If you are anything like me the washing machine is a daily occurrence. At a time when we are all looking to save money on our energy bills and protect our planet any way we can, I wanted to share a couple of small changes to an everyday activity that could make a positive impact on our money and planet saving status!
Save effort
Research from Clothes Doctor says we are washing our clothes too often, they recommend washing cottons every 3-4 wears and your everyday jeans just once a month. This obviously makes the clothes last longer and saves energy so worth considering if you are the type of person to chuck everything into the laundry basket after one wear.
Save energy
When clothes do need washing just by running your machine at 30C it uses 40% less electricity than hotter washes and cleans your clothes just as well, according to detergent manufacturers. Since most new synthetic fabrics are actually derived from plastic, they’re unable to withstand high temperatures and so reducing the temperature will also mean that your clothes last longer.
Save plastic and chemicals
This might not be for everyone, but a couple of years ago a friend challenged me to stop using fabric softer and see what difference it makes. I can report that I found no difference! My clothes didn’t smell any worse and were no more static, as I believed they would be. I am not alone either as fabric softer sales have been in double digit decline in recent years and the Wall Street Journal reported in 2016 that Millennials don’t know what it is or what is it really for.
Save money, energy and carbon
Finally we need to dry our clothes. Tumble dryers are usually one of the most energy intensive appliances in your home. So cutting back will save energy, money and carbon emissions. Even a relatively efficient tumble dryer can generate almost 1kg of carbon emissions on every cycle, about the same as leaving the hairdryer on for 2 hours. Drying your clothes naturally is the best way either outside or on a balcony or airing room, but if you need some help then I can highly recommend a heated airer, you can plug it in to give a helping hand when the weather is not on your side. If you do need to use a tumble dryer then follow these top tips from Giki to make sure it is operating as efficiently as possible. Make sure it is de-fluffed (apparently a quick hoover around the drum and door will make you realise how much there is), don’t be tempted to overload and use a dryer ball to separate any clothes.
Hopefully there is something you can take away and try this week to help reduce some costs and carbon, I am off to hang my washing out while there are no rain clouds…yet!
We are on countdown now to the regions first Green Expo in Chester. The idea of this three day event is to show what’s been achieved in the region to Net Zero and Climate Change and how it will impact on us all.
Green Expo 2022 16-18th June – Castle Drive, Chester – SEE LINK
So, what will the three days uncover?
You might not be going to the Business or Youth Conference on the Thursday and Friday but you will still find lots going on and all for FREE. Eco Communities was asked to take on the Exposition stalls part of the four events. We have good credentials for organising events (for free) so were more than happy to take on this mantle as the event fits slap bang in the middle of our aims around Sustainable Cheshire.
How might you spend you day?
If I wasn’t organising the three-day event I think I might get a ticket for the Business Conference on the Thursday, leaving Friday or Saturday as my day to look around the Exposition.
Whether you are joining us from the Little Roodee Car Park or Lower Bridge Street your first stop will of course be the Welcome Tent where the Green Expo and Eco Communities Team – Jane, Grace and I will be able to say hello and give you more information on what’s going on. If I were you my first port of call would be book a test drive in one of the Tesla‘s, you will be able to book this in the Welcome Tent.
We will have Tesla’s Model X and Model S to see and then you can test drive a Model 3. I will be trying to find some time for this for sure. So what about a Hydrogen Car – if it can get to us we will have a hydrogen powered vehicle on view, Costain’s Hyundai NEXO – I think we are a while off swapping petrol for hydrogen in Cheshire, if ever but this is great opportunity to look at two future options for car transportation.
Whether you are sold on the idea of electric or not this has got be something else that’s worth looking into. Before you rush off to buy a NEXO, Sheffield and Derby are the nearest refilling stations to us at the moment!
Let’s move on from cars to something a little different – Eco Communities organises lots of events but often it’s our message that gets lost. We want to use the event to promote World Refill Day, Plastic Free Cheshire and our Giki Carbon Footprint projects – come and chat to us over the three days. If you have wondered about linking in then this is a great time to ask those questions.
Once you have escaped us, what next?
The Big Hitters – loads of information can be found at the next few stalls….
I would be straight to the Cheshire West or Cheshire East council stands – ask the questions you want to know and find out how the Climate Emergency will impact on you and what you can do to help. Next along we go back to Hydrogen
EA Technology is a new business name to me – Cheshire West has one of the UK’s largest industrial green-house gas emitters in the Ellesmere Port’s industrial region. I know this is the reason the region needs to consider some technologies that some residents are against. I still can’t decide on Hydrogen, partly as I know a lot of those that are firmly on the no side of the fence. But with Cheshire Wests huge footprint from industry, I can see why it’s being looked in locally. EA Technology have lots of typical buzz words on it’s website but ultimately they support the move towards low carbon technology. Then Hynet came very early onto our Tellus TV talk to go through what they are doing in the region and I know this will be another of many chances to engage with the public about Hydrogen technology . It will create the UK’s hydrogen economy across the North West and North Wales and so it’s important we all understand what is it all about.
I wonder if Encric read my last weeks blog! Encirc is a market leader in glass container design, manufacturing, bottling and logistics. In 2021, Encirc made waves in the glass sector by creating the world’s most sustainable glass bottles in a ground-breaking trial. They are joining the Expo to engage and speak to the younger generations about the huge job opportunities in our region.
Peel NRE were behind the fantastic and largest Windfarm in the UK in Frodsham, I smile every time I pass it. That was in 2017 and they are now bringing Protos the UK’s first plastic-to-hydrogen facility to our region. A 50MW windfarm, a 261.5MW biomass plant, a 49MW energy from waste plant in construction and a plastic park blueprint to revolutionise plastic recycling nationwide. Well that’s what they say….
We have not seen The Greener Group since one of our Sustainable Cheshire Fairs pre Covid, I do remember them having a very impressive stall. Experts in solar PV panels, biomass boilers, air source heat pumps and other forms of renewable energy technology. This includes the design and installation of green energy solutions, from small scale domestic projects to large scale commercial installations. The Greener Group was the first UK company to install solar electric roof slates and are now the UK’s first ever installer of Hydrelio floating solar PV for large bodies of water.
Sustainable Local Businesses, Community Groups and Charities
We are getting to where you can now spend some money!!!! We have lots of our regular businesses with us. Carpe Diem Holistics and Fairtrade along with Chester Fair Trading will both have loads of fairtrade goodies, including chocolate which I might need by 11am. Just Footprints is coming down, away from the quiet Forum Shopping Centre to entice you back to Zero Waste shopping. We haven’t seen Mary Makes Zero Waste for a bit as she is so busy, but she will be back with us and I am hoping she has one of her reusable kitchen rolls to buy.
Our community organisations are a mainstay in learning more about sustainability, led by the fantastic Chester Zoo team, Will from Cheshire Wildlife Trust loves us so much he keeps coming back to our events. He will be able to talk about all the fantastic projects they have in the region. Two organisations I have got to know really well this year, Maddy from the Welsh Dee Trust I see twice a month when we join up for our group litter picks and Poppy from West Cheshire Museums will be with us and talking about Festival for the Future I am proud to be helping with. Last but not least the team from Chester Community Energy will be with us to tell them about a huge solar project they are working on and much more.
Last but not least some new businesses – Sustainable Fashion with Reins Clothing, The End of the Avenue will have beeswax candles from their own hives, handmade soaps from homegrown ingredients and more. A new businesses Mimes Reusables is a sustainable brand selling stainless steel reusable water bottles.
Uban Tricycles and Urban Coffee will be on hand to keep you caffeinated and fed before you get scooting around.
Ginger Scooters might be your final stop. Who else has watched people scoot around Chester and wanted a go but weren’t brave enough? Hands up… The team will be on hand to show you how they work and then you can have a go in a reasonably safe environment. Go on you know you want to.
Don’t forget your reusable shopping bag, or get to us early enough and you can grab one from our stall along with our Tellus Magazine…. Read more about our these businesses and stalls here – LINK
How did Green Expo Come About?
I have been working with Jane from CHASE (Cheshire Heritage and Sustainability Enterprises) but asked Niall MacFadyen from CHASE why they decided to put on such a huge event as a community organisation.
‘Mike Hog from CHASE suggested the expo having seen a vey successful similar event on the river bank in Melbourne, Australia. CHASE was set up after we bid for and obtained funding for a design study and business plan for the Hydro Hub (The old Hydro Electric Power Station Building on the weir)
We recognised that it would take a few years to re-develop the Hydro, and we felt the Expo was a good way to start the process of informing the public about the plans to address the climate emergency. This was reinforced after we carried out a public survey last summer, and there was a lot of expressions of interested in hearing more.
Hence the Expo was born, with a lot of input from Katrina Kerr in terms of format (Awards Dinner, Conference) The LEP was one of our first sponsors, and they suggested the theme of the conference should be inward investment. Later, and again based on interest from Sponsors, we decided to add a youth conference, and the University, who are delivering it, came up with the of asking young people what was important to them, rather than getting middle aged business people to tell them what they thought was important!
We believe all four events are a great showcase for the great things that are happing already and will happen in the next few years. We hope to make the Expo an annual event as a celebration of the progress being made, and as a showcase for local businesses, large and small, to sell their products and services.‘
The first episode of BBC Blue Planet in October 2017 attracted 14 million viewers. The series, dedicated to showing the effects of plastic pollution shocked the viewing public and the outcry to reduce the effects of this pollution became ‘The Attenborough Effect’
Many people were already advocating a reduction in plastic and Zero Waste living, but Blue Planet took it from the niche, environmentally aware to the main steam. Everyone was talking about plastic pollution, the effect on marine life and our planet. It became the water cooler conversation as well as the talk of the trends on Twitter.
Then Covid hit and it was understandable that health and hygiene became the most important things, the environmental problems caused by disposable plastic took a back seat; the increase in single-use plastics was understandable, but we need to rethink about the long-term health of our planet. Over lockdown we cleaned everything, Cafes stopped allowing reusable cups, everything came covered in plastic and we covered out faces in single use masks. Even I lost track and my Instagram name is Plasticfreenorthener so why should I expect more.
As we approach Plastic Free July I am on a mission to get back on track, get back to reducing my plastic footprint and live as close to Zero Waste as I can.
If you live in Chester you will know we have our own Zero Waste Shop Just Footprints. The pandemic completely changed how it managed its business, but it was open all through the pandemic making changes but still NO PLASTIC.
Where did it start?
The first zero-waste shop, Unpackaged, opened in London in 2007. There are now over 60 Zero Waste Stores in the UK but many have struggled through the pandemic and we all need to get back to our pre pandemic zero waste aims. Which of us will live zero waste? None of us, but it’s about doing what you can.
For those that haven’t tried it yet– What is Zero Waste Shopping about?
Ok, so think about your usual supermarket shop. Then think about the word ‘Single Use’ – particularly single use plastic. This is, as in the name, any item of plastic that’s used once and thrown away, even if that means recycling. I am sure you have heard, we are rubbish at recycling so don’t feel good about putting that plastic bottle in your recycle bin, only around 6% gets recycled and you can only recycle plastic a limited number of times.
Each Zero Waste shop will be different, but the staple will be dispensers full of everyday items that you purchase all the time, usually in wasteful plastic packaging.
Many zero waste shops will stock a selection of what I’ll call ‘cupboard goods’, on the highstreets these will likely come in a plastic bag that you throw away once empty, things like pasta, rice, Cous Cous, dry pulses & nuts. Or selections of teas and coffee, then cereals, oats and muesli which tend to come in a plastic bag, inside a cardboard box.
My local Zero Waste shop doesn’t have plans to sell fresh produce and if yours doesn’t either then my suggestion would be to just shop local, markets and farmers markets, green grocer, the butchers, fishmongers and cheesemongers, these will most likely let you use your own containers. Just ask, i’ve never had a negative experience asking to use one of my own containers
On top of food stuffs you will find other items to help you reduce that single use plastic – reusable coffee cups and water bottles, lunch containers, sandwich wraps, a bamboo toothbrush or the old fashioned safety razor where you just replace the single blade.
Most stores, Just Footprints included will also have eco versions of everyday household liquids such as washing up liquid, washing liquid, fabric conditioner and cleaning fluids.
Then if you don’t want to switch to soap versions in the bathroom, which you will hopefully also be able to buy. You may be able to get liquid shower gels, shampoo and conditioners.
But how do they work ?
You take your own container or the pandemic meant using paper bags from the shop. I am pleased to see we can go back to using our own containers. You first weigh your container and make note of the weight, you then fill the jars with your chosen goods. These are then weighed at the till and once the weight of the empty jar is deducted you know how much you’re paying.
One of the big bonuses of zero waste shops is that you’re not paying for any fancy (or often garrish) packaging, you’re paying 100% for the product. At the end of the day, that fancy packaging designed by committee in some converted warehouse in Camden was destined to either landfill or local authority recycling anyway so why bother paying for it….
What else?
I feel this style of shopping is more thoughtful, you buy what you need and you buy how much you need. You’re not enticed into supermarket offers to buy extras in a deal or BOGOFs, only to waste the second unwanted item going off, no more having to buy six bagged onions when you only wanted one.
It can save money, reduce your carbon footprint and save food waste. for me that’s a win, win, win.
We asked Debbie from Just Footprints what made her set up the business ‘Back in 2018, my youngest daughter, Millie went down to Cornwall to complete some work experience with Surfers Against Sewage. Whilst we were there we noticed an increase in the amount of plastic rubbish that was being left on the beaches and in the sea. On our return to Chester we started to look at how we could reduce the single use plastic our family used. Other than the odd piece of fruit and veg it was practically impossible to shop, particularly for dried food and we could see there was a need for zero waste shopping in Chester. As they say, the rest is history!At Just Footprints it’s important for us to make single use plastic free shopping as accessible and affordable as possible, so that more people can make a change, even if it’s just one small change. They all add up!‘
If you don’t live locally, and I know many of the people who read our blogs don’t, then do some research into local zero waste shops and take what you’ve learnt to help you cut down the waste in your life.
If you haven’t tried Plastic Free / Zero Waste Shopping yet – give it a go. Perhaps like me you alllowed the pandemic to derail you a little. Once you have done this you can tick the step off on our Carbpn Footprint Calculator…(Join or Sign in here)
Then – I challenge you
Who wants to join me over June and into July and share our highlights and pitfalls ?
Join me in our digital community – it’s free. ——- Join the community and then select the Our Plastic Step Chalenge Group
The End of the Avenue have achieved it’s Plastic Free Business Award as part of Plastic Free Neston and Plastic Free Cheshire, July 2022 during Plastic Free July, congratulations from Eco Communities.
The End of the Avenue is a wife and husband run business, based in Little Ness. It was started by Angharad, who was later joined by Dave.
Everything you see from The End of the Avenue has come from our very own passions; whether it’s beeswax candles from our own hives, handmade soaps from homegrown ingredients or making a brilliant product that has become a lasting addition to our home and lifestyle.
After all, our goal is to offer goods that we love, that will last, and will not cost the earth to make. Our products are made with passion and an effort to craft with care. Non of our handcraft products have plastic packaging. All our beeswax products are made from our own bees which is sustainable, our botanical soaps are made from home-grown & locally foraged ingredients that keeps are carbon footprint low.
Find them on Instagram and Facebook at @theendoftheavenue
But it is often the small steps, not the big giant leaps that bring about the most lasting change.
We started Mimes Reusables because we realised that positive climate change doesn’t happen overnight and it sure doesn’t happen by us all doing it perfectly. Real change happens when we all make a small shift in our consumer behaviour. One of the easiest way of achieving this is by swapping to stainless steel reusable water bottles.
We are all feeling the impact of rising costs, higher inflation and trying to make budgets stretch that little bit further. Turmoil across the world is having a big effect on our daily lives and that often means that our priorities shift with concern for the environment or sustainability playing second fiddle to feeding ourselves with the same amount of money each week or getting to and from work with fuel prices substantially more than they used to be.
Yet it doesn’t need to be this way.
It is estimated that, in the UK, 6.7 million tonnes of food is wasted per year which totals to costs of something like £10.2 billion each year or up to £400 per household per year – it might even be more.
Food waste is a massive problem but there are solutions out that and they needn’t bust your wallet either. I’ve recently discovered the ‘Too Good To Go‘ app from reading Eco Communties Tellus Magazine which is available for download in all the usual ways.
The app links you up with food and other outlets who have items that would otherwise go to waste and whilst they might not be at their very best, they are perfectly edible and as the app’s name suggests, are far too good to do in the bin! Take a look at this bundle of fresh fruit and veg from the great Hoole Food Market on Faulkner Street – all for just £2.99!
What a shame it would have been to see that load of healthy food go to waste and in rescuing it from being discarded, it’s a fantastic way to help your weekly budget stretch a little bit further.
This blog came out of a combination of WhatsApp messages, a chat in the pub and an email.
We somehow got onto the topic of Beer in bottles and cans last night visiting the new That Beer Place venue in Chester, not sure why as we were on draught ale. A guy Rhian knows mentioned the shortage in materials to make bottles at the moment, and that reminded me of an unread email I had from Toast Ales I have just gone back to read.
Cans have a much lower carbon footprint than bottles – less than half of the emissions (cans weighing in at 126g CO2 versus bottles at 284g CO2). Benefiting from g lightweight (heavy glass means more emissions in transport) and widely recycled (85% of aluminium cans go another round).
You might see less glass beers around the shops, the rise in production costs are expected to result in a global shortage of glass bottles as the price is expected to rise by as much as 80% the Grocer reports.. READ
Toast gives you these tips for bottle lovers.
1. Recycle your empties (if you live somewhere without kerbside collection of glass, you might have a local campaign on your hands!) 2. Support local breweries – imported bottles of beer have been on a long, carbon-intensive journey so it’s better to buy local!
We absolutely agree with it’s winner, get down to your local, draught beer is a package free winner, make sure the pub uses steel returnable Kegs and that your drinking from reusable glasses of course…….
Read more on Toast Ales and its Impact Report which is where its data here….
In 2019 10.8 million people took away a coffee from a coffee shop in the UK . We can’t keep creating this single use cup waste. We need a reuse system that works and we think Cheshire deserves this.
That 10.8 million cups equates to 16% of the UK population. This equates to 55,080 coffee cups just in Cheshire West which could well have been single use. Less than 1% of single use coffee cups are recycled as they need to go to specialist recycling facilities as most are a mix of paper and plastic. Some businesses have tried to become more responsible and gone for the compostable versions, the difficulty here is that these require industrial composting that’s not available in most locations in the UK and so they are thrown away into general waste in the region. The optimum aim is for a circular economy, no waste as in nature.
What we propose is deposit return style scheme, where a deposit is paid for the reusable coffee cup, a small deposit say £1 is paid for the cup itself. The take away coffee and cup can be taken off the premises, but the cup can then be taken back to the same café the next day or handed into another participating café for a new clean cup or refund.
30th May 2022 Update
It’s a week later – thanks to those of you that donated to get us to 20 backers and the CWAC funding we are now at 70% – YEYYYYYY – we have 91 days to raise the rest. If you can spare a few pounds it would be absolutely fantastic. ANOTHER £2,202 💸NEEDED 😀
If anyone has any fund raising ideas let us know, we have a couple of events coming up. Green Expo and Festival for the Future we could use to raise some funds. 🥤
PROJECTBACKGROUND
What we’ll deliver:
We will deliver a reusable cup scheme in Chester as phase one
Why it’s a great idea:
We are all human and ww go out without one of those reusable cups we bought and fancy a take away coffee, so we end up using a single use cup with we then throw away. Cafes are using single use cups which go into general waste or end up in our environment, parks and oceans. If they are branded they can also result in bad press for a business. What about the Carbon Footprint of Single use Vs Reusables?
A disposable cup uses 110g of CO2e A reusable cup made from polypropylene and manufactured in the UK has a lower environmental impact than single-use paper cups after just 3 uses. After 7 uses the environmental impact is 41% less, after 182 uses (6 months) the impact is 95% less.
SO A WIN WIN It could also help to put Cheshire on the map as one of the most sustainable regions in the UK.
Please support our Spacehive funder – we understand times are tough and money is tight. Why not pledge the cost of a reusable cup to us £10 – it all helps.
Have you been reading more about Net Zero and sustainability?
We are reaching out to highlight a few projects that we are working on right now in your local area that might resonate with your business.
Eco Communities is a Community Interest organisation created with the aim of promoting and supporting green, eco, sustainable and plastic free projects and businesses in the region.
In December of 2018 we achieved Plastic Free Chester status with Surfers Against Sewage, in order to do this, we needed the support of over 30 businesses in Chester, all of whom swapped out or completely stopped using three items of single use plastic within their business. We have created a project Sustainable Cheshire to carry on the plastic free initiatives and open up the aims around sustainable business and sustainable living.
First off, we want to put Chester on the map for sustainability and part of this is to renew Plastic Free Chester. We also desperately want to bring a city-wide reusable cup project to the region, starting in Chester working with the organisation behind Shrewsbury Cup.
But how does my business fit in?
If you not already part of Plastic Free Chester, maybe now is the time to get involved.
Another key component of Chester’s green revolution is our support of the Refill campaign, a campaign set up where businesses in your local area will sign up to mark themselves as a business that invites people to come to refill their water canisters and bottles to cut down on plastic waste.
Lastly, we are currently raising money to bring in a reusable cup scheme for hot drinks. How much do you spend on single use take away cups? The Cheshire Reusable Cup scheme could reduce littering in our city, reduce our carbon footprint and long term reduce business costs.
The main problem around reusables is that people forget to take one with them from home. What if they could get a hot drink from one shop paying a deposit for a reusable cup, then drop the cup off at another participating business in Chester?
Lastly, thank you for your time and we hope to hear from you so that you can join our community and we can help support each other and the planet
By Helen Tandy, Founding Director, Eco Communities
This fantastic building on the River Dee is a Hydro Electric Power Station. I have lived in Chester now for nearly 30 years and always wondered why it had been left to go to ruin. I even pre invested in a project to renovate it around 5 years ago that wasn’t viable in the end.
I am working with Jane from CHASE* in connection with the Green Expo 2022, a 3 day event of stalls near the Chester Hydro Power Station. But the Green Expo is much more with a Business Conference, Awards Dinner and Youth Conference.
I learnt so much more about the hub from Jane’s conversations while we were promoting the Green Expo at the Vegan Fair on Saturday. Did you know the Hydro Hub used to generate almost half of Chesters power as clean carbon free electricity, from 1914 to 1949. We had it so right in Chester all those years ago and then we stopped, such a shame.
I have since researched to find it’s a Grade II listed building, converted into a waterpumping utilty after its 40 years power generation before ceasing operation in 2015. The University of Chester’s plan to reinstate it was found not to be feasible, it was felt the turbines would attract the Dee’s migrant salmon. Not a great end for the salmon.
So after all these years it was great to hear about CHASEs plans for the Hydro Hub to redevelop the building as a visitor and education centre. CHASE is working alongside Cheshire Historic Buildings Preservation Trust to develop designs and plans for operation as an education centre for schools, residents, visitors and potential new business hub. The focal point for residents, schools and visitors to learn about what a low carbon world will look like and how all aspects of our lives will change as new technologies remove emissions from our industry, commerce, agriculture, homes, transport and food.
A hugely exciting project and fitting that CHASE put forward the idea of an annual Green Expo alongside the River Dee to support its project.
So Green Expo is a trade show and sustainability fair. An opportunity for local businesses and charities to showcase their sustainability plans, products and services. The general public will have opportunities to buy products while learning about technologies and career opportunities. The Eco Communities and CHASE team will be very very busy, we are all volunteers and so if your interested in helping over the 3 days do let us know. But whatever come along, support the event and share it with everyone you know.
*Cheshire Heritage and Sustainability Enterprises CIC, or “CHASE”, are a Community Interest Company like Eco Communities.
Sustainable Cheshire 