Zero Waste
Living a sustainable lifestyle has become increasingly popular in recent years due to media attention on plastic pollution and climate change. This is really exciting to see as it means we are waking up to the effects we have had on our world and looking to change those damaging behaviours.
The trouble is it can be confusing and daunting at first. Remember that going zero waste is not something you will achieve overnight but through little, conscious changes everyday.
What makes Earthian different?
Calling ourselves a Zero Waste Shop comes with a great responsibility. Our aim isn't just to help our customers reduce household waste, but to embody sustainable and ethical practices, in the hope that this will become normal in business.
We have set ourselves specific targets that are in line with the international Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). So far, we have achieved the status of Carbon Neutral. We also hope to be accredited as Zero Waste To Landfill and recognized through third-party assessment as a B-Corporation.
The five "R"s of sustainability
Some of these terms may be familiar already, but the order of these five steps to living more sustainably is also really important. From left to right, they are a hierarchy of the most sustainable behaviours you can adopt and how much impact they can have.
How are we working towards these goals?
Packaging is one of the biggest challenges we face. To reduce packaging waste from suppliers and from running our shop, we:
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Send packaging back for refilling in closed-loop supply chains.
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Recycle as much as possible locally and through ReFactory.
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Give boxes and food sacks a new life through local donation.
Sustainable action isn't just about the earth, its about people and the local community too. Which is why we will be using our shop to:
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Support, promote and volunteer to be a part of sustainable action in and around Winchester.
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Organise events, such as litter picking and educational days.
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Be ethical, transparent and fair as a local employer.
The first step is to refuse, to stop bringing products, packaging and waste into your life that you don't need. What you have should stay useful for as long as possible, and when it finally comes to the end of it's life, it is returned to nature through composting.
Recycling Collections at Earthian
What can you do to make
a difference?
Being a conscientious and ethical consumer is a huge step towards living a more sustainable life. How you interact with your local community ripples out into the wider world. The same is true for how you shop, by valuing sustainable and earth-friendly products over those that are manufactured without care for the planet, animals or people.
To support your efforts at home, we are a collection point for four different types of recycling.
Firstly, we collect milk bottle tops and baked goods bags for Terracyle, a company that takes usually hard to recycle materials that don't go in the council bins. We also collect printer cartridges to raise money for Winchester Youth Counselling services and we have a Bra Bank in store which takes bras in all conditions
Please click on the collection buttons below for the rules of each collection and the good causes that your recycling supports out in the wider world.
Recycling Collections in Winchester
The team at Earthian Zero Waste Shop also curated and maintain the below public resource, which is a map of collection points and recycling bins in and around Winchester. We collated the information from multiple sources and have included full lists of what each collection or bin accepts to make it easier for you to know how to safely dispose of recycling in your local area.
We will endeavour to keep this map up to date, but if you find anything has changed please let us know.