Think globally, act LOCALLY

For generations people have lived on the planet believing its bounty would be never ending. We dug into the depths of the rock to siphon out molten energy. We fished and hunted. Scores of trees were felled to build our shelters. The earth gave us what we needed without question, because we were few and because we needed it. When the question of need was replaced with the notion of making big money, the few became the many and big corporations began to drain all resources en masse. The fug of convenience began to dissipate and people started to once more understand that the earth is not infinite. It needs to be taken care of if we want it to continue taking care of us. And people are really trying to do that - take ownership and responsibility for their patch - to try and make a difference. Their efforts, whether big or small, all help to make where we live - and how we live - that much better. Here we focus the spotlight on some businesses in our local area that are doing sterling work to champion sustainability, zero waste and ecological conscientiousness - everything we need to tread a little lighter in the world. 

Food is life…what we choose to put into our bodies can make a huge difference to our quality of life. The western world, in recent years, has become increasingly aware of the importance of developing a relationship with the food we eat. The more we know about it - and the bigger hand we take in growing it - the better it tastes and incidentally, the better it tends to be for you! Bangor’s Organic is a veg box company that are passionate about selling local, ethically grown fruit and veg that is cared for naturally and without chemical intervention. They offer free, eco-friendly local delivery in their wind-powered electric van. They’ve been certified as organic for 17 years now and are eager to convert everyone to the plethora of benefits there are to buying and eating locally grown food. 

Since Bude was a Victorian leisure town, the sea pool has been a cornerstone of the pleasure beach ideal. It is a semi-natural, tide-filling pool dug right into the cliff, that has been providing safe and fun sea bathing since the ‘30s. Although this wonderful attraction is free to use, it still requires over £40,000 a year to maintain. The non-profit charity FoBSP (Friends of Bude Sea Pool) was founded with the express purpose of finding ways to maintain and repair the pool whilst crucially, keeping it free to the public. They receive no public funding, but are passionate about keeping this beautiful landmark open and usable. Why knock down and rebuild when you can manage and maintain? Keeping the sea pool tip-top draws thousands of visitors to Bude every year and shows an appreciation of our coastline and the history that has gone before. 

‘Love Bude, hate waste” - that’s the motto of the Bude Refill Shop. Though Bude has always been a leader when it comes to being green, it wasn’t until 2019 that we got our first zero waste refill shop. Run by a small group of volunteers, the social enterprise was founded on the principles of cutting down on waste by just buying what you need, when you need it. Re-purposed plastic tubs and glass jam jars make perfect receptacles for filling up on what you need. By buying in bulk, the Refill Shop is able to sell premium quality products, with more ecological sustainability, at an affordable price - whilst saving thousands of bits of plastic packaging from ending up in landfill. 

The eco-friendly packaging company Flexi-Hex was founded by a group of surfer friends in North Cornwall who were all too aware of the increasing amounts of plastic finding its way into our oceans. They innovated a unique honeycomb packaging structure that is strong, adaptable and biodegradable. Their goal is to raise awareness of marine environments whilst offering attractive and effective packaging that has a positive impact on the planet. 

For our part, we try to be conscientious about our place in the world, without compromising on our ability to offer great service and great products. To minimise waste, we re-use and recycle packaging for delivering and transporting orders - with the help of Flexi-Hex, we are aiming to use fully recycled and recyclable packaging throughout our supply chain in the near future. We offer free local delivery twice a week to all customers within the area and reduce unnecessary travel but collating and organising our deliveries to different parts of the county, reducing our carbon footprint. We work with sustainable wine and spirit companies that produce in eco-friendly ways and also want to reduce packaging and waste - and we’re trying to source more companies like this all the time.

The planet has lots to offer us but we have to work with it, to get the best out of it. A new approach to how we live, shop, eat or drink could have a huge impact upon the earth. Our steps may be small, but they stand against the tide. If steps are like stones and we each drop a pebble in the water, we could build a dam that stems the flow.