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New site makes finding zero waste shops in London easier than ever

Reducing our plastic consumption is one of the biggest issues we’re facing as a society. Each year in the UK, 2.5 billion disposable plastic cups are thrown in the rubbish (not the recycling) in the UK, alongside 5.5 billion plastic bottles and 1.2 billion plastic fruit and vegetable bags.

Now, a new website has been launched to make shopping zero waste easier than ever. Launched on June 5 this year, to coincide with World Environment Day, USELESS (read: Use Less) is the brainchild of ethical creative agency Nice and Serious.

USELESS is an online platform which directs Londoners, using an interactive map, to their nearest zero waste shops that sell produce without disposable packaging and offer refills on household items so they can lessen their impact on the environment.

For example, if I write in my Lambeth postcode it displays the shops closest to me that produce zero waste – The Common Café in Clapham, Naked Larder in Herne Hill and Pipoca Vegan in Brixton.

According to dezeen, the creators of USELESS describe it as: “London's first digital directory that is dedicated exclusively to showcasing the capital's zero-waste shops”.

When it launched, Nice and Serious wrote on Instagram: “Zero-waste shops are amazing places where you can buy food, drinks, kitchen essentials, toiletries and cleaning products without the packaging, you just bring your own containers and fill them up. There are plenty of stores across London and USELESS aims to grow into the definitive guide to zero-waste shopping in the capital, and eventually the UK.”

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The directory is still growing, so if you know a zero waste shop near you, get in contact with the team so they can add it to the site.

As well as the directory, the site also offers a ‘survival kit’ of ethical products you can buy to help lessen your impact on the environment. These include bamboo toothbrushes, cling film alternatives and swapping to bar soaps and replacing aerosols with roll-on deodorants.

London is well on its way to reducing its plastic consumption – just last year the Standard launched ‘The Last Straw’ campaign to bring an end to the wasteful use of plastic straws after it was revealed we throw out an estimated two billion plastic straws in London each year.

Last month, Environmental Secretary Michael Gove confirmed there will be a blanket ban on plastic straws, drink stirrers and cotton buds in England from April 2020.

Mr Gove said at the time: "Urgent and decisive action is needed to tackle plastic pollution and protect our environment. These items are often used for just a few minutes but take hundreds of years to break down, ending up in our seas and oceans and harming precious marine life.

"So today I am taking action to turn the tide on plastic pollution, and ensure we leave our environment in a better state for future generations."

To find out more about USELESS, visit useless.london/