Waste Free February 2021

Today marks the end of the new Lent: well done to anyone who managed to achieve Dry January and Veganuary during lockdown this year. I have not managed either, although as usual I have eaten a vast amount of tofu, and had very little to drink. Today also marks the start of Waste Free February – a brilliant campaign organised by the Wiltshire Wildlife Trust. I took part in 2019 and it really has had a lasting impact on my household waste reduction. You can read about that here.

If you want to join Waste Free Feb this year, here are a few tips to make it easier:

• Download the Ailuna app and sign up for the ‘Perform a waste check’ dare – this will help you do a full audit of what you are throwing away. The ‘Have a waste-less lunch’ dare is also packed with advice on reducing waste from food packaging and leftovers.
• Even if you can’t get to a zero-waste shop, check whether any local refill shops are offering deliveries or ‘click-and-collect’. These independent local businesses are adapting to survive the challenges of lockdown and need our support! Around me, Undressed cover within 7 miles of Trowbridge, and in Bath and Bristol Scoop Wholefoods are delivering too.
• If you need to order supermarket items online: type ‘low plastic’ or ‘recyclable’ into the search bar of Ocado they have their products arranged under these categories. Waitrose own brand goods have a full materials list in a drop down menu called ‘product details’
• Loop store and Good Club have zero waste and plastic free options.  They deliver in re-usable boxes that you send back the next day.
• Use Terracycle or Recyclebox to find ways of recycling ‘hard to recycle’ items that you might usually put in the bin.

Remember the wise words of the Zero Waste Chef: “We don’t need a handful of people doing zero waste perfectly. We need millions of people doing it imperfectly”.