Fast fashion, fast food, fast beauty… it all leads to one thing: fast forward to us using way too many of the planet’s precious resources. So how can we reform our click-and-it’s-here habits? Here are our top tips for cutting down and reusing more…
Sharing is caring
No really, it is, and the nifty Olio app lets you do it with just a couple of clicks. Launched as a sustainable food-sharing app, it takes less than a minute to give and get free food and household items, as well as borrow and lend to and from your community. Just take a picture, set a pick-up location and post – you’ll be amazed how quickly unwanted items are snapped up. You might even get to know your neighbours.
Fix it
Here’s a clever idea. Bring your broken items – anything from kettles to bicycles – to a Repair Café and the onsite experts will show you everything you need to know to fix it yourself, there and then. Tools and kits are on hand for you to use, and it’s a community scheme, so you’ll be able to help others with your learned knowledge as you go. Visit the website to find one near you.
Donate and do good
Got an old sofa that you’d hate to send to landfill? Then donate it instead. Working with non-profit organisations and social enterprises, The Reuse Network allows you to donate household items to those that need them most, so you’re reducing waste and tackling poverty in one fell swoop. The British Heart Foundation picks up unwanted furniture and electronics for free, to be resold to fund heart disease research.
Quality over quantity
Buy Me Once is the place to come for products that last. The idea is simple: quality over quantity. It might be easy (and affordable) to buy dozens of cheap and discardable versions of a product every year with a quick online click, but why not spend a little more on something that will last you a lifetime?
Got a great tip on buying less and reusing more? Share your tips @pinwheel_earth
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