Waste Not is our action group to encourage everything 're' - reusing, recycling, refusing (things you don't need, like plastic bags), repairing, etc - in other words, cutting down on waste and reducing the demands we make on our planet.
We are currently running two projects to discourage waste / encourage recycling:
Earth Friendly Fashion
We introduced this project by showing the Stacey Dooley film, 'Fashion's Dirty Secrets', an eye-opening film revealing the environmental impact of the fashion industry. We discussed what we can all do to make fashion more sustainable. We followed up by organising a series of pop-up fashion shops, encouraging the exchange of 'gently worn clothes', reducing the need to buy new clothes and discouraging people from throwing away their unwanted items.
Toy Library
We run this in Winchcombe Library, 10 - 12am every second and fourth Saturday of the month. We aim to provide a friendly, warm space for young children to play with toys and, if they wish, borrow them. This reduces the need to buy (often plastic) new toys - and saves parents money! See our calendar for details.
Household Recycling
Hopefully you already recycle things in your own home. If that's not enough, or for special items, Winchcombe has its own facility in Back Lane Car Park (behind the library). You can recycle the following things there:
- low energy light bulbs
- batteries
- cans, tins and aerosols
- foil
- cartons
- paper and cardboard
- mixed glass
- plastic bottles, tubs and trays
- plastic bags
- clothes and shoes
If any of the bins are full, you are requested not to leave things outside the containers.
You can also recycle things at Tesco in Bishops Cleeve, or by appointment at Wigmoor Farm Household Recycling Centre in Stoke Orchard (GL52 7RS).
Useful recycling websites
Repair Cafe
Save money, reduce the need to buy things and enjoy a warm and friendly welcome at your nearest repair cafe. There are several in our locality, the nearest being run by our green-minded friends in Bishops Cleeve.
Plastic
Plastic is an amazing material that has revolutionised our lives. But, sadly, plastic can be around for many years.
We’ve thrown away 6.3 billion tonnes of plastic since mass production began in the 1950s but only 600 million tonnes have been recycled. The remaining 4.9 billion tonnes have been sent to landfill or left in the natural environment, causing problems for wildlife and marine life.*
So what steps can we take to live without plastic?
Here are a few ideas:-
- Use white vinegar as a window cleaner.
- Clean your sinks, baths and showers with bicarbonate of soda. Available in cardboard boxes from Ace Hardware.
- Wash your hair with solid shampoo bars.
- Condition your hair with a rinse made from a mix of 1/2 cup warm water and 1/4 cup white or apple vinegar.
- Swap your plastic bottles of hand soap for a solid soap bar.
- Next time buy a wood and bristle washing up brush.
- Here is a good recipe for home-made toilet bombs-https://sweetnaturesbeauty.com/diy-citrus-toilet-bombs
- Try a bio-degradable bamboo toothbrush. Or buy bio-degradable electric toothbrush heads.
- Instead of toothpaste in a plastic tube, use solid toothpaste tablets.
- Use a natural sponge for wiping and washing up and, when it's no longer useful, cut it up and put it in compost where it will break down unlike plastic sponges and micro fibre cloths.
- Shop at Hayles Fruit Farm where you can buy lots of loose vegetables.
- Buy re-usable mesh bags to put your loose fruit and veg in.
- Refill bottles of Ecover products at Food Fanatics here in Winchcombe.
- Shop at Food Loose in Cheltenham where you can refill many bottles with cleaning products, shampoos, conditioner and hand wash. You can also buy various dried goods such as coffee, beans, teas, cereals and pasta loose. Take your mesh bags or re-use glass and plastic containers.
*Thank you to www.savemoneycutcarbon.com for information on the life of plastic.