We spend a lot of time at the beach and have always been environmentally conscious, but in 2016 we discovered the concept of zero waste. The aim of moving towards a zero waste life is to break away from the linear economy (where items are purchased, used, and thrown away) in favour of a more circular economy, where items are bought to last, reused and repurposed. 

It is estimated that each household in the UK produces a tonne of waste each year. All of this waste has to be either sent to landfill, incinerated or recycled. Each of these has an environmental cost, and whenever we are able to reduce or reuse what we buy we make less waste, and reduce the impact on our local and global environment.

Inspired by Earth Food Love, the UK’s first zero waste shop in Totnes, and with fantastic support from our founder members and supporters plus the Plymouth City Council Development fund and Natwest Back Her Business, we opened Jar following a successful crowdfunder in 2019. 

Lots of single use packaging, especially plastic, can't be recycled, and where it can be, recycling also carries an environmental cost. In a zero waste shop you can buy products in your own reusable containers so you only take home the food, or other items, with nothing else to throw away. This is beneficial to the environment if the zero waste shop can purchase the products either in non-plastic packaging, or in bulk such that packaging is reduced, or best of all in returnable packaging that is reused by the distributor or manufacturer. More and more manufacturers are coming on board with circular supply of goods, where containers can be returned and reused. This saves both the environmental cost of producing the packaging and the cost in throwing it away or recycling it.

We are really enjoying our journey to reduce waste; by making one small change at a time, it feels achievable and we hope to hep you feel that way too. We look forward to sharing more tips and ideas for reducing waste through workshops and would love to bring together the local community to help each other make better choices.