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Shop local

Whatever the occasion, we are supporting residents to be WasteAware, and give gifts that are kind to their pockets and the planet.

 

Where to shop

Alternative gift list

It can be hard to think of original and eco-friendly gifts to buy for your nearest and dearest, so see if our suggestions below give you a helping hand:

  • plant a tree/dedicate a tree
  • donate to charity/sponsor/adopt an animal
  • gIft membership to any of the local charities, for example Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust.
  • reusable items e.g. water bottle
  • a growler or keg of beer that can be refilled at local breweries
  • locally grown produce - create a hamper
  • books by local authors
  • vouchers for local shops
  • vouchers for eco shops
  • vouchers for local restaurants
  • battery recharger - for all those new toys/gadgets
  • passes to local activities/attractions
  • online subscriptions for magazines or books, e.g. audible/kindle
  • foraging experience
  • cooking/cocktail experiences
  • bake something as a gift
  • brew your own - beer/gin/wine making kit
  • make a wreath or flower arrangement as a gift
  • book an afternoon tea
  • create an 'at home' spa day with eco friendly products
  • sign up for a craft course - perhaps an online course
  • look for unusual gifts like naming a star
  • voucher for family tree websites like Ancestry
  • get a great read from one of these ethical bookshops
  • commission a local musician to write a personal song
  • commission a local artist to paint/create a piece of art

Let us know of other ideas by emailing wasteaware@hertfordshire.gov.uk

Refill and zero waste shops

Local online markets

The global pandemic means there are far fewer in-person markets and craft fayres around this year. So we've selected a handful of online directories where you can find local and eco gifts, as well as food, drinks and activities - just remember to take your reusable bag!:

 

Local second hand shops

Charity shops can also be a fabulous source of low cost gems. Secondhand doesn’t make it second best, you can pick up quality items with a lower impact on the planet.

If you’re having a clear out remember that one person's waste is another person's treasure. Donate items to a local charity shop, Reuse centres, sell them or give them to those in need.

Broxbourne

    The Trading Centre, Hoddesdon - antiques and bric-a-brac.

 

Dacorum

    Emmaus (Boxmoor) - upcycled furniture and clothes
    Emmaus (Tring) - upcycled furniture and clothes
    Returned to Glory - upcycled furniture
    Vyconic - unique upcycled gifts
    Loft 68 Vintage - vintage clothes
    Swan Antiques (Boxmoor)
    Vintage Vagabond - upcycled furniture and bric-a-brac
    Home and Colonial Antiques
    F & R Boutique - pre-loved clothes
    Hemel Hempstead Reuse Movement.

 

East Herts

    Ware Reuse Centre
    Kelly Swallow upcycled furniture, based in Hertford, mainly chairs made to order
    Mint of Hertford - high-end preowned clothes
    Mark Wines Antiques, Hertford
    Herts and Essex Antiques Centre, Sawbridgeworth
    Cromwells Antiques Centre, Sawbridgeworth
    Antiques and Chic, Sawbridgeworth
    Maltings Antiques, Sawbridgeworth
    Magpie Amore, Hertford. Vintage clothes
    Bell St Vintage, Sawbridgeworth. Vintage clothes.

 

North Herts

 
    Tracey Andrews Interiors - upcycled furniture
    The Furniture Parlour - upcycled furniture
    H Town Rags - vintage clothes
    The Fleetville Emporium - furniture, clothes, bric-a-brac
    Jolly Brown Vintage - vintage clothes.

 

St Albans

    Emmaus (St Albans) - upcycled furniture and clothes
    Harpenden Reuse Centre
    Little Viking Vintage - vintage clothes.

 

Stevenage

    Spruse - upcycled furniture.

 

Three Rivers

    9 Lives Furniture - clothes and upcycled furniture
    Croxley Antiques and Collectables.

 

Watford    

    Waterdale Reuse Centre.

 

Welwyn Hatfield    

    Recover - upcycled furniture

 

You can also search for online charity shops.

Preloved - buy and sell used items.

Bookshop - supports local book shops. You can choose for the profit to go to your local shop or it goes into a shared pot.

 

Charities

Many of us find it hard to think of items to go on our gift list as we often have so much already and can buy what we need throughout the year. If you don’t need anything for yourself, it would be wonderful to see you ask friends and families for a donation to one of these local charities:

Children

 
Adults

 

Foodbanks

 
Animals

 
Eco

Why Shop Local?

We encourage you to think of the environmental impact of gifts and celebrations this year, by purchasing low waste or local gifts and food.

Buying locally made gifts is a great way to support your local economy while looking after the planet, resulting in fewer miles travelled, and therefore a smaller carbon footprint. These items can also have a more transparent, shorter supply chain, making it easier for you to know what goes into your products and where they come from!

Buying from local businesses often also means less packaging (especially when you take your own bag), it saves the layers of bubble wrap, plastic wrap, and cardboard which usually comes with online orders! All of these benefits and more come with buying locally grown!

You can often buy plastic free, locally grown, organic vegetables from local markets and farm shops which are kinder to the planet, and better for you too.

You can also read about the Sustainable Hertfordshire Strategy, detailing what the council are doing to ensure the county is more sustainable?

What to watch

If you’re looking to add some environmentally themed content into your routine, we’ve pulled together a list of documentaries that tackle different aspects of sustainability.

From food waste to fast fashion and climate change, you can learn a bit about the issues impacting our planet and how you can help.

The views expressed in these documentaries do not necessarily represent our own, but highlight key environmental issues.

Climate change, pollution and conservation

  • 2040
  • A Life on Our Planet
  • A Plastic Planet
  • Our Planet
  • Chasing Ice
  • Chasing Coral
  • Before the Flood
  • Years of Living Dangerously (Docu TV series)
  • Anthropocene: The Human Epoch
  • Racing Extinction
  • Ice on Fire
  • Climate Refugee
  • An Inconvenient Sequel

 
Fast Fashion

  • The True Cost

 
Food Waste

  • Rotten (Docu TV series)
  • Sustainable

What to read

For adults, head over to Sustainable Jungle for a lovely selection of books.

For children, we’ve listed our favourite eco-themed books below:

Recycling

  • Recycling and Rubbish, Stephanie Turnbull. Usborne
  • Dinosaurs and all that rubbish, Michael Foreman. Puffin books
  • I can save the Earth, Alison inches. Little Green Books
  • The Adventures of a Plastic Bottle, Alison Inches. Little Green Books
  • Michael Recycle, Ellie Bethel. IDW Publishing

 
Litter

  • The Rubbish Monster Thing by Simon Chadwick. Ceratopia Books
  • One Little Bag: An Amazing Journey, Henry Cole. Scholastic Press

 
Sustainability

  • 10 Things I Can Do to Help My World, Melanie Walsh. Candlewick Press
  • Here We Are: Notes for Living on Planet Earth, Oliver Jeffers. Penguin Young Readers  
  • George saves the world by lunchtime, Jo Readman. Eden Project Books
  • The Tin Forest by Helen Ward. Dutton Books
  • Iron Man by Ted Hughes. Faber & Faber
  • What a waste by Jess French. DK Publishing (Dorling Kindersley)
  • Harry Saves the Ocean by Sylvia Fae. N.G.K.

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