A South Tipperary businesswoman is aiming to help the community cut down on plastic waste.
Jenny Brewer runs Zero Waste Market Place in Clonmel which is an organic grocery store and monthly repair shop that hopes to see reusing containers and packing become more mainstream.
She has been operating for the past 2 and a half years and says that she ahs noticed things slightly improve in that time.
However, she said it is hard to compete with cheap supermarket prices, who all use plastic for their packaging.
Jenny is encouraging people to try and make just one change when it comes to their shopping habits:
“There was a time when people would not eve know what a Zero Waste shop was but now it is more mainstream it is not as mainstream as we would like unfortunately because supermarkets just take over everything but people are more aware of it. I would always say you don’t have to go in and do the whole lot and make your whole shop zero waste but if you come in and just decide today you are going to refill a shampoo bottle, and just continue to do that it is just one small thing and then that might lead to something else and you know any way that you can cut down on plastic waste.”
The sustainability advocate has said that there are cheaper ways to go organic too
She says that while it may be cheaper to shop in Supermarkets there are manageable ways that you can start to introduce organic food and products into your weekly shop.
Speaking to Tipp FM Jenny advised first looking at buying the foods that are included in the yearly ‘Dirty Dozen’ list:
“There is such a thing as the Dirty Dozen and the Clean 15, so the Dirty Dozen are the 12 most highly sprayed vegetables and there is a new list brought out every year. So, if you cant afford to go fully organic then maybe have a look at that and see what you eat form that list. They vary year to year but things like strawberries an blueberries, and peppers tomatoes, things like that.”
