As the Cost of Living crisis takes hold in the UK, charity CLEAR Community finds that ‘going green’ could save people money, as well as cutting down on plastic waste.
CLEAR Community found that changing some of our shopping habits to more environmentally-friendly ways could save households nearly £500 a year.
As well as saving money, if every UK household made these changes it would save an unbelievable 278million kgs of plastic waste*. Much of this waste is classed as soft plastic (e.g. rice/pasta bags) which can’t be easily recycled causing huge environmental issues felt around the world, including Indonesia where the charity carries out their work.
Top 6 shopping tips that could cut shopping bills as well as reducing waste:
Refilling household essentials like herbs, rice and flour at your local zero waste store could save you over £100** a yearBuying loose fruit and vegetables from a fruit and veg shop/stall instead of the supermarket could also save you over £80** a yearStopping buying water in plastic bottles and just refilling a reusable bottle with tap water could save you £50** a yearCutting back on your weekly takeaway coffee and making it home to carry in a reusable coffee cup could save around £128** per yearWhen you can afford it, and if you don’t have a zero waste store nearby, bulk buying items at a supermarket can work out cheaper saving you nearly £50** per yearIf you switch to refilling items like bicarbonate of soda and white vinegar, these can be used as great, natural cleaning alternatives – saving at least £30** on plastic bottles of cleaning spraysQuote from CLEAR Community founder, Chani Leahong:
‘These are tough times, many of us are really feeling the pinch. Every penny counts, so we’d urge people, who don’t already, to compare costs on a like-by-like basis between zero waste/refill stores and fruit and veg stores/stalls versus supermarkets. If you’re someone who uses a lot of herbs and spices, you could save a small fortune getting them refilled!
‘Shopping in this way saves a huge amount of waste being created – much of which can’t easily be recycled and gets shipped around the world until it eventually often gets dumped or burnt.
It might take some time to do their research, but hopefully they find that what’s good for their pocket is good for the planet too’
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Notes to Editors:
Press enquiries: For more information and/or to arrange an interview with our founder Chani (who’s recently appeared on live radio – you can listen here: https://www.clearcommunity.org/clear-community-in-the-news/) please contact Heledd Jones: [email protected] or 07740 354 096
* Substantiation
There are 27 million households in the UK: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/families#
On average households have 20kg of plastic waste every year. https://www.statista.com/topics/4918/plastic-waste-in-the-united-kingdom-uk/
This totals 540 million kg of waste – if every household reduced their waste to 10kg that would halve to 270 million kg of plastic waste.
**
1 – Zero waste stores vs supermarkets. Costs were compared on April 5th, comparing Siop Sero in Cardiff with its nearest supermarket, Morrisons. Some supermarket items were own brand, others were mid-range brands.
Zero waste store per 100g
Supermarket per 100g
(in kg or 100g)
Saving when buying 10 times a year
Porridge oats
£0.12
£0.20
£0.80
£8.00
Buying in 1kgs
Penne
£0.20
£0.26
£0.60
£6.00
Buying in kgs
wholemeal flour
£0.11
£0.20
£0.90
£9.00
Buying in kgs
herbs/spices e.g. chilli powder
£0.20
£2.11
£1.91
£19.10
Buying in 100g
Non bio liquid
£0.35
£0.40
£0.50
£5.00
Buying in kgs
bicarbonate of soda
£0.36
£0.69
£0.33
£3.30
Buying in 100g
chickpeas
£0.22
£0.24
£0.20
£2.00
Buying in kgs
arborio rice
£0.29
£0.35
£0.60
£6.00
Buying in kgs
brown basmati rice
£0.25
£0.40
£1.50
£15.00
Buying in kgs
coarse sea salt
£0.14
£0.34
£2.00
£20.00
Buying in kgs
cleaning spray
£0.26
£0.40
£1.40
£14.00
Buying in kgs
£107.40
2 – in Cardiff market on April 6th, bags of strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and grapes £1 each. On the same day these are all £1.99 each in Morrisons. If you bought 20 of each over a year, the saving would be £79.20 (£159.20 Morrisons; £80 market). Realistically the savings could be larger if you added other fruit and veg too.
3 – If someone buys one bottle of water a week, at an average cost of £1 per bottle, that would be £52. A reusable water bottle could be bought for £2.
4 – If someone buys one take-away coffee a week, at an average cost of £2.50 that would be £130. A reusable coffee cup/flask could be bought for £2
5 – here’s a sample of 6 supermarket bulk buy options, with savings of nearly £10. Easily adding another 20 items to the list could bring the annual savings to £43. (An average saving per item of £1.66 x 26 items = £43.16). Prices found on Morrisons website 6th April 2022.
smaller pack
larger pack
pack sizes
Morrisons long grain rice
£1
£1.20
500g/1kg
Fairy liquid
£1.30
£2
433/780 ml
Morrisons corn flakes
£1
£1.45
500/750
Morrisons extra virgin olive oil
£1.70
£3.79
250ml/1L
Morrisons non bio powder
£2
£4
780g/2.6kg
Morrisons plain flour
£0.39
£0.65
500g/1.5kg
Buying 10 small, or 5 large a year
£74
£65.45
6 – On the Morrisons website (6th April 2022) prices are: Flash cleaning spray £2, Morrisons oven cleaning spray £2, Flash floor cleaning liquid £2. Buying 8 of these a year would total £42. Buying a decent supply of bicarb, white vinegar and lemons would cost around £10.
About CLEAR Community
CLEAR Community offers a community-led approach to tackling the challenges of waste pollution and environmental degradation in Indonesia. In 2021 CLEAR Community processed 5,255kg of waste through their programme of waste banks and education – the equivalent of an African elephant or nearly 12,000 footballs! https://www.clearcommunity.org/hello-2022-our-plans-for-waste-banks-in-indonesia/
CLEAR Community was founded by a female, British engineer, Chani Leahong, who now splits her time between Indonesia and the UK. CLEAR Community is run on a volunteer basis in the UK, based in Ottery St Mary in Devon, with all donations being used directly on their local operations in Indonesia.
For more information visit our website http://www.clearcommunity.org where you’ll find social media links, contact information and further details.
CLEAR Community is a UK Registered Charity no. 1172023
