Reduce your waste

Did you know...

If just one in ten people in the UK refilled once a week, we'd have 340 million fewer plastic bottles a year in circulation

Plastic pollution overwhelms our oceans with eight million pieces of plastic going into the seas each day. Recent documentaries have highlighted the devastating effect of plastic waste on marine wildlife and the contamination it causes in their food supply.

Plastic is also a growing threat to the climate. Nearly every piece of plastic begins as a fossil fuel and greenhouse gases are emitted at each stage of the plastic lifecycle - extraction, transport, refining, manufacture and disposal.

In 2019, producing and incinerating plastic contributed more than 850 million metric tons of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. This is equal to the greenhouse emissions from 189 coal power plants. If plastic production and use grow as currently planned, by 2030 these emissions could reach 1.34 billion tons per year.

Add to that the fact that 50% of plastic produced is used only once and can then remain in the environment for up to 400 years and it is clear we need to act.

Things you can do to cut down on plastic

• Order milk from the milkman
• Buy boxes of laundry detergent rather than bottles as they can be recycled more easily
• Give up chewing gum (it contains plastic!)
• Wash synthetic fabrics in a special bag. Synthetic clothing or fabrics breaks down each time you wash them releasing tiny pieces of plastic
• Swap shower gel for soap bar
• Reuse water bottles and use Refill
• Shop local
• Use cloth shopping bags that you can reuse
• Shop at plastic free shops

Refill, is an award-winning campaign designed to reduce plastic pollution by making it easy to refill your water bottle instead of buying a plastic one.

Download the free Refill app to find your nearest refill station. We have a range of shops, pubs, cafes and other organisations available in Hereford and the market towns where you can refill for free - just look out for the refill sticker.

There are many websites available that have additional ideas on cutting down, including Greenpeace and WWF websites.