Our current economy is linear, in which we take from nature, make, use and mainly dispose of products. This is no longer sustainable and we are creating large amounts of ‘waste’. There is no such thing as ‘throwing away’: it all goes somewhere.
The circular economy is about getting the most out of our resources and considering the whole lifecycle of a product or building from the outset, having products that are more durable, are easy to disassemble and reuse or recycle at the end of life. Alternative business models such as leasing and sharing also ensure that products are used to their maximum potential and kept in circulation longer.
The UK generated 222.9 million tonnes of waste in 2016. That’s approximately 3.37 tonnes of waste created per person each year. ‘Recycling and other recovery’ was the most common waste treatment type in the UK, accounting for 104.0 million tonnes (48.5%) in 2016. However, we still disposed of 52.3 million tonnes of waste in landfill in 2016 which creates methane, one of the ‘greenhouse’ gases.
These figures were revised in Feb 19 with an increase of 10-20% for all years (so the problem is getting worse) but with the proportions of generation and recovery remaining much the same. (DEFRA 7 Mar 19).
Buy less. We need to only buy the clothes we know we will wear, the food we know we will eat. We can only ‘buy one get one free’ if we know we want both or can share with someone else. We can choose products with less packaging – or no packaging at all. We can take our containers to refill at certain shops. We can buy snacks in bigger quantities and decant into smaller containers instead of buying single portion snacks.
Wincanton - Fruit & Veg and The Whole in Cole’s Yard sell loose fruit & veg (of course), rice, muesli, cleaning products etc. Take your own container to fill.
Castle Cary – Unwrapped Essentials opposite the Horse Pond sell the same sorts of things except for the fruit & veg.
Do you know of other local shops that do the same?
More ideas - Ten tips to reduce your ‘plastic footprint’
What are your tips for reducing consumption?
WINCANTON FREECYCLE Facebook group - Wincanton freecycle, a Facebook group where you can offer or ask for items to give or be given away.
FREECYCLE: An online group for offering or asking for items to give or be given away in Wincanton/Bruton/Cary area
STREETBANK: A website for local lending, borrowing or giving away items. Sign up to register for your area. You need to have something to offer to sign up.
DONATEIT: Donate your unwanted smart tech to DonateIT via one of their drop off points at Wincanton Library or F J Chalke, Saxon Way, Wincanton Business Park (or via the Fixy Van - see below in the Repair section). Donate IT is a local not-for- profit organisation that cleans the memory with an accredited data wiping program that complies with General Data Protection Regulations. It is then passed on to people who need it such as families with children who need a computer for home learning. Anything that cannot be re-used is recycled to recover the precious metals and rare Earth minerals and to protect the environment from contamination. Please note that Apple products must be released from their iCloud accounts and deleted from 'Find my phone'.
WINCANTON LIBRARY Which is greener? Books or e-books? The answer is neither. There is a third more sustainable option: the library. Using the library, which is a valuable community resource, also helps to keep it going and makes it less likely to be closed down. For upto date information, visit their Facebook page.
BOOTMAKERS WORKSHOP (next to the Post Office) hold a monthly clothes swap. You can earn credits with your unwanted clothes & shoes and exchange other items at the time or at a later date.
CLOTHES SWAP Hold a clothes swap with friends at someone’s house and, if you agree on a sum to take part or for each item swapped, raise money for charity at the same time. There are usually lots of items of clothing left over at these events which can then be donated to a charity shop or, if suitable, a refugee support charity such as RAISE (Refugee Action on Somerset East).
AND, OF COURSE, THERE ARE ALWAYS THE CHARITY SHOPS.
Reusing materials and products also means repairing what we own.
Moths got your jumper? Ripped your trousers? YouTube has repair guides for all scenarios like this one for repairing moth holes in jumpers.
Repair What You Wear – website showing videos of how to repair all sorts of clothing from jeans to knitwear, socks to uniforms.
Your "repair kit" can contain the usual things such as needle, thread, darning wool, glue, string, sellotape and newer, innovative, products such as Sugru, which is malleable, comes in different colours and remains flexible when it "sets". This video explains how to use Sugru.
If you can't repair something yourself, consider taking it to someone who can.
One Planet Wincanton now has a Repair Café which is open 10.00 – 13.00 on the fourth Saturday of each month (5th Saturday in August and none in December) which is held in The Balsam Centre. We are not in competition with High Street shops but repair things that often aren’t bothered with and may otherwise end up in landfill. You can bring things and either learn how to repair them or have them repaired by our volunteer repairers. Depending on volunteer availability, we generally offer electrical, electronic, sewing, soft toy, general mechanical, leather and jewellery repairs, darning and crochet tuition. Repairs are free unless there are any materials costs (although donations will help to keep the Repair Café going and will be put towards running costs). Check the Repair Cafe section of the Projects Page and the News section of this website for any updates.
There is also the Men’s Shed at The Balsam Centre (Tuesdays and Thursdays 10am - 12noon) where they might be able to fix your wooden chair leg or carry out other basic wood repairs.
Fixy van. Somerset Waste Partnership now has a repair van called ‘Fixy’ which visits events, schools and businesses to: promote repair, support repair cafes with tools and a PAT testing safety service and collect smart tech for reuse. Fixy visited One Planet Wincanton’s Repair Café in September 2022. Find out where it’s going to be next at https://www.somerset.gov.uk/bins-recycling-and-waste/fixy/ or click this link.
Recycling smart tech with DonateIT. Smart tech collected by Fixy goes to DonateIT a local not-for-profit organisation that cleans the memory with an accredited data wiping program that complies with General Data Protection Regulations. It is then passed on to people who need it such as families with children who need a computer for home learning. Anything that cannot be re-used is recycled to recover the precious metals and rare Earth minerals and to protect the environment from contamination. Please note that Apple products must be released from their iCloud accounts and deleted from 'Find my phone'. We now have drop off points for DonateIT at Wincanton Library and F J Chalke, Saxon Way, Wincanton Business Park.
Don't forget the joys and satisfaction of upcycling! From summerhouses to sculptures nothing beats the sense of achievement of making something from "junk". There are YouTube videos on building sheds from pallets along with numerous examples of art created from waste. It can be anything from making new clothes - a skirt from a pair of jeans, to simple art from hanging salvaged lenses (maybe hang this one in the shade though... you might not want to set fire to your house).
And if you don't want to make anything yourself, donate your beads, buttons, wool, fabric, etc to the Bootmakers Workshop on the Market Square, Wincanton who will use your items in craft workshops with adults and children. The Bootmakers also holds clothes swaps periodically.
Your black rubbish bin should be just for the stuff that absolutely can't be recycled. Don't assume that your broken item can't be recycled - for example, electrical items can be stripped for their components but this won't be done if it's in the black bin. Small electrical items can now be put out with your weekly recycling. For more information on this and on what else can be put out with your weekly recycling collections go to Somerset Council's Waste and Recycling website.
To find a Somerset Recycling Centre location and opening times for larger items go to Somerset Waste Recycling Centres. And if you would really like to continue using it take it to one of One Planet Wincanton’s monthly Repair Cafes to see if it can be repaired. Check out the News page for location and dates.
Some items of household rubbish are hard to recycle. Here are a few items you can recycle at local schools AND help them to raise funds also at other sites
A waste audit helps us understand what we throw out and where we can cut down on waste.
To get started, pick an area of your house where the bin is full. Lay out the contents of your bin until it is empty, then write a list of everything you've found inside and put a tally next to each item. Order your list by what you throw out most to least. Start at the top and research a low waste solution to it! For example, if you throw out a lot of beauty product containers then you could switch to plastic-free products. Work your way through your list like this until you get to the end.
Understanding what you throw out is the first step to learning to live with less!
