Happy Earth Day!
Everything deserves to thrive, our planet included. So on Earth Day, let’s take a chance to commit to protecting it! This year we are all rallying behind the theme ‘Planet vs. Plastics’ to address the plastics crisis and aspire towards a plastic-free future. Across the Highlands & Islands, the work of the Highland Community Waste Partnership (HCWP) is trailblazing the way in reducing waste. We are incredibly inspired by their work, and proud to team with up them to celebrate Earth Day 2024! Read on to hear all about their work from the HCWP Team themselves!
Did you know – if everyone on Earth consumed as much as we do here in the UK, we would need 2.6 Earths to sustain us. This means that we are consuming more than our fair share of the Earth’s resources and at a rate that is not sustainable for the planet.
Furthermore, this consumption -the way that we make, sell, buy, use and dispose of things - accounts for 80% of Scotland’s carbon footprint.
This is why the Highland Community Waste Partnership (HCWP), bringing together eight community groups in the Highlands, is working to change the way that we consume and reduce the amount of resources that we use and waste through our daily habits. From reducing food and packaging waste, to promoting share & repair, we all have a role to play towards more #ConsciousConsumption.
As we celebrate Earth Day, here’s what some of the HCWP Delivery Team have to say about our work:
Clare Sterritt, Velocity Café & Bicycle Workshop, Inverness
My name is Clare Sterritt and I am a HCWP Climate Project Officer for Velocity Café & Bicycle Workshop (Velocity).
I cover a few projects in my HCWP role including:
Working with The Highland Council to encourage the uptake of household food waste recycling in Inverness.
Introducing re-usable cups and lunchboxes and charging for single-use packaging in the Velocity Café.
Promoting packaging-free.
Hosting Climate Café Inverness, a monthly climate book club and regular film nights, to get people thinking and talking about climate change and more conscious consumption.
Encouraging share and repair by hosting our monthly Mending Circle.
Organising waste reduction workshops and events, including: fermenting, Shashiko, and seed saving, bike jumble sales and art material swaps
I also run collaborative events and exhibitions with my HCWP partners.
How has your project helped to reduce waste?
The two main projects we’re involved in are encouraging the uptake of household food waste recycling in Inverness and introducing reusables and charging for single-use packaging at Velocity.
Velocity Café promotes reuse by working to promote reusable takeaway packaging, normalise reuse among customers, demonstrate the viability of reuse options and encourage other local businesses to follow suit. Reusable cups and lunchboxes were introduced in 2002 along with a 40p charge on all single-use takeaway cups and containers. The overall response from the customers was positive and the charge could help offset the cost of introducing reusables. The Zero Waste Scotland ‘Cups Sold Separately’ report suggests that a charge on single-use cups is the most effective incentive for re-use. Velocity have reported a positive reaction from customers on social media with regards to their reusables as well as their single-use cup design.
In a targeted area of Inverness, the number of food waste caddies presented over, the three weeks, survey increased from 28.9% to 31.7% following a door knocking exercise and public engagement which suggests our work with The Highland Council has encouraged residents to use the kerbside food waste recycling service.
How has has your work influenced your own habits around waste?
I am much more aware of conscious consumption and all the different ways I can reduce the waste I produce at work, at home and when I am out and about. It has also been great to see what other HCWP partners are doing across the Highlands so we can all share information and help each other achieve our goals.
Give us your top tip for those looking to reduce waste?
I would encourage everyone to carry a reusable cup or lunch box with them where possible. You never know when and where you could end up stopping for a drink or snack and it really does help save waste. A lot of places are now charging for single-use take away packaging or providing incentives for bringing your own so it could also save you money too.
What area of waste do you believe is the biggest concern & if you could ban one item what would it be?
I don’t think it could be totally banned as a lot of customers are tourists, who need non-returnable packaging but I would like to see a big reduction in take-away packaging as it is generally hard to recycle. Paper and compostable packaging cannot go in Highland blue recycling bins and need a special collection, which is costly and hard to implement, as customers often leave the premises and are unlikely to return with their food and drink packaging.
Although the café keeps single-use items out of sight from customers in order to discourage its use, we do recognise that we also need to promote viable reusable alternatives.
Laura Donelly and Lyn McLardy, Transition Black Isle
We are both HCWP Project Officers for Transition Black Isle.
How has your project helped to reduce waste?
We’ve been involved in supporting the Black Isle Repair Cafe which aims to reduce consumption by repairing what we already own. The repair cafe looks at reducing waste by fixing and repairing items such as textiles and clothing, basic electrical repairs, bikes, woodwork, tool sharpening, digital repairs and general repairs.
We are promoting the message around using reusable cups instead of single use by sharing the information and stats around the complex issue of single use cups as well as providing reusable Keep Cups at a reduced price both at the repair cafe’s and local events and through Rosemarkie Beach Cafe.
We have also been working on leading on the Highland-wide Zero Food Waste Challenge which covers the 6 topics of food waste including planning, shopping, storing, preparing, consuming and composting and currently about to launch the workshops across the Black Isle on these topics.
How has your work influenced your own habits around waste?
We’ve found that the issues surrounding the recycling of single use cups is a lot more complex than we originally thought and have since learned that only 4% of the ‘recyclable’ single cups are actually recycled.
We’ve been using reusable cups for several years now but knowing the facts around the cups, it’s now become much more of a habit to keep these cups handy for those times when grabbing a drink to go, much the same as using reusable shopping bags.
Give us your top tips for those looking to reduce waste?
Taking part in the Zero Food Waste Challenge, it looks at all aspects of reducing waste in our homes and looks at making one small change at a time. It can be overwhelming when looking at the bigger picture of waste and habit changes can be tricky so we suggest working through the challenge and joining in with a workshop near you if you can. It can help to keep things fun and learn new skills at the same time as reducing waste so as to keep it interesting!
What area of waste do you believe is the biggest concern & if you could ban one item what would it be?
A simple answer would be single-use cups as we’ve managed fine without these before and we could certainly manage again!
It is probably our consumption of ‘stuff’ in general that is the main concern and our general throwaway society where our products don’t last as long and we throw them out when we want a new one which is why projects such as the Black Isle Repair Cafe are so important.
Food waste is a huge concern also as ⅓ of the food that we buy is thrown away and most of this avoidable. We won’t be able to eliminate food waste altogether but we can certainly drastically reduce the amount we are producing.
Emma Bee, Broadford & Strath Community Company, Isle of Skye
How has your project helped to reduce waste?
As well as hosting waste reduction events, we are also engaging with businesses by hosting business events and trade fairs to work with both the tourism and retail sectors to look at how to better reduce and recycle waste produced by the 750,000 tourists who visit each year and the 10,700 local residents who reside in Skye. We have also progressed several projects to reduce waste and encourage reuse.
We have a pool of 500 reusable plastic cups that have mainly been used at local music events in Broadford Village Hall (4 gigs with a capacity of 350 at each) and weddings on an ad hoc basis. Cups are handed out to each person as they enter the venue. The cups can be used free of charge and guests are asked to return them at the end of the event.
We have worked together with local businesses to create a unique party kit hire package. All the items within the kit have been sourced second hand from hotels updating their crockery with other items obtained in collaboration with a local charity RagTag.
We are working towards reducing business cardboard waste in Skye, Lochalsh & Raasay. The aim is to make sure that cardboard is being reused as much as possible and sign-post businesses to resources so they can reduce, reuse and recycle their cardboard waste. This will help reduce carbon emissions, reduce waste going to landfill and could save money for SME’s in the area.
We are looking into options for reducing packaging waste in the form of pizza boxes at our campsite and with local businesses. When there is a predictable pattern i.e. camp dwellers regularly taking pizza away from the same businesses, there is an opportunity to implement a reuse scheme. The pizza can be provided in a reusable box, that can be returned to the business upon the next visit. We have already procured the pizza boxes and are trialling with a number of takeaways.
How has your work influenced your own habits around waste?
Since starting with HCWP I have definitely become much more aware of all the areas where I can try and reuse and repair more, whether that’s clothes, water bottles/coffee cups, or trying to fix electronics.
Give us your top tips for those looking to reduce waste?
My top tip would be to reuse, the most sustainable item you can get is the one you already have!
What area of waste do you believe is the biggest concern & if you could ban one item what would it be?
Generally single use takeaway containers of any kind shouldn’t exist. If there was a UK wide ban, people would just get used to taking a reusable cup or food container. When it’s still so convenient to use single use without being charged higher rates, then it’s easier for people to continue using them.
Wherever you are, look around at your own lifestyle today and try to commit to 1 change that will reduce your consumption or waste. It doesn’t need to be massive to make an impact. The climate crisis will not be subdued by 1 person doing climate action perfectly, it will take us all doing it imperfectly.
A massive thank you to the Highland Community Waste Partnership for collaborating with us on this special day! To learn more about the their work and how you can reduce waste at home, in your community or your business, visit their website:
https://www.keepscotlandbeautiful.org/highlandcommunitywaste