Our March meeting was all about low waste living and how to reduce our use of plastic. We had an inspiring talk by Shelley Brown, who owns The Good Life Heatons, an independent waste-free mini market. She explained her personal story of why she decided to open her store, and about why she stocks particular items. I had no idea of the range of refillable products available these days, including refillable wine!! I'm certainly going to give that one a go.
Our baking theme was low waste, so we filled up on cakes made by members using their store cupboard ingredients during the break.
Charlotte Heyhoe, one of our committee members and Craft Club/Lady Skillers sub-group leaders, posed some questions about how we can all be more conscious consumers. She was inspired to reduce her waste by our meeting last year from the Real Junk Food Project, a catering company using food that would otherwise go to waste. We shared ideas as a group, and she gave us information about shops and charities in Manchester and beyond that focus on low waste. There are principles we can follow when making everyday decisions to help change a throwaway mentality and avoid sending waste to landfill, as illustrated below. Small changes are key here; once you've used up your current bottle of shampoo, can you switch a plastic free alternative? I'm definitely going to try. Get in touch with us if you want a copy of her long list of suggestions of swaps and shops!
We also had an amazing raffle prize donated by M20 refills, a zero-waste home delivery service offering eco-friendly products, supplied in re-usable glass bottles. Thanks very much to them!