real Keep It Clean

So for Plastic Free July I am begging everyone to join in campaigning for real rubbish. You can read about it here.

Keep Our Glass

And asking folks to sign the petition asking Dairy crest to keep their refillable glass milk bottles.

In the pack

Rummage in our plastic free backpack here

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Selfridges Water Refill

Selfridges are setting out to tackle plastic pollution in the ocean by “removing all single-use plastic water bottles from our Foodhalls and restaurants, amounting to approximately 400,000 bottles a year.”  Selfridges website.

I was a little confused by the wording. Single use? Surely all plastic bottles when used as packaging  are single use.  I wondered if perhaps they meant single serving water bottle. I have been caught out like this before. Got all giddy about a water bottle ban only to find that it was restricted to those tiny bottles that contain a small glassful each. Yes a start, but hardly a ban.

So I tweeted them

love that you are removing single use water bottles. Does this mean the single serving small water bottles or all bottled water?

and they replied

disposable water bottles have been replaced with access to water fountains within our store.

Way to go Selfridges.

This  is part of its Project Ocean initiative, a collaborative effort with the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) and the Marine Reserves Coalition (MRC).

“Professor Jonathan Baillie, director of conservation programmes at ZSL, said the amount of plastic in the oceans was “staggering” and having a “devastating effect” on marine wildlife.

“No matter where plastic litter originates, once it reaches the ocean it becomes a planetary problem as it is carried by ocean currents,” he said.  Business Green

There is also an exhibition curated by Jane Withers in the Ultralounge on G at Selfridges London featuring work by Studio Swine (one of our favourites – check out their great project here) Andrew Friend, Nick Wood and Alice Dunseath, “which shed light on the plastic problem and propose alternative futures.”  There is also an in store water fountain and water bar to refill your own bottle from.

There is lots more on the website including ways you can cut your plastic footprint.

Needless to say the British Plastics Federation (BPF)  “expressed its “dismay” at Selfridges’ move. Philip Law, the BPF’s director general said: “The availability of water in portable, lightweight bottles promotes good health and can be critical in emergency situations. Plastic products do not litter themselves onto our streets or into our oceans, people do.” Taken from Plastic News.

Does shopping in Selfridges  really count as an emergency situation? When might critical hydration be called for? If you can’t fit into a size 12? They don’t have it in the colour you want?  Situations when only water in a light weight bottle will do.

And of course people shouldn’t litter.  They shouldn’t rob houses either but I am not going to leave my  front door open. There are some anti-social elements who don’t behave as we would like. The challenge is how limit their negative impacts. Plastic litter  doesn’t biodegrade. Once out there it lasts for ever. It only takes few meanies to drop their bottles and you have an expensive case of plastic pollution. The answer is  not to say people should stop dropping trash but to stop making everlasting litter.

Some more info

Why plastic doesn’t biodegrade

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Natalie Fee / City to Sea

So pleased to feature Natalie in the Plastic Free U.K. Directory.

Natalie Fee’s a TV presenter, author, songwriter and campaigner for cleaner seas. She founded City to Sea in Bristol to bring together the individuals and organisations working on plastic pollution to create a City-wide initiative for Bristol during it’s year as European Green Capital.
Plastic Challenge – launching City to Sea: a City-wide initiative to reduce the amount of single-use plastics used in the city, including: earbuds, plastic bottles and polystyrene take-away boxes.

City to Sea: a network of individuals and businesses in Bristol committed to lobbying for change in the way we manufacture and dispose of single-use plastics in the City.
Links –

More

This post was written by the contributor and is  a PfU.K. Directory submission.

The Pf U.K. Directory is…?

…a directory of UK-based groups, organisations businesses and individuals who are responding to the problems presented by the misuse of plastic. That does not mean anti-plastic necessarily but certainly plastic-problem aware.

The DIRECTORY is to promote their work not mine. Read more here…

Got a project?
It is very easy to get a project featured. Each contributor submits a short synopsis of their project, focussing on the plastic aware element and I post it. You can read the submission guidelines here.

Follow us on facebook here

now wash your hands

Perhaps not a completely plasticless project but a plastic reduced because you get more for your rubbish. Any way I just love it and deserves publicising.

Hand washing cuts decease and saves lives in third world countries. The Global Soap Project Process recycles hotel soaps. The following is taken from their website

Handwashing with soap is the most effective way to prevent the leading causes of death for children globally — illnesses that claim more than 2.4 million lives each year.

It all begins with the hotels! Hotel representatives can use the registration form or contact our hotel engagement manager to get started.

Collection Soap is collected from hotels and shipped to our warehouse in Las Vegas.

Sorting Because every brand is distinct, we do not mix soap. Each is sorted into containers for each hotel and brand.
Processing The soap is softened by heat and filtered through an extremely fine-mesh screen to remove dirt and other particulates. It is then molded into finished bars, hand cut, cured, inspected and packaged. Much of this work is performed by volunteers.
Verification GSP commissions third-party laboratory tests to screen for traces of pathogens on a sample from each batch of soap it produces before it ships.
Distribution We work with distribution partners and NGOs to ship, distribute soap and educate recipients on the best way to use it for health and sanitation purposes
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Cleaning products – refill system

Planet Earth offers a range of household cleaning products with a unique refill and reuse system.

It works and has been scientifically tested to be as good as the leading brand.

It’s an eco winner: To make a bottle of eco2life cleaner, fill a spray bottle about half full of ordinary tap water, simply add one ‘small wonder’ refill to the spray bottle and top up with cold tap water. Replace the trigger, give it a quick shake – you’re all set to go.

There is no lugging of ‘water’ back and forth, requiring less production, less energy, less packaging

Our spray trigger is designed for a long life and our spray bottles are reusable.

Vegetarian Society Approved.

It’s made in the UK and of course it’s made from naturally derived readily biodegradable aquatic safe ingredients with fully recyclable packaging.

Planet Earth eco2life ‘The brilliantly simple refill system’!

Please note

This post was written by the contributor. It is not a Plastic Is Rubbish review, does not represent my personal opinions and I may not have used this product or service. Instead it is a PfU.K. Directory submission.

The Pf U.K. Directory is…?

…a directory of UK-based groups, organisations businesses and individuals who are responding to the problems presented by the misuse of plastic. That does not mean anti-plastic necessarily but certainly plastic-problem aware.

In 2014 I hope to feature 12 UK-based initiatives featuring refuseniks, trash slashers, businesses and the rest.

The DIRECTORY is to promote their work not mine. Read more here…

Got a project?
It is very easy to get a project featured. Each contributor submits a short synopsis of their project, focussing on the plastic aware element and I post it. You can read the submission guidelines here.

Plastic free Northumberland wildlife trust…

This month 3 employees will try to live without plastic…..

In January 2015 we are attempting to go plastic free to help highlight the problems of plastics in our environment.  While this plastic free status is only for the month it should also help us to reduce our use of plastic in the long-term.  Here we hope to highlight some of the problems, the solutions and ways that all of us can help reduce plastics in our environment.

It should be emphasised that we are particularly keen to avoid single use plastic items as it is almost impossible to avoid the use of plastic items that occur everywhere (phones, computers, cars etc.).  By single use we include bottles that claim to be recyclable as opposed to re reuseable.

Follow their progress here on the blog

Water from Hotels

I do a lot of travelling and I love a hotel that offers me a water bottle refill or tap water with my dinner. Here are a few interesting schemes…

CELEBRATE SAFE WATER FOR TOURISM

Being a DrinkWater partner means that your organization has committed to being part of the global network focused on reducing plastic water bottles through the implementation of drinkable water technologies.  It represents being green, and environmentally aware of your global impact.  Through the use of our products we measure your impact and help you attract more customers who are environmentally focused.

DrinkWater is the global network promoting safe water for tourism. We monitor reductions in single use plastic water bottles and help you measure your environmental and sustainability benefits for a clear competitive advantage.

WHOLE WORLD Water

Their scheme is very practical….

Are you in the hospitality trade? Do you want to reduce your plastic footprint? Would you like to help those without access to clean drinking water while you do it?

Have a look at this project……

IS A HOSPITALITY AND TOURISM CAMPAIGN THAT ADDRESSES THE FACT THAT NEARLY 1 BILLION PEOPLE DO NOT HAVE ACCESS TO CLEAN AND SAFE DRINKING WATER.
We estimate that with scale we, as an industry, can contribute $1 billion dollars per year to alleviate this global issue. But, this is much more than a fund raising initiative. It is a revolutionary, creative way of thinking, a new way to do business and a replicable
model designed to combat environmental, health and economic issues. It will deliver huge, radical, positive change while driving a more robust bottom line. It’s simple, easy to implement, measurable and bankable.
Most importantly, it will be the first time that a single industry has united on a non-competitive platform, taken action and eradicated a major global issue.
1 Become a member of WHOLE WORLD Water
2 Replace commercially branded bottled water with filtered water – filtration systems run around $400 per month, and the reusable glass bottles cost $4-$7 each.
3 Sell the bottled water for $ (whatever price point you are comfortable with) and contribute 10% of the proceeds to the WHOLE WORLD Water Fund. 100% of the monies raised will be invested in clean & safe drinking water projects and innovations locally, and globally.

The filtration system and bottles pay for themselves usually over a period of 3 months, and our members have realized an income increase up to 25%, proving that environmental and economic progress are not mutually exclusive. You will witness a more robust bottom line, and become part of a global marketing campaign built on solutions, transparency and action with the potential to raise more than $1 billion annually in the fight for clean and safe water for everyone. This is a truly sustainable solution!
wholeworldwater.co

For more visit the website

More

If you are not in the hospitality business but want to do all that any way, check out the fantastic Give Me Tap scheme

 

boat powered by rubbish

Ocean Ambassadors Mr Midwood and Take Three, Tim Silverwood sailed into town in a boat powered by trash.

“We put solid plastics in one side and use heat to gasify them, turning them back into liquid – their oil-based form,” Mr Midwood said. “It’s a great way to turn plastics into a positive product. We can use the diesel we produce to power the ship and then sell leftover fuel.”

They are using Japanese-designed Blest technology which turns plastic into oil

Ocean Ambassadors  advocate and educate on this technology as a solution to island nations as it provides a real-time solution to effectively processing these “waste materials” locally and providing an end product that has a high demand in all locations.

As it is a low-sulfur burning content fuel and recorded as environmentally friendlier than standard diesel, we feel this technology offers us an option for the time being before we phase into plastic alternatives that are bio-based.

 

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Water Bottle Bans

It shows how divergent our culture has become when many are trying so hard to cut foolish and polluting consumption habits, others make money selling fresh air. Please support the former and let’s hope the latter is an elaborate joke – perhaps done by performance artists.

San Francisco

San Francisco has just become the first city in America to ban the sale of plastic water bottles. Over the next four years, the ban will phase out the sales of plastic water bottles that hold 21 ounces or less in public places. So not all water bottles only the small single servings but a start. You can read a full article about it here

Eaton Hotel suspends bottled water

This is great news, a hotel suspending bottled water in favour of refills

Eaton Hotel, Hong Kong has invested on the installation of an eco-friendly drinking water purification system that allows glass bottles to be re-used and suspended the use of plastic bottled water.This is a great initiative and should save 350,000 plastic bottles each year from landfill, a positive result for our environment. Copied from aquafil

Concordia University banning bottled water

if only more colleges would do this……Vending machines to be bottled-water-free – NOW – Concordia University.

In the Hospitality Trade?

1 Become a member of WHOLE WORLD Water
2 Replace commercially branded bottled water with filtered water – filtration systems run around $400 per month, and the reusable glass bottles cost $4-$7 each.
3 Sell the bottled water for $ (whatever price point you are comfortable with) and contribute 10% of the proceeds to the WHOLE WORLD Water Fund. 100% of the monies raised will be invested in clean & safe drinking water projects and innovations locally, and globally.

Great Ozzy Campaign

Watch it and laugh….kinda like buying bottled water

Bottled Air??? 

And while that was meant to be a joke, these loons in have taken to selling heavily packaged fresh air

“Two entrepreneurs are capitalizing on air pollution problems abroad by selling people bottled fresh air from the Canadian Rockies.

“Essentially we’re selling air,” Troy Paquette, one of Vitality Air’s Canadian co-founders, told CBC’s The Current. “Clean, beautiful, fresh Banff mountain air.”

They are in talks with China. FFS, really hope I’m being hoaxed here!

bottled-air

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a fine choice ltd.

reusable environmentally friendly products that substitute disposable plastic products

I offer people an alternative to disposable products e.g. they can order a reusable glass straw to substitute disposable plastic straws or they can buy a BPA free stainless steel bottle instead of using disposable plastic bottles

I love all things natural, eco & healthy -Daniela Schaffri

Links: www.afinechoice.co.uk

FB a fine choice Twitter @afinechoice

Store www.afinechoice.co.uk

Please note

This post was written by the contributor. It is not a Plastic Is Rubbish review, does not represent my personal opinions and I have not used this product or service. Instead it is a PfU.K. Directory submission.

The Pf U.K. Directory is…?

…a directory of UK-based groups, organisations businesses and individuals who are responding to the problems presented by the misuse of plastic. That does not mean anti-plastic necessarily but certainly plastic-problem aware.

The DIRECTORY is to promote their work not mine. Read more here…

Got a project?
It is very easy to get a project featured. Each contributor submits a short synopsis of their project, focussing on the plastic aware element and I post it. You can read the submission guidelines here.

Follow us on facebook here

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Local Shops

I try to buy all that I can from independents by which I mean small businesses managed by their owners, that have a real shop, on a real high street. Local shops for local people. Here’s why…

A Tale Of Two Cities
In Huddersfield (yes, I know it’s a town and not a city), there are many local shops ranging from traditional grocers to Polish Delis by way of Asian, and Caribbean food stores. And, being as it is close to the countryside, farm shops and pick your own places. Add to that a covered market in the center, at least two local breweries, and our very own fair-trade coffee importers, Huddersfield is well supplied. Plus it is so small they are all within walking distance.

How different it is in Manchester that great sprawling conurbation and powerhouse of the North. In this huge and increasingly prosperous city there are whole areas with no shops at all. And lots more have only one “convenience store” selling mostly pre-prepared, processed, long-life food. There are surprisingly few high streets that still have shops where you can buy all you need to cook a balanced meal. Fast-food outlets, scented candles cafes and hairdressers yes! Butchers and bakers? Not so many left.
There are some of course. In the more affluent areas there are urban villages where you can get artisan bread and very expensive cheese and, (more useful and affordable), some frantically busy immigrant communities with numerous shops selling everything from yams to basmati.

But the rest is large housing estates studded with big supermarkets, chainstores and chain pubs. But so what? After all….

Supermarkets Are So Convenient
And they are much cheaper than local shops.
You can get all you need in one go, do your shopping all at once.
You can drive there… and park.
There is more choice
They are are open all hours so you can go after work.

All of which is true but consider what is being lost along the way. Supermarkets are killing the high street. Local shops are closing in their thousands because they cannot compete on the above terms. And all of those conveniences come at a price. It might not be apparent but it still costs you. There really is no such thing as a free lunch especially when its being brought to you by supermarkets.

Cheaper

Lets talk money first. As many people point out local shops cost more than supermarkets which is true but shop locally and you get that money back in other ways. Shopping locally is investing in your community. According to the Guardian, research by local authorities shows that for every £1 spent with a small or medium-sized business 63p stayed in the local economy, compared to 40p with a larger business. And the American Express High Streets Ahead study found that houses near high streets full of prospering small traders increased in price more rapidly than those else where. It is in your self interest to shop locally. Source -Guardian Newspaper. Source –Guardian Newspaper.

Over Purchasing
It seems that bulk-buy convenience, supermarket shopping makes you buy too much. Once in those huge malls of food, the desire to get the weekly shop done all at once is irresistible. After all that’s what you drove all this way for. And judging by the huge trollies filled to overflowing at the checkout, it leads to a kind of stockpiling frenzy.
Research shows that people are buying more food than they need, lots of which gets thrown away. Of course they might have bought this at local shops but as we do most of our shopping at supermarkets I don’t think so. Supermarkets encourage this overspending with a range of sophisticated techniques.
Read this report on how supermarkets entice you into spending more  or this 

Food Waste
Too much food leads to food being wasted which costs millions.

You can get all you need in one go and do all your shopping all at once. Which it seems may not be such a great way to shop after all.

I can drive there
And the point of local shops is that you can walk there. If you only want a loaf of bread and your centralised supermarket is is some distance away, you have get the car out, negotiate the traffic, avoid the rush hour, circle round looking for a parking space and walk through miles of aisles to find what you want. Is that really so convenient, labour or time saving?

And you have to have a car which is another cost in itself. More importantly you are dependant on the car. And that can be a problem if the car is at the garage or you can’t afford the petrol. But worst of all this dependance on transport results in food deserts.

Food Deserts
The lack of local shops and centralizing the shopping experience into a few widely spaced super stores leads to the development of what is now termed food deserts.
J BAINES writing in 1973 (The Environment) first applied the term desert to the urban environment to describe a culturally sterile area so lacking in certain facilities that normal social interaction no longer took place “The large suburban estates that are a recent feature of the townscape are epitomized by the regular rows of similarly styled houses that have earned for themselves the title of suburban deserts.  They often lack the shops, churches, public houses, and social centers that allow a community life to develop”.
Food desert was first quoted, by S CUMMINS (British Medical Journal, 2002, Vol.325, p.436) when researching into life on Scottish housing estates. It is now used to refer to areas where people cannot access sources fresh and varied food.Food is imported into such places to be sold from large centralised trading places or supermarkets as we know them. They can then benefit from the economies of scale that make them so cheap. Competition forces most of the local shops to close leaving the community with perhaps one convenience store selling alchohol and a limited range of long life processed food. If you can’t get to the supermarket you are in trouble.

Reports indicate that food deserts are boring places to live but more importantly often socially exclusive and in poorer communities bad for your health! Some places people simply cannot access fresh reasonable priced food because they have no transport or cannot afford to travel.
And people in more affluent areas who can afford to travel are now dependent on the car to provide them with basic food stuffs. For the less mobile, the sick, the elderly and any one who cannot drive, life becomes more difficult.
All suffer from the lack of a community hub that a local, accessible high streets provide.

The Valley Centre shopping precinct. Most businesses are now boarded up. What a sad place right in the heart of Rawtenstall’s commercial area. Two twenty-four hour supermarkets have opened nearby.  Wikimedia

Choice
Or the illusion of choice? Supermarkets look like that they are giving you a huge amount of choice. Racks of crisps, rows of different shampoos even a whole range of cocoa. But is there really that much difference in the shampoos on offer apart from colour? And of course packaging. Packaging helps to sell products. How would you know that one kind of crisps was was different from the other if it wasn’t packed differently?
Because sometimes there really isn’t any other difference. Generic painkillers are just as effective as branded. They are the same product but packaged differently. Yet so effective is the branding that cheap painkillers sold in a cheap pack are considered less effective then the same tablets sold in a flashy box. I’ll just say that again the same product is considered, in consumer tests, to be less effective at dealing with pain. That is down to packaging and advertising. So much of that “choice” is illusion.

The Waste Of Choice

And so much choice means a lot of waste. Of course supermarkets do stock a wide range of products but again that comes with an environmental cost. All those exotic, out of season or organic fruits and veg are carefully packed in plastic for a reason. Plastic packing helps maintain product life. Shrink wrapped cucumbers do last longer.

The longer food will keep, the longer there is to sell it and the further they can transport it. Green beans out of season will be plastic packed to prolong not just shelf life but enable an increased travel time. All of which means more choice, with the high. environmental cost of plastic waste and product miles as a result. Eating locally and seasonally generally means less choice but tastier (many argue more nutritious), and more often unpackaged food.

But a huge reason to plastic-wrap food is to enable self service, the raison d’être of the Supermarket. Obviously you cannot have piles of unpacked steaks for consumers to rummage through, so shrink wrapped onto polystyrene trays they go and now the consumer can help themselves so cutting down on labour costs. Which makes your food cheaper.
Not surprisingly however heavily packaged supermarket food results in huge amounts of plastic waste. Which ultimately you pay for to dispose of. To have it taken away to landfill, burnt or in a very small number of cases recycled. All that costs you a lot in waste disposal costs. You are paying a high but hidden cost for all this convenience and choice.

And of course pre packaging determines the amount you buy. You may only want 10 biscuits but they come in packs of 20. Packaging food like this is also said to contribute to food waste. More money down the drain.

While independent shops are not guilt free in this respect they are less likely to sell plastic packed produce because they are serving you themselves. You go in and ask for 2 steaks and they pick them up and pack them for you. In which case you can supply your own plastic free packaging. And it is also far easier to ask a butcher you have a relationship with to use your own compostable bag in lieu of their plastic one. You can then go on to explain to shop keeper your objections to plastic packaging and he is more likely to listen.

Power To The Local People

Increasing our dependency on a few big suppliers of food we are putting the most important choice ever, how we take nourish ourself, into the hands of a few multi million dollar business. They help dictate how farmers farm, what price food should be, what is sold and when. If they stop feeding us we don’t eat. and while they may not ever threaten to starve us into submission, there can be doubt these huge businesses wield a massive amounts of power.Giving these unaccountable organisation  so much control over the very basics could easily become extremely inconvenient.
Shopping locally is using your consumer power to create a range of independent businesses who depend on you. They are answerable to you.
And you are supporting local business further down the supply chain. There is no doubt that supermarkets use their dominance in the market to bully suppliers.


Dairy farmers have faced an ongoing struggle, but things reached a crisis point this year following falling prices, with supermarkets selling milk cheaper than water and dairy processors cutting prices paid to farmers. It costs farmers around 30p–32p/litre to produce milk, but many have been earning little more than 20p/litre. Sustainable Food Trust

Dairy farmers have faced an ongoing struggle, but things reached a crisis point this year following falling prices, with supermarkets selling milk cheaper than water and dairy processors cutting prices paid to farmers. It costs farmers around 30p–32p/litre to produce milk, but many have been earning little more than 20p/litre. Sustainable Food Trust

After Hours Shopping

Back to time; I guess there are few who would deny that out of hours shopping is a boon. They might go on to say that taking time out of a Saturday morning to shop locally is a chore. Perhaps – but again there are benefits too. If we value where we live, want to see property hold its value, encourage community hubs and want there to be local shops – and most people say they do want all of the above – then obviously we have to invest some time and money in maintaining these resources. Is it really such hard work? More a matter of timetabling.

Slow Shopping

And rather than call it a chore we could try and learn to enjoy slow shopping. To relish a leisurely stroll round the shops. Believe me, this is not trying to find silver linings; shopping locally really is far more pleasant and satisfying than charging round the aisles, fuming at the wonky trolly and scanning your own basket on the way out.
As for waiting for a bus or driving and parking, if you have local shops you don’t need to do this. You can walk there. Which save you money, keeps you fit, makes your city
roads less congested and your planet greener.
Shopping locally is a healthier option in other ways. If you think you haven’t got time to shop properly than chances are you probably think you haven’t got time to cook properly either! And supermarkets cater to that belief by tempting you with a wide array of ready made, convenience foods from the humble tin of baked beans to puddings to pre-prepared salads. Masses of mass produced foods many of them laden with extra salt, sugar and chemicals, unpronounceable flavorings and additives. I used to smoke so I cant be be giving health advice to anyone but speaking from experience I know a damaging lifestyle choice when they see one. Eating ready made or even ready prepared is not a good idea. These meals are expensive and bad for you. Independent shops on the other hand tend to sell ingredients rather than meals. They sell meat and veg, cheese and bread. You buy and then you cook what you buy.

Shopping Locally On a Budget
I have a minuscule income. So I feel that every penny I spend needs to be spent wisely, it needs to be valued. I value my cash not just by what I can buy with it but the good it can do. If I pay a bit more to keep a local business in business it feels good. Consider this. If every adult in a town with a population of 10,000 adults spent £5.00 a week in a local shop that would be £2.6 million pounds more being spent with independent businesses in the town.”
And it needn’t cost more. Changing how you shop and eat, cuts bills and comes with added advantages. Local markets are always good value and a great community asset.
These three are well worth a visit Leed, Todmorden and Huddersfield.
Seasonal, local food tends to be cheaper and is certainly a greener option. You can even pick your own. Find a farm near you here. Cutting back on meat saves money and the environment. But if you do buy, buy from a local butcher. Cheese as a treat is healthier than cheese as a staple. And so on.

Valuing Time
Time is even more important and should always be spent as pleasantly as possible. The high street is slower shopping and I may even get wet walking to the market – but it is so much more pleasant. I like knowing the people who I buy my food from and that I can talk to them about my plastic free shopping needs. I like the greengrocers corny (!) jokes and that the butcher discusses sustainable farming with a passion.

Conclusion
Personally I feel it is worth making some time for and spending some money in local shops. I’m not saying I never use supermarkets but don’t only ever use supemarkets. Investing locally will pays dividends. They might not be immediately obvious as the pounds saved on the weekly shop but there are other savings and they are advantageous.

Loosing your Local Shops?
These guys can help Totally Locally is all about creating strong, vibrant towns and sustainable local economies. We use clever marketing tools, and unique ways of working that engage communities and get people talking and working together both locally and across the globe.”

Visit the website.

More

Bags & Packaging
Shopping plastic free means taking your OWN PACKAGING.Check out the plastic-free shopping kit here.
Which Shop

Buy British and cut those air miles. Some ideas HERE

Food Here is a list of food types category with purchase details

Loose Food
Find out if a shop near you sells bulk food loose. This is stuff that that normally comes plastic packaged. A list of towns with shops selling loose food.

Supermarkets & Chainstores  because sometimes you have to and Yes you can get plastic free and zero waste stuff. Read up HERE.</a


Milk 
Delivered in glass bottles but double check before you order