When we started on our zero waste journey back in 2017, we didn’t know what we were doing. Sometimes it feels like we still don’t! We had some some photos on Instagram and read some blogs and we knew that we wanted to make this lifestyle shift - but we had no idea how to do it.
Luckily for us, our city is home to a wonderful organisation called London Environmental Network (LEN), whose mission is to build participation, collaboration, and capacity in our community to co-create positive environmental change. LEN connected us with Zero Waste Forest City (ZWFC), an Instagram account that started out by documenting one London woman’s journey to live waste and package free.
Jordan, Shannon and Liny from ZWFC became Reimagine’s first collaborators, we hosted workshops together and they inspired us to move forward with our vision for a zero waste store and community space for London. Along the way, they shared with us this fabulous resource (which we have since added to): A directory of zero waste friendly businesses in London.
This directory really helped us when we starting out on our zero waste journey and didn’t know where to go! While some things have shifted a little due to COVID, many of these businesses are still endeavouring to minimize waste. Whether its second hand clothing stores, places where you can borrow instead of buy or food establishments that eschew single-use packaging, there are so many ways to reduce waste when you shop.
That said, keen readers will be aware that the biggest way to minimize waste is not to reduce but to refuse - to “just say no” - but that’s a topic for another post ;)
What do you think of this directory? Is one of your favourite shops, restaurants or other establishments missing? Is something on there that shouldn’t be? The list is publicly editable, so please add to it, update it, and leave comments!
We dream of the day when a list like this becomes, firstly, too big to maintain and, eventually, redundant. Let’s make zero-waste the norm! Let’s reimagine our relationship to stuff. Let’s reimagine waste.