I’m thrilled that Homeward Studio has been officially recognised as a Plastic Free Champion as part of Plastic Free Communities, an ambitious community initiative designed to unite and empower organisations to reduce their collective plastic footprint.
I joined the Sustainable Consumer Group in September 2023 and was immediately invited to apply to become a Plastic Free Champion as part of the Surfers Against Sewage national Plastic Free Communities scheme.
The group aims to raise public awareness of how overconsumption is affecting our planet and how simple lifestyle changes can alter that. I was particularly interested in how it was trying to help people and businesses in our area consume less and recycle, repair and repurpose more. It also champions buying locally sourced, seasonal and organic food from local butchers and greengrocers, and encourages people to buy locally sourced and produced items to cut down on the transport needed to get the items to the shops.
We’ve cut out single-use plastic from the shop.
Since its inception, Homeward Studio has always been about good quality, well made, environmentally conscious materials. I’ve never knowingly bought anything to sell in the shop that’s made of single-use plastic. I tend to judge an item by how well it’s been made, what it is made from, who made it, whether it dismantles easily and is recyclable. Better still, is it made of natural materials and can it rot in the ground at the end of its life? These are all the things that pass through my mind when choosing stuff for the shop and when I buy things for myself.
Don’t forget about hidden plastics
Apart from avoiding stocking items made from single-use plastic or buying plastic packaging and labels, I’m looking closely at hidden plastics that you perhaps didn’t even think about, working towards removing it altogether and finding alternatives.
These can often be found in the familiar items that you often buy for your home and I’m trying to stop using these plastics altogether in the shop. If I’m honest, this makes choosing and sourcing stock all the more time consuming and trickier than I’d perhaps like. There are plenty of desirable looking products out there that I could easily buy, but if they’re made of plastic they can’t come in…!
Rosie