Our rates of consumption of new items have drastically increased over recent years. The rise of cheap, unethical online stores has encouraged people to buy new, poor-quality items that often end up in landfill not long after their purchase. Buying second hand will greatly reduce your carbon footprint and reduce the amount of waste going to landfill.
Top Tips to Try
- Join your local tool library. It is estimated that the average drill sitting in someone’s home has only been used for 10 minutes! So don’t buy new and borrow instead. They are often full of other things you can borrow too ranging from camping equipment to e-bikes.
- Keep your eye on different sites: Facebook Marketplace & Groups, Gumtree, Olio (I got myself an unused screen-printing kit off there!) are some good ones.
- Have a swap shop day at your work. Encourage staff to bring in items they no longer need, and people can take home what they want! Anything else can be donated or recycled appropriately.
Resource of the Week
Vinted is my absolute favourite online second-hand store. People will often put new or barely used items (not just clothing!) on there. I get all my shoes from there now!
This week’s task
- Set yourself up with a second-hand goal. For example, “I’m not going to buy any new clothes for 6 months” or “I’m going to search for a second-hand coffee machine instead”. Write down your goal as you are 42% more likely to stick to it!
What are you doing to reduce your impact?
Our Heritage Trainee for Wales, Izzy, attended Heritage Carbon Literacy Training. She had this to say:
“Carbon Literacy Training really opened my eyes about all of the different things that can impact your carbon footprint and the actions that heritage organisations can take to reduce their carbon emissions. I thought that the course was really well structured and got through all of the quite extensive information in a relatively short time without making it feel rushed. It has been a great experience and I am currently considering my pledges and what I can do to make a difference “
We have been facilitating this training, to see available upcoming courses see our Eventbrite page.
Send me a wee email (picture optional but encouraged!) if you want to include something you are doing to be more eco conscious at work or at home in next week’s bulletin!
