What is Zero Waste? -

What is Zero Waste?

Zero Waste is a goal that is both pragmatic and visionary, to guide people to emulate sustainable natural cycles, where all discarded materials are resources for others to use. Zero Waste means designing and managing products and processes to reduce the volume and toxicity of waste and materials, conserve and recover all resources, and not burn or bury them. Implementing Zero Waste will eliminate all discharges to land, water, or air that may be a threat to planetary, human, animal or plant health.

In a nutshell; Zero Waste is a philosophy, a strategy, and a set of practical tools seeking to eliminate waste, not manage it.

Definition of Zero Waste as adopted by the Zero Waste International Alliance

How does a Zero Waste Shop work?

Weigh

We encourage customers to bring their own containers and bags to the store. You can use anything as long as they are clean and dry

On arrival, you will weigh your container/bag, write the weight on top so we can deduct that at the end of your shopping - it's that simple!

Fill & Pay

Fill your weighed container/bag with as much or as little as you would like. There is no minimum quantity.

The shop is self service but there is always someone on hand to help with advice and quantities etc.

Why should we care?

Take a closer look at just some of the seemingly innocent
and everyday items that make a big impact

Food Waste

In the UK in 2015, around £13billion worth of food was thrown away rather than being consumed. This generates the same CO2 emissions as 1 in 3 cars.

View full WRAP report

Single Use

It is estimated we throw away around 2.5billion coffee cups a year. That's a staggering 7million a day. This can be avoided by refusing single use and swapping everyday items for your own reusable

Plastic & Packaging

Between 5-13million tonnes of plastic leaks into the world's oceans each year, ingested by fish, and then by you. It is estimated by 2050 the ocean will contain more plastic by weight than fish.

View full Ellen MacArthur Foundation report

How does a zero waste store help with these issues?

A zero waste store provides a place for people to shop knowing their impact on the environment is as minimal as practically possible. We buy our food products in bulk quantities, in either reusable, recyclable or returnable packaging.

Whilst we know this store will not solve all the issues around food waste and packaging, we do feel it's a good place to start.

We will build on this momentum and work with local and national organisations to look for broader solutions.

We worked very hard to eliminate the need for plastic in our store

Our gravity bins are made sustainably in Germany,
contain no plastic and look beautiful