We wanted to highlight Eco Savvy’s vision of making a positive impact on the Isle of Arran. Our goal is to create a happy, thriving community that lives sustainably. With clean air, zero waste, and a beautiful, unspoiled environment. We envision a place enriched with healthy wildlife, flora, and fauna.

The term “sustainability” is often overused, and many people aren’t quite sure what it really means. The UN defined sustainability in 1987 as “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”

To encourage everyone to embrace this concept, we’ve created a Sustainable September Challenge. The challenge has 30 boxes with ideas the we hope will inspire you to make changes. We hope that the challenge will hopefully inspire you, to make various changes – some small, and some more significant. Each week we will try to focus on a specific area and the first week encompasses Zero Waste Week which beings on the 2nd of September.

You can print out the calendar to pop up onto your fridge or save our post if you use social media. We would also love to follow along on your journey to being more sustainable. You can email us at sofi.arranecosavvy.org.uk. Or tag us in any posts on social media using #SustainableSeptemberAES

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What is Zero Waste Week?

Zero Waste Week is a grassroots annual awareness campaign that takes place both online and in local communities. It aims to help households, businesses, and organisations reduce their landfill waste, leading to cost savings, resource preservation, and environmental protection.

When considering the impact of our lifestyles on the planet, we often focus on plastic bottles or our means of transport. However, food waste is one of the most significant contributors to climate change. Shockingly, an estimated 1.3 billion tonnes of food is wasted worldwide each year.

Food waste generates large amounts of emissions at every stage. From growing and harvesting to processing, packaging, transportation, and even cooking. In Scotland, 59% of food waste comes from households. Reducing food waste could save the average Scottish household £470 per year. While a family of four could save around £700. That’s a substantial amount of savings!

Zero Waste Scotland have created a bite-size course where you’ll discover in 15 minutes, small and easy ways you can make changes to the way you shop, cook and eat. It’s broken down into five easy to complete sections. Once complete you’ll receive a meal planner and top tips designed to help you put your new knowledge into action.

Composting

Food waste that heads to landfill releases methane into the atmosphere – a harmful greenhouse gas. If you were to instead recycle or compost the waste at home, it would be given a second life as compost or liquid fertiliser which in turn would help you grow your own. This guide here covers the different types of composting methods. Trench composting or sheet composting is useful for those who don’t have lots of time to space. Its also important to make sure you are composting the right things, more information can be found here.

Reducing Waste at Home

One of the simplest ways to reduce waste at home is to plan ahead for the week. Checking your cupboards and fridge before making a shopping list can help prevent overbuying. Meal planning ensures you purchase only the ingredients you actually need, minimising food waste.

When shopping, try to buy loose produce to cut down on packaging waste. However, we understand that this isn’t always possible on Arran. Fortunately, there are local options available! Robin Gray’s Island Gourmet offers weekly vegetable boxes,  Woodside Farm CIC has a produce vending machine and you can also pick up fresh, local produce at the Zero Waste Cafes, which run twice a week. Clachaig Farm provides an honesty box filled with locally grown items.

When you shop using bulk goods containers, you can buy exactly what you need. Whether it’s just the right amount of lentils or grains for a new recipe or a larger quantity. This also reduces packaging waste. Visit our zero-waste dispensers at our travelling cafes or shop at The Bay Kitchen & Store in Whiting Bay.

Community Gardens

On Arran, we are fortunate to have several community gardens, thanks to the support of the Arran Pioneer Project. These gardens, located throughout the island, are helping to transform land use on Arran and beyond, promoting sustainable practices that benefit everyone. They are great examples of how land can be used sustainably and thrive on community engagement and involvement. If you’re interested in volunteering or learning more, you can find additional information here.

Shopping locally not only supports the community but also reduces emissions associated with shipping products onto the island.

Growing at Home

There are many great reasons to grow your own food at home, and you don’t need a large space to get started. This year, I grew my tomatoes on a kitchen windowsill! Home-grown food eliminates the need for long-distance transportation from source to market, reducing carbon emissions. It also helps cut down on food waste since you’re less likely to let something spoil after putting in the effort to grow it yourself. Plus, there’s no packaging involved. Growing your own food is also a wonderful way to get children involved! By sowing seeds, planting, and harvesting their produce, it makes it a fun and educational activity for the whole family. They could even help to cook their produce!

Visiting a Zero Waste Cafe

Our Zero Waste Cafe operates twice a week in different villages around the island. The aim is to provide more access to local, sustainable, and affordable produce. By supporting local growers, reducing food waste and packaging, and minimising the need for travel, our cafe positively impacts the environment while celebrating good food and community spirit.

The cafes are open to everyone and offer a great opportunity to socialise. At our cafe, you’ll find a cosy setup with tea, coffee, vegan home-baked goods, soup, and bread. We also offer a range of zero-waste dispensers stocked with everyday staples like flour and rice, as well as more unique options like spelt flour and jumbo couscous.

Research on Plant Based Diets

Research indicates that a diet rich in plant-based foods can improve our health and lower the environmental footprint of what we eat. Estimates suggest that if everyone in the UK followed the Eatwell Guide, it could reduce the environmental impact of our diets by about a third on average. If over the course of a year you were to skip meat and cheese for one day a week with your family, it would have the same impact as taking your car off the road for five weeks. Megan, our Zero Waste Cafe Support Worker writes a monthly blog about What’s in Season which features vegan recipes.

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If you want to look further into how we can reduce our food waste and eat more sustainably then why check out our Savvy Food pack? You can view it online here or pick up a copy from one of our Zero Waste Cafes or our Active Travel hub on Tuesdays at the Ormidale Pavilion. If you have any questions about sustainable eating or want to hear about upcoming sustainable food workshops then email jess@arranecosavvy.org.uk

We hope the first instalment of our Sustainable September challenge series inspires you to make small changes, so that together, we can help make Arran a more sustainable place.