Journey to Zero Waste Sedbergh

In an age where our television schedules are saturated with entertainment and information based programmes all vying for our attention, it’s not often something has the power to affect real change in public behaviour. But Blue Planet did exactly that recently, when David Attenborough demonstrated so powerfully how our overuse of single use plastics is having a tragic effect on our oceans and marine life.

But if we are honest with ourselves, wasn’t he simply highlighting what we already knew? There’s nothing like a national treasure saying it out loud though, to make you sit up and take notice.

Zero Waste Sedbergh has been set up to act as a support and information network. It will be a place where people can ask and answer questions, encourage each other, and exchange ideas on the theme of reducing waste, whether as a consumer or as a business.

The title of the group is, admittedly, a tad overwhelming: Sedbergh will almost certainly never achieve Zero Waste. But wouldn’t it be great to be the town to try?

So here is the challenge: in the month of June, make one or two small changes. It could be as simple as remembering to put your re-usable bags in the car before the big shop. It might be choosing to buy your fruit and veg from the Wednesday market, plastic free. Or maybe, when doing the kids’ packed lunches, replace plastic sandwich bags with reusable airtight containers… Our journey has to start somewhere, and as the saying goes: little by little, a little becomes a lot.