Global Recycling Day 2019

Today is Global Recycling Day. As explained by Ranjit S. Baxi, President at the Bureau of International Recycling (BIR), “It is a day to showcase that whoever and wherever we live on this great planet, whether we are the humblest individual or the greatest leader, the responsible use of the materials around us, the better understanding of how they are used and dispatched, and the championing of recycled goods from the plastics in our home to the metals in our buildings, is a collective, and global, concern…By naming recycled materials as “resource” we are giving them their proper title; recyclables are as important, if not more, than all the primary resources we have here on earth.”

BIR highlights how we can’t continue to keep using up the six main natural resources of the earth (air, water, oil, natural gas, coal and minerals). In the past these resources have been thought to be limitless but we of course now know that these precious resources are finite. In 2017 we used a year’s worth of the earth’s natural resources in just seven months. We have been carelessly using up the earths precious natural resources and pouring tons of waste back into our natural environment. Humans have consumed more resources in the last 50 years than in all previous history and every year we dump a massive 2.12 billion tons of waste. To picture this, if all this waste was put into dumper trucks they would go around the world 24 times.

Recycling offers us a seventh resource, one that can potentially be indefinite. Not only does recycling offer us a chance to preserve and save precious resources it also has additional benefits such as saving CO2 emissions and offering employment and adding to the global economy. Recycling rates are now much better than they were, in the UK the rate of recycling has skyrocketed from just 11.2 percent in 2000/2001, to 43.2 percent in 2017/18, however the UK has a target of 50% by 2020, so there is still a way to go. As well as doing our recycling we also need to be making sure we are supporting the circular economy recycling promotes by purchasing products that are made from recycled materials. Industry is still using a lot of virgin resources, one example is that 91% of the plastic created is virgin and not recycled. This of course is not something we can ultimately control, it’s the large companies that produce these products but we can look at our consumer choices and ask ourselves some important questions to inform our waste and purchasing habits, as set out by the BIR:

1) Do I dispose of everything I have used (from plastic bottles to refrigerators to cars) properly, so it can be recycled?

2) Do I know my municipality’s policies on recycling and do I follow them?

3) Do I know what happens to my recyclables once they are taken away by my local municipality?

4) Do I, my family and my friends, mend, repair and reuse in order to sustain the usefulness of the items around us for as long as possible?

5) Am I committed to producing as little waste as I can?

6) Do I know how, and do the brands that I buy make it easy for me, to make the right ‘recycling friendly’ purchasing decisions?

7) Am I sufficiently aware of my government’s recycling legislation, or should I be demanding more?

By asking ourselves these questions we become responsible consumers and we start to put the planet first instead of ourselves, which is ultimately putting ourselves first because we won’t be able to survive without the earths precious resources. We depend on a functioning ecosystem to provide us with oxygen to breathe, water to hydrate, food to sustain us and using up these resources is destroying our ecosystem.

Find out more about Cornwall’s recycling here

Find out more about Cornwall’s recycling centres here

Find out more about Cornwall’s repair cafes here and here

Find out more about the UK recycling and waste legislation here

Information from the Global Recycling Day Manifesto found here

UK recycling stats found here

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Plastic Pollution and Rivers

Today is International Day of Action for Rivers, a day to celebrate our life-giving waters. Unfortunately, our freshwater ecosystems are going through tough times, Anne-Claire Loftus, WWF UK Freshwater adviser, tells us that “freshwater species populations declined by 81% from 1970 to 2012, an average loss much greater than that of species on land or in the oceans.” There are many threats impacting rivers and other freshwater habitats including loss of connectivity and flow reductions due to dams and other artificial barriers; over-abstraction of water for irrigation and other uses; excessive nutrient loading from agricultural and urban areas; siltation caused by land degradation and deforestation; and the impact of climate change. In recent years plastic pollution has also been counted as a possible threat and we thought it was the perfect time to find out how our rivers have been affected by plastic pollution.

1) Our rivers are key sources of marine plastic pollution

News and studies on plastic pollution has mainly focused on our oceans rather than rivers but it looks like this is beginning to change. We found numerous reports in the news with regards to how rivers are contributing to ocean plastic pollution and how they are key carriers of plastic waste from source to our oceans. Two studies, highlighted by Anne-Claire Loftus, estimated that between 1.15–2.41 and 0.21–4.38 million tonnes of plastic waste per year entered the oceans from land via river catchments. Highlighting that rivers are a key area of concern when it comes to plastic pollution. For this reason there are now more studies looking into plastic pollution in our rivers rather than the ocean.

2) Single use plastic have been found to be a core cause of river litter

Thames21 and MCS ran 20 river clean events at Thames tributaries and tidal Thames sites to collect data for their ‘source to sea’ study. Data collected revealed that more than 80% of litter in the Thames, and 78% on its tributaries, is made up of single-use items such as metal drink cans, food packaging and plastic drinks bottles. It also found that the concentration of litter items found per 100m rose as the Thames made its way towards the sea, due to the increased opportunity for humans to influence the ecosystem. The charities supported a move away from single-use saying that “more than 60% of litter would disappear from the Thames basin if we moved away from single-use items.”

A little closer to home we found an article on Cornwall Live written at the end of 2017 about plastic pollution collected from Truro River by Mary Jones who spends her free time kayaking along the river to complete litter picks. On one trip she collected 6 bin bags full of plastic litter, with the most common being food wrappers.

3) Micro-plastics have now been found in our freshwater systems

Micro-plastics in our rivers have more recently been in the news thanks to a new study by Dr Dunn who collected samples from 10 different river, lake and reservoir sites across the UK. He found micro-plastics at each of the 10 locations, ranging from 2-3 per litre to more than 1000 per litre in the worst affected area. On the results Dr Dunn has said “Micro-plastics are being found absolutely everywhere [but] we do not know the dangers they could be posing. It’s no use looking back in 20 years time and saying: ‘If only we’d realised just how bad it was.’ We need to be monitoring our waters now and we need to think, as a country and a world, how we can be reducing our reliance on plastic.”

Micro-plastics come from a variety of sources, as explained in an essay by Scott Lambert and Martin Wagner. They can come from the degradation of larger plastic debris items, such as litter and also agricultural equipment (eg plastic films used for crop production) but can also enter the environment as micro-plastics via wastewater treatment plants and the surrounding environment from a number of sources such as personal care products (microbeads), release of fibres from textiles during the washing of clothes, incidental release (e.g. tyre wear) and release from industrial products or processes. The essay outlines how studies on the potential harm of micro-plastics vary considerably but states that “although science is far from understanding the ecological implications of freshwater micro-plastics; technological innovation, societal action, and political interventions need to be taken to mitigate the plastics pollution, which will – in case of inaction – certainly increase over the years to come.”

What have we taken away from these articles? That although a lot is still unknown we feel strongly that plastic pollution has largely been caused by our disposable attitude towards plastic, a product that does not disappear, only breaks down and spreads further - now having reached not only the deepest depths of our remote oceans but also our remote fresh water channels. Removing plastic waste from seas and rivers will help alleviate environmental issues but to stop the problem we need to reduce our reliance on plastic, looking to avoid it where possible as consumers is a great way to start, something we can do immediately as well as ensuring any waste we do come across is disposed of responsibly so it does not impact our natural environment.

Information from WWF, Scott Lambert and Martin Wagner, The Guardian, The River Trust and Cornwall Live

For more on International Day of Action for Rivers

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World Wildlife Day : Life Below Water

Today marks World Wildlife Day, a day to celebrate and raise awareness of the world’s wild animals and plants. This years focus is on life below water, where there are nearly 200,000 identified species living in our oceans.

Over three billion people depend on marine and coastal biodiversity for their livelihoods. Marine wildlife has sustained human civilisation and development for millennia, from providing food and nourishment, to material for handicraft and construction. It has also enriched our lives culturally, spiritually, and recreationally in different ways. However, the capacity of life below water to provide these services has been severely impacted, as our planet’s oceans and the species that live within it are under assault from an onslaught of threats. As much as 40% of the ocean is now heavily affected by the most significant and direct threat of over exploitation of marine species as well as other threats such as pollution, loss of coastal habitats and climate change.

Despite this day being about a celebration of the ocean we also need to be aware of these many threats, of which plastic is a major one, here are some scary plastic facts involving the ocean from The Marine Conservation Society:

• It’s estimated that one rubbish truck load of plastic litter enters the ocean every minute

• Globally, plastic litter has reached every part of the world’s oceans

• Plastic has been found in the stomachs of almost all marine species, including fish, birds, whales, dolphins, seals and turtles

• The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is thought to be 6 times the size of the UK

• Litter has increased by 135% since 1994, with plastics increasing by a staggering 180%

• Around 30% of UK beach litter can be directly sourced to the public

On World Wildlife Day we’re asked to do one thing to help reduce the threat to marine species and we think avoiding plastic is a huge step in the right direction. By shopping at refill / zero waste shops you get to avoid a huge amount of unnecessary plastic packaging that may end up in the natural environment causing an ongoing threat to our beautiful oceans.

As well as avoiding plastic you can join the new #generationsea campaign by Surfers Against Sewage. For 2019 they are looking to build a new movement to save our oceans and beaches and want to push for a bold new Environment Bill that will protect our seas. They currently have 3790 signatures and are looking to get to 5000, to sign up click here.

Everyday wildlife protection doesn’t have to be hard. Wildlife conservation is an issue that needs attention every day and although the challenges that our natural environment is facing are complex and can seem huge, every persons small actions add up to a much larger solution.

Info from Wildlife Day, MCS and SAS

Images below from Francesca Williams and SAS

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Mindful Beach Cleaning

After attending a thought provoking discussion on the potential environmental implications of the current surge in beach cleaning efforts, and the resulting possible harm to the delicate beach ecosystems, we decided to explore Jane Darkes’ website for further insights.

As plastic has been a part of the natural environment now for over 50 years it has become a part of the ecosystem. Creatures build their life around it, for better or worse. And while there is no doubt that removing plastic from the natural environment is beneficial (see blog post Beach Clean Ups Work), we have to be respectful of nature and the ecosystems that are around it when we look to remove waste to make sure we do so in a way that is least disturbing.

The strandline is where everything collects on a beach. It’s the line left by the last tide and it moves up and down the beach as the tides change each day. It’s here that you’ll find a mixture of debris washed up by the waves. The strandline looks different on different surfaces and what you find is determined by the landmass where you live and the currents of the sea. Everything that gets washed up on the beach has been through an incredible journey.

While on the beach it is crucial to remember that they are not only there for our enjoyment, they are of course also a home to a huge number of creatures and we need to be respectful of that.

The Wildlife Trust tells us to take care not to disturb wildlife and habitats when visiting the coastline, especially during the breeding seasons for animals like birds and seals. During the summer, many waders and seabirds nest on sand and shingle beaches, and seal pups are born during late autumn and winter. Disturbance at this time can lead to young being injured or abandoned. Beaches and strandlines need sensitive management to ensure that the fragile vegetation is not destroyed, or prevented from developing, and that breeding birds are not disturbed by people and dogs. Cleaning is an important part of this, but mechanised beach-cleaning should be avoided as it removes the top layer of sand and the strandline, while compressing the beach, badly damaging important invertebrate populations.

Buglife writes that many invertebrate species may be threatened by public pressure causing erosion and disturbance of their habitat. We should also remember that tidal litter such as seaweed and driftwood found on the strandline provides essential shelter for many invertebrates and should not be cleared away as is often the case with beach tidying schemes. The removal of driftwood for beach barbecues or decorative purposes is highly damaging. The large, nationally scarce Beach Comber Beetle (Nebria complanata) requires fairly large items of flotsam such as driftwood under which to shelter and find the sandhoppers on which it feeds. The French Zipper Spider (Drassyllus lutetianus) also lives among wet tidal debris. 

Having increased our knowledge a little on the fragile ecosystems and creatures of the beach we will now be taking a more mindful approach to beach cleaning, ensuring to minimise disturbance to the natural environment as we go on the hunt for plastic.

If you want to learn more about the creatures of the strandline, dunes and beaches check out the links below:

Information from Jane Darke, Wildlife Trust Beaches, Wildlife Trust Coastal and Buglife

Further reading: Blog post Beach Clean Ups Work

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Plastics and Climate Change

Plastics have an interesting and complex relationship with climate change and rising greenhouse gases.

99% of plastics come from fossil fuels and throughout its life cycle it makes a significant contribution to rising greenhouse gases and climate change. Plastic pollutes at every stage; from materials extraction, product production and transportation to disposal.

Plastics currently account for around 6% of global oil demand and are responsible for rising methane emissions from associated gas extraction. Once the materials have been extracted there are then the carbon emissions from production and transportation of plastic. Its been estimated that one 500ml plastic water bottle (about 10 grams) has an average total CO2 footprint of 82.8 grams. For context, the production of four plastic bottles produces approximately the same amount of greenhouse gas emissions as travelling one mile in a medium-sized petrol car.

But the story doesn’t end there, a study by the University of Hawaii has demonstrated that many plastics also give off powerful greenhouse gases as they breakdown, which is also contributing to climate change. Of particular concern is LDPE which releases gases at the highest rate and is also the most prevalent discarded plastic in oceans. Its been discovered that the more surface area a piece of plastic has the more gas is given off. So for example a plastic bottle, after years of photodegradation in the ocean will have a surface area thousands of times greater than its original surface area, leading to a greater emission of methane. This means that over time plastics give off more and more harmful gas and are further adding to climate change.

With around half of all plastic production being destined for a single-use item this seems like a terrible use of a limited natural resource and an extremely wasteful addition to greenhouse gases. With around 8 million tonnes of plastic ending up in the oceans each year this massively adds to the greenhouse gas problem as it slowly breaks down in the environment and starts to release harmful greenhouse gases.

Moving away from single-use plastic will help tackle carbon emissions from both ends. Scarily plastic production is currently expected to triple by 2050 and its predicted that the plastic industry will be accounting for 15% of global greenhouse gas emissions. This is something we can reduce and do something about. By reusing what we’ve already got and moving away from single-use, we’ll move to a more circular economy that will help reduce carbon emissions.

Information from 5gyres, brightblue and Parley

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DIY : Febreze

Want fresh smelling clothes and home without the plastic? We make up our own version of Febreze to get rid of unwanted odours without the plastic waste, and its super easy. We find it handy to have around the house- means less washing!

Ingredients:

235 ml water

37 g bi carbonate of soda

118 ml fabric softener

Directions:

Using the volumes above will half fill a Febreze bottle, we find its best to make in small batches.

Boil water in saucepan, once the water is boiling remove pan from heat. Add bi carb and fabric softener if using and stir to combine. Leave to cool. Transfer mixture to bottle. We found that sometimes not all the fabric softener combines so we run the mixture through a sieve to remove any lumpy bits left and then just pop these into the washing machine to be used in the next load!

Shake bottle before each use as ingredients may separate. Use as needed. We found that this mixture is a little ‘wetter’ than traditional Febreze but does work to remove odours and freshen fabrics.

The bi carbonate of soda helps absorb odours while the fabric softener adds fresh smell.

Instructions based on:

Wikihow

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Monday Motivation : Protecting the natural world

A huge source of motivation for us is to protect our natural environment. In recent consumer Western society we have become removed from the natural cycles of life and have lost respect for the Earth and its life giving resources.

Over the course of last year there were a number of studies and articles all highlighting the scary spread and impact of plastics on our natural environment which we hope is slowly rebuilding our connection and respect for the planet and a wish to live in a way that will reduce and correct the harm we have been causing.

We are saddened but not surprised by the results of a recent study of 50 animals from 10 different species that had died from a variety of causes found washed up on the coastlines of the UK. The study of the animals, that included dolphins, porpoises, seals and whales revealed that each one had ‘microplastic’ particles in their stomachs and intestines. The vast majority of particles found were synthetic fibres that may have been shed by clothes or fishing nets. Others were fragments of originally larger pieces that could have come from plastic food packaging and bottles.

Lead researcher Sarah Nelms, from the University of Exeter, said: “It’s shocking - but not surprising - that every animal had ingested microplastics.” She expressed concern that long-term exposure to plastic pollution could damage the health of Britain’s marine mammals: “They eat all sorts but it will reach a tipping point and really affect their health. It’s important to have this baseline study so we can monitor how they adapt – or don’t adapt – to the changes that are coming.”

Globally one garbage truck of plastic is dumped into the Ocean every minute and at current rates it will be 2 trucks per minute by 2030 - we have to radically change our habits to stop this from happening. The more people who make the change to package-free / zero-waste shopping the less plastic waste there is and that keeps us going and motivates us to make sure package free shopping is accessible for people to make the switch. Hopefully the reduced demand for packaged goods will also lead to bigger industry change.

Info and image from MCS UK article here , Guardian article here and World Economic Forum here . Full study report here

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Turning off the tap: a look at Antoine Repesse #365 Unpacked

When you use something on a daily basis its hard to imagine its impact over time, especially when it comes to waste as its often out of sight and therefore out of mind.

Back in 2011, photographer Antoine Repesse decided to tackle his waste head on and for four years stopped throwing away his recyclable rubbish. During this time he accumulated over 70 cubic meters of trash including 1600 milk bottles, 4800 loo rolls and 800kg of newspapers. His photography project that followed, #365, Unpacked, became ‘a questioning of a major society issue: the production of waste on a daily basis’, and made our daily waste visible for all to see.

This accumulation of waste seen in his images really does highlight our disconnect between our consumption patterns, our waste produced and the effect it has on the planet.

Luckily we’ve come a long way since Repesse’s project and unlike the subjects seen in his work we are no longer blind to the effects waste is having on our environment and our life source. Thanks to numerous projects since we are now all aware of the damage that has been caused. But there is still a lot to do.

A common argument or concern raised when looking at plastic waste is to blame the authorities for not having enough recycling options in place, but we think there is a bigger issue at play - our mass consumption and its link to our waste. We believe we have to start owning our own waste and look to turn off the tap rather than mop up the mess. Refusing to buy single-use products and buying only what you need are great steps forward in slowing down the amount of waste created and therefore harm to the environment. Turning off the plastic tap will mean there’s nothing to mop up.

You can see more images here

Information from article here

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Monday Motivation : You make the difference!

January marked the 6 month anniversary of Incredible Bulk. We are so honoured to have customers that are interested in making a difference; living and acting in a way that will help protect our home. You are the ones that have taken a stand and refused to conform to the norms of our society that we now know are polluting the Earth at a staggering rate. Without you guys we wouldn’t be making a difference and for that we are truly grateful.

We know that refusing plastic takes a huge change in habits. We offer an alternative shopping experience both in terms of buying with your own reusable packaging that takes a degree of organisation and commitment and also that you have to embrace the elements when shopping with us - for all of you that have shopped with us on a mizzley day, a stormy day and even a snowy day - your commitment to making a difference blows our minds and is a huge source of motivation to keep going, improve what we offer and continue on the zero waste path.

This is a run down of what plastic you have avoided in the last 6 months, well done and thank you!

4959 single-use plastic food packaging (this is roughly 30kgs, enough to fill about 5 wheelie bins, its also the same amount of plastic waste that was found in a dead sperm whale in Australia)

1300 single-use plastic cotton buds

470 single-use plastic household cleaning bottles

397 single-use plastic shampoo, conditioner, body wash and hand wash bottles

368 plastic kitchen sponges

139 plastic toothbrushes

71 plastic or aerosol deodorants

53 single use oil and vinegar bottles

At least 3200 meters of plastic cling film

1500 meters of plastic dental floss

At least 64 single-use plastic straws, 30 disposable coffee cups, 19 disposable cutlery sets and 18 plastic water bottles

27 plastic tubes of toothpaste

At least 35 disposable plastic razors

17 plastic body sponges

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36 Ways to Reduce Your Plastic

Who’s looking to reduce their plastic use this year?! Here at Incredible Bulk we’re all about offering you easy swaps to avoid those dastardly single use items and plastic that are causing so much harm to the planet.

Click here to see our gallery of 36 easy swaps available in the van that can help you move towards being zero waste.

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Tackling single-use plastic : 6605 pieces avoided in 2018

In our 4 months of being Incredible Bulk in 2018 we are excited to say that our customers have avoided a grand total of 6605 pieces of single-use plastic. We’re thrilled with this number and excited to see what 2019 will bring.

This number is made up of a great mix of items, the easiest to avoid when shopping with us is single-use food packaging, totalling 4452 pieces, including 377 cereal packets, 261 packets of rice and 106 packets of pasta. Next up is bathroom plastic totalling 1225 - this number does include 700 cotton buds! But also 344 shampoo / conditioner / body wash bottles, 135 toothbrushes and 46 floss containers which would’ve been 1380 meters of plastic floss that would’ve ended up in the bin, or worse down the loo. There is now 336 less kitchen sponges now out there with our customers making the switch to natural alternatives and at least 3120 meters of plastic cling film has been avoided with our customers buying beeswax wraps. At least 64 single-use plastic straws have been avoided and 18 water/drinks bottles. Our customers have also helped recycle 174 used coffee cups by buying the R Cup reusable coffee cup where each one is made from 6 used cups, and as R Cup says nothing is fully recycled until it is reused so its great to see those coffee cups finally being put to good use!

We want to say a huge thank you to all of our customers who have supported us this year and have made this possible and for those of you yet to come to the van we hope this inspires you and lets you know how we can all make a difference.

Image taken from the lovely Christmas card we received from the awesome Surfers Against Sewage

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Recycling Facilities in Cornwall

In 2018 we were lucky enough to go on a trip to see the Suez Materials Recycling Facility in Bodmin to see exactly what happens to our recycling in Cornwall. Here are our main takeaways from the day:

Cornwall’s recycling network consists of kerbside collection as well as 13 Household Recycling Centres, 5 Transfer Stations, 2 Materials Recycling Facility (MRF) and 1 incinerator (The Cornwall Energy Recovery Centre).

The 2 MRF sites sort all of Cornwall’s recycling materials, receiving up to 53 trucks a day.

At the MRF sites the different materials are separated (by hand), made into bails and then shipped to various private contractors for recycling located both in the UK and overseas, mainly in Europe.

Waste that can’t be recycled is sent to St Dennis where it is burnt in a special facility at the Cornwall Energy Recovery Centre. The heat that is produced is turned into energy and sold to the Cornish national grid. Having this facility means a lot of Cornwalls waste avoids landfill.

We need to recycle more. Currently around ¾ of the rubbish produced in Cornwall does not make it to the recycling process. Cornwall was below the national average in 2019/20 for the amount of waste recycled. A report published by Cornwall Council highlighting Cornwall’s best and worst areas for recycling shows that at best 40% of waste was being recycled and at worst just 14%, with there being potential for Cornish households to recycle around 60% of their waste - showing there is still some way to go.

Materials that can be recycled:

Plastic: We produce and use 20 times more plastic today than we did 50 years ago, with Cornwall currently throwing away 117 million plastic bottles every year. All types of plastic conatiners are collected within kerbside recycling. Labels on plastic bottles do not need to be removed by the public as they come off in the washing process. The only plastic that can’t currently be recycled is black plastic due to it not being suitable for the current optical recycling process.

Paper & Cardboard: It takes approximately 17 trees to make one tonne of paper. Diverting paper and card from landfill reduces energy use and CO2. All clean, unsoiled paper & card can be recycled.

Glass: Every year Cornish households use 71 million glass jars and bottles. Recycling just one bottle saves enough energy to power a television set for up to an hour and a half.

Cans & Metals: If all the aluminium cans in the UK were recycled, there would be 12 million fewer dustbins every year. Don’t forget you can include metal bottle tops in your metal recycling.

Textiles: The amount of textiles thrown away each month weighs the same as 40,000 cars.

Tetrapak: Recycling of Tetrapak cartons is now available at 7 of the 13 household centres in Cornwall.

Garden waste: All garden waste received is turned into compost.

Top Tip when recycling: Its nice to wash your empty containers, the materials are sorted by hand in the MRF centres and they can smell quite a bit if not washed!

OUR VERDICT

The recycling centre runs a fantastic, large scale operation that is very efficient in distributing recyclable materials. Recycling is super important for reducing our use of precious resources and for ensuring waste doesn’t end up in landfill sites where it will contribute to global warming. However, we still believe that avoiding waste (even recyclable waste) should be a number one priority. Recycling still comes with a carbon footprint and energy use and not all materials can be recycled indefinitely (various sources suggest plastics can be recycled anywhere from one to five times before it needs to be discarded). When tackling your own waste think of the 5 Rs - Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Rot. Get organised with your recycling bags which should make it easier to get the right items recycled. Keep an eye on your recycling and rubbish bin - is there anything going in there that you can avoid?

The trip to the Suez Materials Recycling Facility was organised by the Cornish Plastic Pollution Coalition, join their Facebook group to hear about upcoming trips or check out the Suez website to arrange your own trip.

To find out about the recycling facilities in your area check out this link here

Unsure if an item is recyclable - use this guide from Recycle Now

Cornwall recycling league table here and recycling rates here.

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Incredible Bulk Christmas Gift Guide

We obviously didn’t want to go crazy on the Christmas gifts but we’ve put together a few items from the van that either promote living a life with less waste or look to build a connection with the Earth we are looking to protect. Click on the image for more details ( once selected, hover mouse over image for text if on desktop or on mobile click dot in bottom right hand corner!)

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Pretty pots!

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For the garden lovers

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For the eco surfer

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More for on the go

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For those always on the road

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For those who enjoy a drink!

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For those wanting a plastic free kitchen

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For the chefs of the house

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For the tea lover

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Personalised drinks

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For the movie lovers

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Shaving gift set

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For those wanting a plastic free bathroom

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Face care kits

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For the soap lovers!

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Sweet smelling

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When all else fails...

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A Minimal Waste Christmas Guide

Christmas, a time of giving and receiving, but it has also become a time of waste and excess. Recent statistics on UK waste tell us that over the festive season the UK creates 30% more waste than usual. 1 billion Christmas cards end up in the bin, 6 million Christmas trees are discarded, 40 million rolls of sticky tape used, 277,000 miles of wrapping paper thrown away and almost 100 million bin bags full of packaging.

With these statistics in mind we’ve put together a simple guide to help reduce waste this Christmas.

Decorations

When it comes to choosing your tree there are several different options available. The least wasteful option is a potted living tree that you can keep for years. If space is an issue you can look to rent a tree. In Cornwall there is Christmas Tree Rental Cornwall, Rent A Christmas Tree Cornwall, and Puddle Farm, where you can rent a tree for the Christmas holidays and return it after! For the more experimental out there you could try alternatives such as up-cycling a discarded branch, wooden boxes, ladders and such to make your own alternative up-cycled Christmas tree, or you could look to buy one, we’ve seen a few options popping up at farmers markets and craft fairs (see search here for ideas or image below). If you wanted a more conventional reusable tree you could look to go artificial but keep in mind that due to the resources used to create that tree you would need to reuse it for at least 12 years (see article here). If you opt for a traditional cut Christmas tree, choose locally grown ((A few options are Cambrose Christmas Trees, Wild Botanic Flower Farm, Tregothnan) and ensure it gets shredded and composted, Cornwall Council should offer this service in the new year.

For decorating your tree and home try to stick to the normal zero waste guidelines- if buying look for second hand first, or when buying new look for items made from up-cycled materials or buy high quality items that will last you for many Christmases to come, such as these great recycled plastic made in Cornwall decorations. And remember to shop local - we’re spoilt in Cornwall with a number of talented people making gorgeous crafts (We recently bought some lovely brass decorations from Sharon McSwiney and wool ones from Melody Ryder). You can also look to make your own, there are loads of creative guides to help you (see image below for some inspiration). Or look for natural options such as lemon and orange peel, cinnamon sticks and go foraging for holly and mistletoe.

Food and Drink

For a minimal waste Christmas it’ll take a bit of planning with the food and drink. As with your normal zero waste food shop look to shop local - farmers markets, farm shops, greengrocers and butchers are great places to pick up unpackaged fruit and veg as well as local meat that you can arrange to pick up with no plastic packaging. Head to your local refill / zero waste store to pick up any grains, nuts, seeds and dried fruit for your recipes, all package-free.

Look to make as much as possible from scratch as this is a great way to avoid packaging - Christmas cake, mince pies, nut roast, mulled wine, brandy butter etc

When it comes to prep and storing food try to avoid unnecessary clingfilm; using tupperware, glass jars, plates and wax food wraps instead. (click here for great guide for storing food without plastic).

Food waste is huge at Christmas, try to avoid the urge to over buy, looking for quality over quantity.

No Christmas table would be set without crackers, our favourites are Keep This Cracker, fantastic reusable, fill your own crackers that can be enjoyed for many Christmases to come! You could also look to make your own, avoiding useless plastic gifts, filling instead with meaningful little gifts or treats (check out this guide here), we have cracker snaps available to buy, both pet friendly and with snap!

Gifts, Cards and Wrapping

When buying gifts its so easy to get carried away and swept up in the joy of buying presents for others but come back to the general zero waste rules of only buying what is necessary and needed, looking to buy second-hand or if buying new look for high quality items that will last. There are a number of Christmas Markets happening this year, here are a few that caught our eye:

Roots Culture Christmas Market December 1-3rd

Darn x Friends December 3rd

The Goosebarn December 3rd

The Chintz Christmas Markets December 7th, 14th, 21st

The Portreath Arms December 10th

Pop Up Potager Christmas Market December 16th

Jubilee Wharf Christmas Fair December 16th and 17th

It’s also a great time to hand make meaningful gifts for others or look for experiences to gift rather than items.

For plastic free zero waste gift ideas, check out our gift guide. Our Cornwall Zero Waste Guide may also give you some ideas for local crafts and experiences to buy.

With wrapping try and avoid buying new wrapping paper and instead look to up-cycle, perhaps using newspaper or look for recycled wrapping paper that can then be easily composted or recycled. Fabric is also great to use, keep an eye out for secondhand scarves or up-cycle old clothes, we have these beautiful recycled saris available. Look to use fabric ribbon or string and use natural trims such as holly and cinnamon sticks. Avoid sellotape, if tape is needed look for paper kraft tape instead. Throughout the year we now stash any wrapping paper, ribbons, cards etc that can be reused.

If buying cards look for designs made on recycled card and with eco-friendly inks, or again look to make your own! You can also do ‘e-card’ versions, sending your Christmas wishes online. We have a lovely Christmas card pack from ecoLiving that share waste free Christmas ideas!

Advent Calendar

Check out our plastic free advent calendar guide, there are also loads of awesome diy advent calendars, below are a few of our favourites. This year we’ve chosen to stock H!P Oat M!lk plastic free advent calendar.

Post-Christmas

Try and prepare for your post-Christmas waste by having recycling and composting bags and boxes ready and organised, ensuring you still recycle what you can rather than sending it to landfill. Avoid throwing food waste away, instead see what you can re-use and make into new meals post Christmas.

We hope this has given you a few things to think about when planning your Christmas this year.

Wishing you a wonderful, mindful, waste-free Christmas!

“Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before! What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store. What if Christmas...perhaps...means a little bit more!”

― Dr. Seuss, How the Grinch Stole Christmas!

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29 Ways to Zero Waste

We came across a new zero waste campaign for October set up by Kathryn Kellogg, Anastasia Nicole and Rebecca Newburn of Going Zero Waste, a northern hemisphere response to Plastic-Free July.

As stated by the Zero Waste International Alliance and outlined on Going Zero Waste, Zero Waste is a goal that is ethical, economical, efficient and visionary, to guide people in changing their lifestyles and practices to emulate sustainable natural cycles, where all discarded materials are designed to become resources for others to use. Zero Waste means designing and managing products and processes to systematically avoid and eliminate the volume and toxicity of waste and materials, conserve and recover all resources, and not burn or bury them.  Implementing Zero Waste will eliminate all discharges to land, water or air that are a threat to planetary, human, animal or plant health.   

We set out to offer a daily tip and piece of advice for going zero waste throughout October, outlined below for you. We have divided them into categories based around Bea Johnsons 5 r’s which is a great outline for anyone looking to move towards being zero waste. They are Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Rot. We’ve added an extra R, Resources to share some useful places to carry on learning about zero waste.

REFUSE

Do you really need it: Yep, step one, refuse - whatever you’re shopping for, stop and think, make sure its a considered purchase and only buy if you really need it. The stats on household waste are huge, with Recycle Now stating that UK households produce around 30m tonnes of waste a year - that’s equivalent to the weight of around 3.5m Double Decker buses, a queue of which would go round the world 2.5 times. The surest way to reduce your waste is to reduce the amount you buy. As consumers we can be activists - we can dictate what we want, if the endless consumption slows and reduces then careless production will have to as well.

Just Ask: Making the choice to reduce your waste is the easy part - sticking to it and making it happen is a lot harder simply due to the lack of options around. To increase your options chat to shop keepers and see if they would be happy for you to use your own containers - all they can say is no and at least you would’ve brought the issue to their attention and it may encourage them to change going forward. Challenge yourself to walk away from options that don’t fit in with your new zero waste challenge and research alternatives.

Cheap Products: If you have to buy new, look to invest in better quality items that should last longer and be easier to repair should anything go wrong. Increasing a products life cycle means less waste in the end.

Packaging: Refuse packaging and head to your nearest refill store. As a reaction to the current plastic crisis more and more zero waste shops are popping up. Be sure to check out your nearest store to go package free. It may mean having to do your weekly shop in more than one location but we’re sure you’ll enjoy reducing your plastic waste.

Pre-packaged fast food: It may be a tough one but avoiding convenient fast food will dramatically reduce your waste. Be prepared and make packed lunches/snacks to take out with you whenever possible.

Kitchen and Bathroom Plastic: Plastic has snuck into our kitchens and bathrooms, look to make a move to natural products to reduce your waste. A natural item can be composted and returned to the earth moving in a circular economy rather than a plastic item that ends in landfill. We love and stock Eco Coconut scourers and dish brushes, Loofco loofahs, Gwenen Eco wax food wraps, knitted cloths, Georganics toothcare, Scence deodorant, Naked Necessities razors, Suma soaps and shampoo bars that can all help you on your zero waste way.

Plastic Tea Bags: Did you know a lot of tea bags use polypropylene as a sealant? Next time you’re buying your tea check out the brands credentials or make a switch to loose leaf. Brands that don’t use plastic: Pukka, Waitrose Duchy, Teapigs, Aldo Premium, and ofcourse our favourite stocked in the van West Country Tea Co. Currently using plastic (some have been quoted as looking to change in 2018 but we couldn’t find updated information) Tetley, PG Tips, Twinnings, Clipper and Yorkshire Tea.

Cigarettes: not only bad for your body but also terrible for the environment. Most cigarette filters are made up of tiny pieces of plastic so one filter ends up being thousands of tiny fibres that can be released into the environment. Data from 2015 told us that approximately 4.5tn of the 6tn cigarettes consumed annually are littered across the globe. Vapes are not much better with plastic bottles used for the e-liquid. So if you are looking for extra motivation to quit think about the added benefits for the environment!

Junk Mail: It took us a while to get onto this one but we finally got round to filling out the Royal Mails Door to Door Opt Out Form which should mean the end to wasteful junk mail - yippee!

Waste in your local environment: No one likes seeing waste carelessly thrown in their environment, take action and get involved to reduce careless waste and its impacts on the environment. There are plenty of nationwide campaigns to get involved in with charities such as Surfers Against Sewage, Beach Guardian, and 2 Minute Beach Clean all hosting beach and city cleans. Remember that you don’t need to go to an organised event to make a difference, picking up litter as you go is just as helpful!

REDUCE

Your Waste: It can often be daunting starting on your zero waste journey but an easy place to start is to become aware of the waste created in your household. Take time to take a look at your rubbish and recycling and see if there are any common offenders and ask yourself if there’s something you can do without or alternatives available. Challenge yourself to pick an item and do the research. Don’t rush to change too much too soon, slow and steady is more manageable.

Energy Use: there is plenty you can do to reduce your energy use, from switching to a renewable / greener supplier to being mindful of the resources you use around the house. Some things you can try: making sure lights are switched off, heating only when necessary, timing showers, changing to more efficient bulbs, having a no electricity evening and indulging in a candlelit evening!

Share: Look to consume less and share where possible. In his book How the Rich are Destroying the Earth, Herve Kempf discusses the relationship between our socio-economic system and the current ecological crisis and offers the simple guidance of ‘consume less, share more’. While not always possible we think sharing is currently very undervalued in our society and we think its something we can all work on to do more. There are now quite a few organisations that support the gifting economy such as Freecycle, Freegle and Olio.

Microplastics: The stats on micro plastics are very scary, made even more so by the fact that we can’t see them, despite them being everywhere. Environmental Science and Technology recently published information about a study that analysed 39 salt brands globally and revealed micro plastic contamination was widespread. The study suggests that assuming an intake of 10g of salt a day, the average adult could ingest approx 2000 micro plastics each year from salt alone. One source of micro plastics is from our washing machines which can cause tiny particles of our clothing to be washed down our drains and into the environment. Luckily there are now a couple of solutions with filters available that can be attached to your machine, or you could use a Guppy Bag or Coraball in your wash to collect. Its still not a perfect solution as the micro plastics collected will still end up in landfill due to no recycling options currently available but they should help reduce the amount in our water systems.

Food waste: Currently about a third of the worlds food is lost or thrown away each year, equating to 1.6b tonnes annually. The UN has set a target of halving food loss and waste by 2030 but if current trends continue it will rise to 2.1b tonnes annually. Look to reduce your home food wastage - check out Anne-Marie Bonneau of Zero Waste Chef for inspiration and tips, we also enjoyed this article with advice from Bianca Mularoni of Zero Waste Path.

Make Your Own: A great way to reduce waste is to make your own. Making your own means no packaging and making the quantity you need, it can also be pretty fun! Some of the easier make your own projects we’ve tried: nut milks, yoghurt, home cleaning products and beauty products.

Shop Local: checking out your local market and high street may offer you package free options or at least shop keepers open to have conversations around using less packaging. You may also find items that have travelled fewer miles and have less of a carbon footprint.

REUSE

Invest in reusable products: Our throwaway culture is to blame for a lot of the current global waste issue. If you find yourself using a single-use item a lot look to invest in a reusable option, such as bottles, cutlery, straws, coffee cups, napkins and handkerchiefs. Also look to reuse your ‘single use’ items as much as possible - we’ve all been there where we’ve forgotten our reusable and had to take the single use but can it be reused? A great example is single use cutlery, we’ve come unstuck in the past but instead of throwing away the single use item we washed it and stashed it in our car glovebox where we know it will come in handy in the future!

Buy Secondhand: Reusing something means less resources used and less going to landfill. When you next find yourself shopping ask yourself if you can find the item secondhand.

Mend: Instead of throwing away broken items look to give them a new lease of life by fixing them. For pottery we love Kintsugi Kits, an ancient Japanese art of beautifully mending breakages with gold tinted glue. There are also great Repair Cafes around where handy volunteers can help you mend your item. Some brands also offer free or affordable repair services - ask when buying to find out.

Containers: If you want to start avoiding single-use packaging having containers to hand is key. Keep an eye on all packaging you currently have and see if any can be reused. We love saving unusual bottles and jars, sacks and bags and having them to hand for future use. Preparation is key for avoiding waste, keeping containers handy will mean you are ready for any unpackaged shopping opportunities.

Water: This is a tip for those chilly winter months where a hot water bottle is essential (for us anyway!) Instead of tipping the cold water down the sink maybe either reheat it up to be used again or tip it out on houseplants. Being mindful of water waste is essential in our modern world where resources are only going to get more scarce. Always think before tipping it down the drain to see if you can use it around the house in anyway.

RECYCLE

Take the time to know your recycling options: Currently 60% of people recycle regularly but that means theres 40% of the population who don’t. Everyone in the UK should have access to a kerbside collection, get in touch with your local council if you have any queries regarding whats available to you. Get organised and start collecting. There are also numerous recycling banks in locations such as supermarkets and car parks that can increase your options of what can be recycled.

Terracycle: This company does amazing things with waste. They offer all sorts of innovative recycling opportunities with a range of free programs you can join to start collecting at home, work or school. They also have a zero waste box (we use this for Incredible Bulk) that can ensure any usually hard to recycle plastic packaging can be recycled instead of being incinerated or sent to landfill.

Upcycling: A great way to turn waste into something useful. You can either look to support local artists and creators who turn waste into pieces of beautiful art, such as Smartie Lids On The Beach, or look to get involved with craft / upcycling workshops, such as those run by Upcycle Kernow,

Products: When buying products look for items that have been made with recycled materials, buying a recycled item means less resources used and less in landfill.

ROT

Compost at home: According to Recycle Now, composting at home for just one year can save global warming gases equivalent to all the CO2 your kettle produces annually, or your washing machine produces in 3 months. When organic waste is sent to landfill air cannot get to it meaning that as it breaks down it creates methane, a harmful greenhouse gas. If composted oxygen helps the waste breakdown which means no methane. If you’re not ready to compost at home check out Sharewaste where you can search for someone who is willing to take your compostable waste!

RESOURCES

Podcasts: A great way to learn about zero waste and listen to personal journeys and advice. There’s Zero Waste Life Hacks Podcast, The Hippie Haven, Zero Waste Countdown, The Sustainable Minimalists amongst many others!

Books: Here are a few of our favourites; No More Plastic, Martin Dorey; Outsmart Waste and Revolution in a Bottle, Tom Szaky; No Impact Man, Colin Beavan, Payback, Margaret Atwood; 6 weeks to Zero Waste, Kate Arnell.

Documentaries: No Impact Man, The Story of Stuff, Minimalism: a Documentary about the Important Things, True Cost.

We hope these will help you on your zero waste journey!

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Organic September

September is organic month with the Soil Association, the UK’s largest organic certification body. We thought it was the perfect time to explain why we think organic is important and let you know our own policy on organic produce when it comes to our product selection.

Here are some snippets from the Soil Association website we wanted to share:

Many people don’t realise almost 300 pesticides can be routinely used in non-organic farming and these are often present in non-organic food despite washing and cooking. Organic farming standards, on the other hand, don't allow any synthetic pesticides and absolutely no herbicides such as Glyphosate.

Organic farmers are permitted to use just 20 pesticides, derived from natural ingredients including citronella and clove oil, but only under very restricted circumstances. Research suggests that if all UK farming was organic, pesticide use would drop by 98%! This means that organic farms are a haven for wildlife and these toxic pesticides can’t make their way into the food chain and into us.

Organic farming has huge environmental benefits as well and not only reduces pollution but helps combat climate change.  If all UK farmland was converted to organic farming, at least 3.2 million tonnes of carbon would be taken up by the soil each year - the equivalent of taking nearly 1 million cars off the road.

Over half of Britain’s wildlife species have declined since 1970, and more than one in ten are currently facing extinction. Intensive farming practices have been identified as the primary drivers of these declines. 75% of UK butterfly species have declined in the past decade and eight of our 25 bumblebee species are threatened, with two already extinct!

Ground breaking research published in the British Journal of Nutrition has found significant nutritional differences between organic and non-organic farming. In 2014, the team at Newcastle University found organic crops are up to 60% higher in a number of key antioxidants than conventionally-grown ones.

From these 5 statements its clear to see why organic farming is so important but unfortunately (and understandably) there is still a price to pay for organic. We’ve found that organic produce is often twice the cost of non-organic and whilst the benefits of organic farming are clear, not everyone can afford to pay for organic products at this point.

At Incredible Bulk we strive to select organic over non-organic when we feel the price is affordable – this is a key part of making Incredible Bulk accessible. Our main aim is to provide people with an easy and convenient way to move towards zero waste; offering a way to avoid single-use plastic packaging and avoid waste going to land fill. Being an affordable option is key for us and we don’t want to price anyone out of being able to shop package free.

We also use the ‘Dirty Dozen’ list and information from the Pesticide Action Network UK to inform our choices. The Dirty Dozen is a list of which fruit and vegetables are most likely to contain pesticide residues. If you can’t go fully organic its good to use this list to see which fruit and veg is best to buy organic over non-organic. Dried grapes (sultanas and raisins) feature on the list which is why we make sure ours are organic. We also found this podcast with Tim Spector interesting, where he names oats, rice and high water content fruit and vegetables as best to go organic but also to think about what you eat most regularly and to see if you can switch to organic for those foods.

Our current food selection is 30% organic and we will always look to increase this where we can. As the Soil Association points out ‘Switching to just one extra organic item really can help contribute to changing our food & farming systems for the better. Demand for more organic food means more organic farms. More organic farms mean fewer pesticides, more wildlife and more animals raised under the very highest standards.’

For more information check out Soil Association , Dirty Dozen(USA) and Dirty Dozen(UK), PAN UK, The truth about organic food Tim Spector.

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Zero Waste Cornwall Guide

Heres our round up of all the great people, businesses and events in Cornwall we’ve come across to help you on your zero waste journey. We'll be keeping it updated and if you have any suggestions to add please get in touch so we can add it!

Bulk / Refill / Zero Waste Shops : take along your own containers and avoid single-use packaging

All You Can Eco: Perranporth

Incredible Bulk : various locations and home delivery

Lets Get Naked Refill : Launceston

No Wrap No Crap : Liskeard

Nourish : Hayle

ReFILL Shop : Bude

The Good Lyfe : Newquay

The Green Forge : St Agnes

The Happy Weigh: various locations West Penwith

The Refill Store : Truro, Goonhavern and Par Market

The Weigh Inn : Penzance

Un_Rap : Falmouth

Natural Health Stores with some refills available:

Archie Browns : Truro, Penzance (some refill options)

Cornish Health Store : Redruth (some refill options)

The Natural Store : Falmouth, Helston, St Austell (some refill options)

Farm Shops and Veg Boxes : Great for fresh local and usually unwrapped fruit and veg, also be sure to keep an eye out while driving around as there are loads of great roadside stalls offering fresh produce not packaged

Baileys Country Store : Penryn (some refill options too)

Bosavern Community Farm : Penzance

Camel CSA : Wadebridge Community veg box

Celtic Produce : Bodmin (has refill options too)

Cusgarne Farm Shop : Cusgarne, Truro

Gear Farm : Helston

Penryn Produce : Veg and Zero Waste Box

Perran-ar-worthal fruit & veg Stall : based on the main A39 Truro-Falmouth road, selling locally grown products

Soul Farm: Falmouth CSA Veg Boxes

The Veg Shop : St Agnes

Tre, Pol & Pen : Lezant (has refill selection too)

Trevaskis Farm : Hayle

Farmers Markets : Great to get select items without packaging as well as local produce that has done little travelling. Most stall holders will listen to your reduced packaging requests and help where they can - don't be shy to ask! You also may come across us - an added bonus!

Devoran Market : Second Saturday of the month 9.30-12

Helston Farmers Market : First Saturday of the month 9.30 - 12

Lostwithiel Farmers Market : Fourth Saturday of the month 10 - 1

Sennen Market : Tuesdays 10-1

The Food Barn Tregew : Every Saturday 9-1

Out & About : Awesome places we've come across that have a sustainable / zero waste vibe

Alice In Scandiland: Beautiful homewares store in Lostwithiel

Cornwall Scrap Store: A treasure trove of goodies! Cornish Scrap Store take unwanted ‘waste’ and offer it to schools, community groups and individuals to upcycle!

Cotna : Retreat space that also puts on interesting diy workshops such as foraging and sourdough baking

Jackson Foundation Gallery : Environmentally focused gallery space in St Just created by Kurt Jackson

Make A Mends : Learn all about how to mend and care for your clothes in this cute shop on Redruth High Street.

Miss Molly’s Tea Room : A treasure trove of vintage, retro and antique furniture, appliances, clothing - be prepared to spend a few hours getting lost in this place!

Mooon Milk Parlour : Refill your milk! Found at St Buryan

Morva Marazion : Cute gift shop that stocks wide selection of Cornish products with minimum plastic packaging

Mount Pleasant Eco Park : A beautiful green spot offering workshops and events, they also have volunteer fridays offering unique hands-on training in a variety of sustainable land-based skills

No 56 : Beautiful homewares store that stocks zero waste / sustainable products

Newquay Community Orchard : A beautiful spot, often has fresh produce for sale and they offer various sustainable workshops and events. You can also volunteer if you have green fingers!

Nude Canteen: Delicious food and veg shop

Olde Rope: Great little eco boutique in Falmouth, also runs events such as clothes swaps

One Blue Eye: Local plastic recycler, turning plastic waste into treasures! Shop in Helston.

Potager : Cafe and garden spot, also offering workshops and volunteering opportunities

Trevisker Garden Centre : Garden centre in Padstow with a refill station for liquid fertiliser!

The Green Waste Company: Based in Hayle and Roche The Green Waste Company offer large scale recycling facilities as well as a service where you can pick up compost with your own trailer - no more bags of compost!

The Queens at 46: Zero waste upcycled clothing shop in Camborne, workshops and classes available too!

Ugly Butterfly : A fine dining restaurant in Carbis Bay striving to end food waste.

Vega: Vegan cafe based in Tintagel. They recycle their waste, all of their food waste goes to feed rescued pigs!

Cornish Brands : a shout out to brands based in Cornwall that are working with a commitment to zero waste that can help you on your journey

Behaviour Change Cornwall : Ghost net bracelets

Castaway Ropeworks : Products made from ghost gear

Circular & Co : these guys don't believe in waste. They design, develop, produce and sell a wide range of products including the R Cup reusable coffee cup, bird feeders, house signs and flower pots made from recycled redundant materials

Beauty Kubes : Organic, plastic free shampoo cubes

Cornish Skin Food : Rachel makes dreamy natural skin care products and from the start of this year moved away from plastic packaging to aluminium tubs and paper wrap

Finisterre : a clothing brand all about sustainability, always looking to push the boundaries in the collections they create

Fishy Filaments : recycle fishing nets into engineering grade filament for 3D printing

Fourth Element : Technical suits and swimwear with a focus on doing everything they can to preserve oceans for the future

Francli Craftwear : Beautifully crafted rucksacks, craftwear and leather goods with an emphasis on repair and remake

Frugi : On a mission to show the world that beautiful children’s clothing can be fun AND ethically sourced

Jacks Kombucha : Traditional small batch kombucha made in Cornwall, refills available!

Jacques Cabin Furniture : Contemporary furniture made using reclaimed materials

Lin Lovekin Baskets: Traditional willow baskets made in Cornwall, great for your refill shopping!

Otter Surfboards: Make, commission or shop wooden surfboards, bodyboards and handplanes!

Roobarb’s: Delicious Asian inspired vegan meals made from surplus unwanted produce

Sapling & Bud : for all your succulent and plant needs - all come in recycled plant pots

Scence : Natural skin care made in Falmouth, all in compostable cardboard packaging

Smartie Lids On The Beach : Beautiful pieces of art made from plastic found on Cornish beaches.

Tinkebu : Sustainable handcrafted wooden toys

Wasted Apple : Cider made from apples that would have gone to waste

Waterhaul : Products made from ocean plastic

West Country Tea Co : plastic free teas, blended in Newquay

Wild Tribe Heroes : Series of children’s books on the ocean plastics problem

Cornwall Specific Online Guidance : Great for both insight and sharing zero waste ideas. 

Cornish Plastic Pollution Coalition : Facebook group to help groups and individuals in Cornwall work together to find targeted local solutions to the marine litter issue

Journey to Zero Waste. Plastic Free Cornwall : Facebook group for those living in Cornwall looking to reduce their waste

Journey to Zero Waste Cornwall (UK) : Facebook group for all living in Cornwall interested in or working towards a more zero waste lifestyle

Minimal Impact Kernow : A blog by Adele Morgan who lives a zero waste lifestyle in Cornwall

ReFILL Cornwall : download the app to find water refill stations near you

Campaigns and Groups : taking zero waste out of the home and onto the streets / beaches, a great way to get involved and learn more

#2minutebeachclean : Community of beach lovers rolling up their sleeves to help rid the world’s beaches of marine litter and plastic pollution, two minutes at a time

Beach Guardian : A Community Interest Company organising beach cleans and information events

Bude Cleaner Seas Project : Bude Cleaner Seas Project is working together with the local community to give Bude the cleanest water quality and the cleanest beaches in Cornwall

Clean Cornwall : Helping to make a cleaner Cornwall

Clean Ocean Sailing : Raising awareness about ocean plastics

Fathoms Free : A volunteer group of marine conservationists running diving and beach clean events

Final Straw Cornwall : A campaign to rid Cornwall of single use plastic straws and raise awareness of the damage single use plastics are causing to our environment

Surfers Against Sewage : An environmental charity based in St Agnes protecting our oceans, find your local beach clean events and plastic free guardians for ways to get involved

Odyssey Innovation : Collecting ocean plastic to recycle into kayaks

Packshare : App to help you upcycle your packaging to people who need it

Repair Cafe : take along items you need fixing, one in Falmouth and Liskeard

Upcycle Kernow : Based in Portreath, offering creative upcycling workshops and events as well as some refills available!

We hope these help you on your zero waste journey so we can keep Cornwall beautiful and waste free- let us know how you get on! 

For guides across UK check out:

beeco

pebble magazine

plastic free net

refill

the zero waste network

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Zero Waste and Plastic Free: Behind the scenes at Incredible Bulk

Its great to be helping people avoid waste when they shop with us, but the responsibility doesn’t end there – we also have a responsibility with the waste that we create. We manage to reduce waste by buying our stock in large bulk quantities but there is still an amount of waste that we end up with.

Our stock comes to us in a variety of forms, luckily mainly in large paper-based sacks or boxes that can be easily reused, composted or recycled but some products do still come in plastic. We look to avoid these where possible and we know all our suppliers are also working hard to reduce the amount of plastic packaging they use. To ensure this plastic waste doesn’t end up in landfill we have a few different processes in place.

For our household cleaning products that come in large plastic containers we return these to the supplier, one supplier Sesi Refill washes and reuses these containers for future orders and our other supplier, Bio D recycles them (they are currently trialling cleaning and reusing, so we’re hopeful this may happen in the future and all our liquid containers will be fully circular!).

For any plastic bags we are left with we work with a company called Terracycle. Terracycle is an innovative recycling company set up by Tom Szaky (if you haven’t read his book Revolution in a Bottle go grab a copy!) and they have developed zero waste solutions for difficult to recycle waste streams. We use their plastic zero waste box for all our plastic packaging, which is then sorted and melted down into small pellets which is then re-purposed into affordable, innovative products instead of being sent to landfill.

These two are our more difficult to re-purpose or recycle items of waste we have come across to date, being a new business we may come across others in the future but we will keep you updated on these as and when they arise – we are looking to keep a waste jar for anything we don’t have a solution for and keep it in the jar until we do. Currently the only item going to landfill is any plastic tape used on boxes sent to us as we have yet to find a solution to this, other than to keep emailing our suppliers who use it and asking them to switch to paper gum tape!

Any questions on our zero waste methods please do get in touch. 

To read more about Terracycle Zero Waste Boxes

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What does Zero Waste mean to us and our journey

Zero waste has become a hot topic over the last decade and since that impactful final episode of Blue Planet 2, reducing waste (particularly plastic) has been on everyone’s mind. Our zero waste journey started in 2013 while we were travelling. In a small café in Luang Prabang we were lucky enough to come across a viewing of Colin Beavan’s No Impact Man, originally released in 2009, based on his book released in the same year. The documentary followed Colin on his year long experiment with his family in New York to have zero impact on the environment. The documentary was honest and real, not polished or heavily edited and Colin’s passion and determination was an inspiration. We had both started to see the impact of plastic waste first hand, particularly when we were travelling to remote, seemingly ‘unspoilt’ islands in Indonesia. The combination of this experience and seeing this movie made the issue of waste and our impact on the planet real and tangible for us.

For Colin, the idea of zero waste for his experiment was ‘to go as far as possible and try to maintain as close to no net environmental impact.’ ‘Zero carbon - yes- but also zero waste in the ground, zero pollution in the air, zero resources sucked from the earth, zero toxins in the water…no environmental impact.’

He asked some difficult questions of the choices we all make that were hard to ignore:

‘How truly necessary are many of the conveniences we take for granted but that, in their manufacture and use, hurt our habitat? How much of our consumption of the planet's resources actually makes us happier and how much just keeps us chained up as wage slaves?’

And by analysing his waste, uncovered the issue of single-use packaging, which made us look at our own waste and packaging:

‘It was not trash per se that got me. It was the throwing away of things used for less than five minutes without so much as a thought before reaching for the exact same product to use for another five minutes before throwing that away, too.’

Following the documentary, we went on to read the book and from there more research followed. We came across Lauren Singer, found on Instagram as her famous handle Trash is for Tossers. Having a visual guide through Instagram was great and acted as an awesome reminder whenever scrolling through! Lauren defines zero waste as ‘No sending anything to landfill, no throwing anything in a trash can, nothing.’ Lauren also came to zero-waste living by becoming conscious of waste, seeing a fellow Environmental Studies classmate come to lunch with disposable water bottle, takeout containers and single-use bag, unintentionally harming the planet they were there to study and protect.

A further resource and inspiration came through Lauren as she sites Bea Johnson as an inspiration and resource on her own zero-waste journey and we’re sure if you’re interested in zero waste you would’ve heard of Bea and her famous 5 Rs: Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Rot; that helped her and her family reduce their waste year on year. In her first blog post on the 24th Dec 2009 she writes  ‘I am inspired to share my experience and open ground for discussion, after all we all play a part on this (endangered) earth. I have put my family on a waste diet for the past 12 months, analysing whatever comes in contact with the bottom of our one home trash can and slowly trying to get it as close to zero waste as possible. In this past year, I have learned to shop, refuse (what is given to me), reduce, reuse, and recycle as little possible (for only such a small percentage of our trash is actually recycled).’

So it was these 3 that became our founding mentors of what it means to be zero waste and how we came to implement changes in our personal lives, starting where they all started – becoming aware of our waste and looking for ways to reduce it. Unknowingly, travelling had already helped us make small changes towards becoming zero waste, such as getting used to living with less (thanks backpack!), using soap bars and toothpaste tablets as they were the best options for backpacking and once we came home we continued to use them. Once home we started to make small changes one at a time. Shopping locally at greengrocers and health food shops allowed us to avoid some single use packaging. Investing in reusables, doing take out less or making sure we had our reusables on us when looking for food and drink on the go. And it was this journey and our increased awareness and interest in zero waste that lead us to Incredible Bulk.

We created Incredible Bulk to give people an easier option to reduce the amount of waste they create, just like we had managed to do thanks to the resources around us. An din creating hte business we continue on our zero waste journey, always looking to see what we can do more of, how we can improve, both as individuals and as a business. We are very aware of how we manage the waste that the business creates (when we buy our products from our suppliers for example) and make sure that where possible nothing gets discarded or goes to landfill.  It often takes more time, more money and is definitely not as easy or convenient – many people on a zero waste journey will be able to relate to this, but as Colin says in No Impact Man - ‘whether it’s human nature or industrial systems that need to change, when it comes to saving the world, the real question is not whether I can make a difference. The real question is whether I am willing to try.’

So we will continue to keep trying and hope to inspire others to do the same!

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Kitting out the Bulkmobile

Once we had brought the Bulkmobile home it was time to turn her into our zero waste shop. We wanted to kit out the van in the most responsible way, taking environmental and business concerns into consideration.

We started by looking into shelving and opted for a custom made shelving system in hardwood plywood. Although a new resource that requires industrial processing, plywood is considered a greener, sustainable hardwood option. Making plywood means being able to utilise more from felled logs as it's mostly made with thin sheets of wood sliced from logs that wouldn’t make very good solid lumber, therefore utilising something that may otherwise be wasted. The shelves were CNC machined and designed in a way to limit waste from a single plywood sheet. Additional shelves needed were made by us (Gemma's dad to be more accurate!) from available off-cuts. 

Earthborn paint was our paint of choice for our shelving as they offer a range of environmentally friendly paint; free from acrylics, oils and vinyl. We went for a grey called Kissing Gate in their Eggshell that's washable (good for food hygiene), virtually VOC free and carries the EU Ecolabel. 

Choosing secondhand where available we found shop baskets to use to display our lifestyle products and our weighing station at the back of the van is made from an Ikea shelf bought from a friend of Gemma's who relocated abroad. We then topped it with a worktop made from recycled yogurt pots, this came with an added bonus of also being a leftover off-cut! We also used this to create our serving shelf. 

We needed to have a sink on-board for hygiene and went for one made from plastic, we chose this over a stainless steel option due to its space-saving design and we are happy that we can utilise a used plastic bottle to hold the waste drainage.

For the containers holding our products we had to opt for plastic. Glass was just too heavy and also a health and safety risk due to potential breakages while driving along. We decided to partner with Addis as their container range is made from food-safe, BPA free, polypropylene which is easy to recycle come the end of the products life-cycle. They are a reputable UK based company, with sound Environmental and Packaging Policies in place. Their products are designed and manufactured to last, with a 10 year guarantee so we hope we'll be using them for many years.   

Outside branding was our final decision for the van. We researched to find the greenest vinyl available and came across 3M Envision wrap. This vinyl film is non-PVC being made from a bio-based material. Its phthalate-free, contains no added chlorine or halogens and uses 58% less solvents than conventional films, eliminating potential hazards to the environment at the end of use. 

So there you have it, a little tour inside our van, if you haven't seen it for yourself yet check out our locations and come and see our little mobile zero waste shop! 

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