LONDON
Zero Waste City Guide
In this guide we tackle the most common barriers to zero waste living in London.
Contents
The interactive map will help you see what resources are around you. The rest of the guide is meant to help you get a head start on your zero waste life in London.
INTERACTIVE MAP
Find out where you can shop zero waste in London
GETTING STARTED
Your Zero Waste Survival Kit
Carrying these items with you will open up a lot of zero waste options. These are just suggestions, so feel free to customize your zero waste survival kit to fit your need.
Do your best not to make any purchases while putting together your kit. For example, you probably already have cutlery you can use instead of buying a new “to-go” set. Most of these items can be found at home or at a secondhand shop, and some of them you can even make!
COMPOSTING
47% of England’s municipal waste is biodegradable
Aside from not buying new things, making sure your food scraps get composted is likely the very best thing you can do to reduce your personal waste footprint. Here’s how to get composting in London:
See if your council collects compost
Check on London Recycles to see if you can get curbside pickup in your area. If you can’t get access, we’ll help connect you to the proper resources to request pickup.
FIND A COMMUNITY COMPOST OR FARMER
If your council won’t pick up your food waste you can have a look at community gardens near you to see if they’ll accept household scraps. Beyond that we’ve also found that some farmers at markets will take bags of compost.
start your own compost
Learn to start a compost or a balcony pot from the Royal Horticultural Society:
HOW DO I TRANSPORT COMPOST?
We’ve found that if you need to keep compost in your home it’s best to freeze it in a bag. That also makes it easier to manage when you’re transporting it to your nearest compost.
GROCERY SHOPPING
Build your zero waste shopping routine
Food is where you will find the most friction when trying to reduce waste.
Get what you can close to home
Go to the store you tend to shop at and do a completely zero waste shopping trip. That way, you know what items you can get without changing your routine.
Find a great bulk store
For the things you can’t get at your usual store, you’ll need to find a specialty store that fills the gaps. Filter the map above to find your closest bulk store.
Build in a trip to a market
If you can find a farmers market close to home or somewhere you visit often, it’s great to build a routine around market days. E.g., every Saturday go to the library, walk downtown, and pick up food from the market on the way home.
ZERO WASTE FOOD DELIVERY
The People’s Pantry is a zero-waste refill service for the N2, N3, N8, N10, N11, N13 and N22 community.
Milk & More delivery service
Did you know you can get milk delivered in refillable bottles? Visit Milk & More to see if you’re in their delivery zone.
save food from going to landfill.
Olio allows you to list and pick up excess food from your neighbors and TooGoodToGo lets you buy leftovers from restaurants.
BUY USED
What you want has already been produced!
Buying used items – especially big items like furniture and cars – not only eliminates the demand for the production (extraction, refinement, manufacture, transport) of a new item, but is also cheaper and often means you are giving money to a neighbor rather than a distant executive.
SHOP SECOND HAND
Ask yourself, “can I get this second hand?” every time you think of something you need to purchase.
JOIN THE GIFT ECONOMY
Buy No Things and Olio are great ways to get into sharing and gifting!
CHOOSE USED TECH
A new laptop creates about 400X its weight in CO2! Electronics are so easy to get used or refurbished and they have an outsize environmental impact.
Support Zero Waste in London
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