31st August 2022
A message from our milk delivery service: “Rinse, Return, Repeat. Did you know, our glass bottles are reused an average of 25 times before being recycled? But, this is only possible with your help!
We’re sometimes unable to re-use returned glass bottles if there are too many traces of juice and milk left behind, and this is an important part of ensuring our cycle is zero waste.”
– a message which equally applies to plastic food cartons that we put out for recycling.
24th August 2022
A Count down action recycled from last August:-
In Britain we get through 2.5 billion single use coffee cups each year. Each cup – typically made of paper with a thin plastic layer – has a carbon footprint of 60.9g and that is before it leaves the cafe. Only 1 in 400 will be recycled with the remainder ending up in landfill, further adding to their carbon foot print. Each year single use coffee cups produce 152,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide – the equivalent to the output of 33,300 cars.
For times when you are not being offered your coffee in a reusable cup or mug, have a keep-cup to hand. In the same vein have a refillable water bottle – especially useful when we have periods of hot weather.
Visiting a National Trust café, I noted a 5p charge for a disposable takeaway cup and a 25p discount for bringing your own keep cup – all other coffees were served in ceramic cups.
15th June 2022
Tomorrow is World Refill Day. Refills are more sustainable than a constant flow of single use glass or plastic bottles – even if the latter are recycled (as opposed to reused). I noticed in one of our local cycle shops a refill point for bike cleaning liquid. Keeping your bike clean will keep it in working order for longer – ie improves its sustainability – so why not go further and make the process of keeping it clean more sustainable too?
Fancy a Refill?
Buying milk in glass bottles that are returned empty and refilled has a long
tradition in the UK. The glass bottles can be used 50 or more times although the average reuse may be closer to 20. The system is facilitated by the door to door delivery of milk and simultaneous collection of the empties, which are then returned to the dairy where they will be cleaned and refilled.
This refill system avoids the production of waste or hard to recycle materials. It is more efficient than putting milk into plastic containers which are, once empty, collected by a waste collection service, sent to various recycling facilities before being remade – ideally – into a new plastic milk carton. Currently plastic milk cartons are made of 40% recycled plastic and 60% virgin plastic.
In the past beer and fizzy drinks were sold in bottles with a deposit that was repaid when the bottle was returned. These bottles were returned to the manufacturer and refilled. This practice continues today in countries such as Germany. (Having bought a bottle of beer on a German train, I then found in the corridor a specially designed cupboard into which the empties slotted for their safe return). Whilst we are still waiting for this approach to be reintroduced in Britain, there is a growing number of local outlets where you can refill your bottles with beers, wine and milk etc.
Milk delivery services are branching out and supplying not just dairy milk in refillable bottles but also plant based milks, and fruit juices. Milk and More has partnered with ‘Fill’ to supply refillable bottles of cleaning products: empty bottles are simply returned for reuse along with ones empty milk bottles. Here in Sheen the Micro Beer shop has a changing selection of beers on tap each week – buy one of their beer bottles or take your own sealable 1 litre bottle. Apple and Bees offers red and white refills from Borough Wines. The Source Bulk store in Richmond has oat milk on tap and Gilcombe Farm brings a churn of its raw milk to the Barnes Farmers’ Market – again buy one of their bottles or bring your own.
Can other food stuffs be sold in reusable containers? Yes.
Tesco has teamed up with Loop. In selected stores customers can buy a range of products sold in reusable containers, paying a deposit which is refunded when the empty container is returned for reuse. The Loop range includes items such as peanut butter and jam, pasta and rice, porridge oats and muesli, tea bags and dishwasher tablets, ketchup and face cream. Abel and Cole offer a similar scheme for their customers, supplying lentils, pasta, rice, oats, dates, quinoa, raisins and chocolate buttons, in returnable reusable containers.
There are a growing net of refill/ bulk stores which stock terms in bulk allowing customers to decant and buy as much as they want. Typically the store either provides paper bags for the produce or invites consumers to bring their own bags or containers. The latter provides the more desirable zero waste outcome. Various supermarkets (Aldi, Asda, The Central England Cooperative, M&S, Morrisons and Waitrose) are also experimenting with the refill concept – either along the lines of bulk stores with items dispensed into paper bags etc, or wit products sold in returnable containers.
Local for East Sheen, Culver and Nelson has a refill section for various dry goods. The Source Bulk store in Richmond sells both dry goods, liquid commodities such as oil, vinegar, maple syrup, and tamari sauce, as well honey and nut butters etc dispensed into reusable jars. Both The Source and Apple and Bees sell liquid cleaning products – washing up liquid, laundry detergent, hair shampoo, liquid soap, toilet cleaner – as refills.
Beyond food there are other items that can be bought as refills such as ink for fountain pens and ink for printers (eg Epson).
The Green Tau 