Using exclusively beautiful upcycled fabrics, I design and make a range of bags, upcycled denim and other clothes and hats for both children and adults. I also make interior homewares. My aim is to create unusual, one off pieces, ideal as gifts, that are both useful and decorative and that help to avoid adding to landfill.
Welcome to Mersey Wax Wraps. You will find us nestled on the Wirral Peninsula, besides the famous River Mersey.
You do not have to look far to read an article or see a video highlighting the global environmental impact of single use plastic. We want to help people like yourself to make small changes in their everyday life, so that together we can live in a more sustainable way and reduce our plastic consumption.
We hope you fall in love with our Organic Cotton range as much as we have. As part of our commitment to a sustainable product, we continue to use organic products as much as possible in the making of our wraps.
A sustainable product should be good for the planet as well as your home.
To further complement our pursuit of sustainable living, we also have a range of plastic free items for everyday life. Lisa
Website
As well as stalls at events, Chester Fair Trading has a shop at the Wesley Church in Chester. The shop continues to look fantastic and so welcoming. They have had a new range of goods from Shared Earth which are selling well alongside all the usual Traidcraft products.
Chester celebratied 20 years as a Fairtrade City in 2020.
‘Being a Fairtrade community takes commitment, creativity, organisation, perseverance, and the belief that together we have more power to help create a better, fairer world. To bring all of this together in a Fairtrade campaign, uniting a city for two decades is a huge and special achievement – many congratulations and respect to all of the individuals and organisations who have been involved!
Unfairness in global trade is deep-rooted over many generations of exploitation of people and our planet. So Fairtrade is a long term campaign for trade justice, and the ongoing work to unite our communities in action for fairer trade is at the heart of achieving it. Every Fairtrade purchase makes a difference – but it is when we come together as organisations, as communities that we really grow the movement for fairness in trade, and weave the values of respect, action, and justice into our society.
It’s an amazing achievement for any community – but Chester deserves a unique and special mention as the first ever Fairtrade City in the UK. Following Garstang you are one of the early pioneers of the Fairtrade movement in the UK, which over 600 communities across the UK have since followed in your footsteps, and has had an incredible impact. Those who remember becoming the 1st Fairtrade City back in 2002 might not have thought you would be at the vanguard of such an important social movement for change, that would put Fairtrade into the mainstream of our society; in classrooms, town halls, supermarket shelves – and grow to reach over 1.8 million farmers and workers in 72 countries.
We hope that you can celebrate and take pride in this amazing milestone of 20 years. And keep on believing in what we can achieve together in another 20!’
| Adam Acting Head of Campaigns Fairtrade Foundation “Aspire not to have more but to be more” Archbishop Romero |
To become a Plastic Free Cheshire business through Surfers Against Sewage – you need to give up/ have given up or never used at least 3 items of single use plastic. When you achive this you will be Bronze accredited. You can also now go for higher awards of Silver and Gold by giving up more single use plastic and other activities. Email us for more information.
Getting the Business Champion Award 🥇
We have linked with Surfers Against Sewage to support businesses and communities in achieving plastic free status. So far they have a network of over 4,000 businesses and 800 communities across the UK all working towards the same goal—to kick the addiction to single use plastic.
People are more and more conscious of what they are buying and who they are buying from. Once you have completed our form and the registration for Surfers Against Sewage you will go through the approval stage. After which you will get a plaque, certificate & digital businesses champion stamp. Showing these will show that you are tackling the overconsumption of single use plastic and changing the system that produces it.
Why don’t you try to do this in your business. Banishing three items of single use-plastic doesn’t have to be too hard – try and do a ‘plastic audit’ of your business to see what you’re using and what you could potentially do without, or change. Some ideas of the items to consider are: plastic drinking straws, promotional balloons, party poppers, cocktail or drink stirrers, plastic cutlery, plastic-backed napkins, tea bags containing plastic, plastic bottled drinks, water cooler plastic cups, single-use ink cartridges, sauce sachets, office milk in plastic bottles and bubble wrap. Once you start looking around there are plenty of ways to cut-back on the plastic you’re using.
If you would like any help or training with your plastic audit then please get in-touch with us; office@sustainablecheshire.uk
What do I need to do?
Eliminate 3 single use items from your business operations. Permanently. And have an idea of what you’ll be tackling next.
STEP 1: Make a list
First things first. Awareness. Make a list of all the single use plastics in your business. And we mean all… from the plastic that deliveries arrive in, to the packing on the loo roll that you buy.
STEP 2: Choose your items
Choose three items from your list that you want to tackle first. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and single use plastic won’t be eradicated overnight either. We’ll start with three for now.
STEP 3: Change
Talk to your team. Make a plan. Stop using those three items. (We know it’s not that simple, but this is where our expertise and advice will come in handy.)
STEP 4: Apply
Register your business with Surfers Against Sewage to agree to either adding your information personally, or allowing us to support you. CLICK
If you want us to help you through the process and add you to our Map, apply to be a Plastic Free Business here – CLICK
Helen Chambers, Eco Communities Director
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!
Helen Tandy, Director Eco Communities
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)
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
Zero Waste Shop listing UK
Pebble Magazine – link
or
Here are a few in Cheshire & Wirral
Just Footprints – Chester and Frodsham
Carpe Diem is a family run business with over 20 years experience in Fair trade. ‘Amongst other ,we stock beautiful home furnishings, bamboo socks, mango wood chests, organic candles, colourful jute bags ,cheerful rainbow pottery and more.
We are strongly involved within the community and in schools. On the holistic side we have for 13 years been offering a range of treatments and courses including Reiki, Indian head massage, Ayurvedic massage, Yoga Nidra, Yoga therapy classes as well as workshops.
https://linktr.ee/CarpeDiemfairtrade
www.cdholisticsandfairtrade.com
https://www.facebook.com/holisticsandfairtrade/
Instagram – @carpediemholisticsandfairtrade
Just Footprints Chester and Frodsham
Debbie started Just Footprints, as she was passionate about saving our planet! She is now opening another shop in Frodsham and spreading the zero waste message wider in our region. ‘Our mission is to make this as simple as possible for the people of Chester and beyond. Making one small change can have a lasting effect, so come and visit us to start your journey to a more sustainable future. Wherever possible, we source our products from small, local independent UK businesses or co-operatives. We think it is so important to support other like minded, small businesses like ourselves!’
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
Sustainable Cheshire