For a one-stop online supplier of Fairtrade, ethical, and eco-friendly products, check out the Ethical Superstore purveyors of all things Fairtrade, Organic, Vegan, Plastic Free & Eco Friendly. Departments cover groceries, cleaning, home, fashion, beauty, and gifts. Each product’s credentials are clearly listed - enabling comparison and informed choice - and larger quantities of many products are available, thereby reducing packaging and repeat transport costs.

Reducing packaging (particularly single use plastics) can be a challenge. However, online food refills are available through Peace With the Wild Vegan Food & Vegan Drink Products | Sustainable & Natural Ingredients. Their aim is to supply ethically and sustainably grown and sourced organic, vegan, and palm oil free foods in recyclable and compostable paper bags.

The problem with a lot of sticking tapes is that they contain polypropylene (plastic), which cannot be recycled. Fortunately, plenty of paper alternatives are coming on the market, which are both recyclable and compostable. Check out the selection of brown paper sticking tapes at Peace With the Wild or the lovely patterned ones from “Cascayde” Paper Tape.

If recipe boxes appeal to you (having just the right amount of ingredients can save on waste), consider using Riverford’s seasonal organic selections. This employee owned, Certified B Corporation, provides primarily local organic food and reuses much of its compostable pioneering packaging. It’s commitment to sustainability and climate action includes charity partnerships. For more details on their ethics and ethos visit Riverford Organic Farmers - Organic Fruit & Veg Box Delivery.

London is the world’s largest Fairtrade City. We have a wealth of information, facts, companies, organisations and movements on our doorstep that can help us all to live simply, sustainably and in solidarity with the poor. Check out the Fairtrade website for more resources.

Love to curl up with a good book or thinking of asking for one or giving one as a present?
Sadly, the environmental impact of producing new books is immense, but World of Books
provides a sustainable, environmentally friendly, alternative. Taking excess stock from
charities, that would be forced to bin them, and acquiring stock from the general public,
this UK based Certified B Corporation has won 2 Queen’s Awards and is officially carbon
neutral. It’s aim is to help protect the planet, help charities to prosper, and provide
affordable access to books - which is partly achieved through their Foundation’s support of
relevant charities. Why not check out their stock online.

One company that has really thought about the environmental impact of cleaning
products is Smol. Their products are biodegradable and non toxic; plastic free; and
are supplied in recyclable, compostable, and Forest Stewardship Council (“FSC”)
approved packaging (even the ink is vegetable based). They aim to limit carbon
emissions by supplying concentrated products (which means that water is not being
needlessly transported) direct to consumers by normal Royal Mail post (so that
special deliveries are not required). They also work with a number of charities and
communities. You can find out more from their website and even get free trial packs
mission.

Did you know that Woking Environment Action (WEAct) has launched a series of
repair cafés? A team of volunteers offers free repairs to small electricals, furniture,
garden tools, clothes and textiles (no petrol-driven items and items must be capable
of being carried by one person). The plan is for the repair café to be held at different
locations on the second Saturday of every month from 10am to 1pm (last entry
12.20pm). Donations are welcome to help cover costs and, ideally, email in advance
to say what you will be bringing. Check out the site for more details.

With busy lives and families and full ‘fridges, it is so easy for some foods to get
hidden and forgotten. These days there are plenty of recipes for using up leftovers,
with everyone from Jamie Oliver (Leftovers Recipes | Jamie Oliver); BBC Good
Food (Leftovers recipes | Tesco; How To Use Up Food Leftovers?); and
even the British Heart Foundation (15 thrifty ways to use your leftovers - Heart
Matters – BHF) getting in on the act. However, you can only use up those leftovers
that you have remembered about. Therefore, why not keep a running list of the main
things that need using up and leave the list where everyone in the family will see it?

If you are planning on having a coffee in Woking town centre, did you know that
“The Lighthouse” has its own cafe, called “The Cosy”? Also serving breakfasts and
light lunches, the cafe is a not for profit venture, which supports the work of “The
Lighthouse”. “The Lighthouse” is a hub that hosts “a range of projects to support,
encourage and empower anyone who finds themselves in need”. All coffee is
organic, certified by the Soil Association, and supplied by smallholder farmers or
communities. See here for more details.

The government is considering banning wet wipes that contain plastic (90% of them
in 2021), because the plastic can take decades to decay. 93% of sewer blockages are
said to be caused by wet wipes being flushed down toilets, with “fatbergs” being
overwhelmingly composed of them (90%). This is costing water companies millions
of pounds (with the costs inevitably passed on to consumers). The best solution
would be to carry a damp washable cloth in a water proof container. If you can’t face
that, supermarkets and pharmacies are stocking more and more choice of plant based,
biodegradable, alternatives. Please consider switching to non plastic wet wipes, ahead
of any ban, and please remember not to flush wet wipes down the toilet.

Did you know that doorstep milk deliveries are available in Woking? Milk & More
has a range of 78 refillable products, ranging from milk (of course) and dairy free
alternatives, through to staples such as sugar, rice, and pasta, and also including
cleaning products (household and personal). Their ethos is to champion smaller,
local, suppliers who embrace responsible, eco-friendly, farming. More information
can be found here.

Did you know that Kingfield in Woking has a laundry and cleaning service that aims
to be eco-friendly? Lemon Fresh Laundry Lemon Fresh Laundry and Dry Cleaning
Services is Trading
Standards Approved and Checkatrade verified. Where possible the laundry
uses eco-friendly and cruelty free products, as well as reusable or
biodegradable plastic covers. It also has a refill station for a number of Ecover
cleaning products - which results in less single use plastic and is cheaper than buying
the product new again.

Buying cut flowers can have a detrimental impact on the environment and workers. Many flowers
are grown in greenhouses and/or travel long distances in refrigerated planes or trucks, so that carbon
emissions are high. Furthermore, there is evidence that the excessive use of pesticides and
herbicides are harming pollinators (such as bees) and workers. The flowers are also often wrapped
in plastic, which can end up in landfill. Bloom and Wild is a cut flower delivery company that
strives to be sustainable, carbon neutral, and fair to workers. By using 100% recyclable or
compostable packaging, it claims to have saved 84,069kg of plastic from landfill in 2022 alone,
whilst over 70% of its deliveries are made on foot, bike or electric van. It has also donated £500,000
to charity partners. Find out more on their website.

DescriptHave you got a child at university or about to leave home? Do they (or you) want to save money on food and help prevent food wastage? Too Good To Go is an app that enables members of the public to purchase food, that might otherwise go to waste, from local restaurants and cafés at bargain prices. The downsides are that the food itself will be a surprise and you’ll need to collect it when the food outlet is about to close, but you choose the retailer and the savings will be enormous.ion goes here

Have you come across reusable make up removing cloths? There are a number of brands, including the widely available Danielle Creations’ “Erase Your Face”, which come in larger cloths or smaller pad sizes. With just warm water, these cloths are highly effective at removing make up without the need for harmful chemicals or synthetic make up removers - making them ideal for sensitive skin. The cloths can be rinsed or else washed many times, thereby reducing the number of disposable make up wipes or cotton wool pads that end up in landfill (or wash up on our shores). You
could even support the Leprosy Mission by buying from them .

Affinity Water have a quiz which allows you to work out your water footprint and get free water saving devices from them. Our water comes from the same groundwater sources as our chalk streams. But they are actually quite rare. Of the 260 chalk streams on Earth, 224 can be found in the English countryside, and many are in our region.
We can do our bit by saving water every day to protect these precious streams. Visit their site.

Pumpkin carving is increasingly popular in the UK, but (unlike the Americans) we have a poor track record for eating the healthy pumpkin flesh (which is rich in vitamins, minerals, and fibre). The environmental charity, Hubbub, predicted in 2022 that over half the pumpkins bought for Halloween would go to waste (around 15 million of them). There are plenty of sweet and savoury recipes for pumpkins, but one problem is that they are now grown for speed and size, which means that they can lack flavour. One solution is to use plenty of spices. Alternatively, why not carve tastier members of the squash family (which also rot less quickly) and then make soups, curries, and other meals from them? Butternut squashes are particularly tasty and readily available.

A great way to reduce your environmental impact is to refill existing containers. Fortunately, we can now do this in Woking at The Refill Room, Kingfield Road, GU22 9EE (which shares premises with Lemon Fresh Laundry). Taking up the baton from the much missed Bare+Fair in The Peacocks Centre, their range includes herbs and spices, tea and coffee, pulses and pasta, cereals, oils and vinegars, flour, dried fruit and nuts, vegan hot chocolate powders, and ethical cleaning products. The owner is keen to meet the needs of the community and wants to know what we would like her to stock, so that she may expand her range. For more information and to show your support, you can follow them on Instagram @the_refill_room on Instagram or @theRefillRoomWoking on Facebook or, better still, why not call in with your empty containers?