I am so happy to share with you the awesome crowdfunding campaign by Zero Waste Portsmouth. Founded by Delphine Laveyne and a small number of volunteers offer the opportunity for like-minded people to share ideas and skills through regular meetings and free workshops to create a cleaner Portsmouth.

The Package Free Larder’s committee is formed of a small number of volunteers with one goal in mind: making plastic-free shopping easy and accessible to everyone whilst creating an inclusive community hub.

Since September 2018, we’ve been working diligently to make our ideas a reality. Last March we held an event to launch “The Package Free Larder” concept.

Portsmouth has one of the lowest recycling rates in the UK, coming in at 321st out of 345 local authorities for the period of April 2017 to March 2018. Only 24.8% of household waste collected in our city is sent to be reused, recycled or composted.

With over 207,000 people living in Portsmouth and limited access to packaging-free  products there is no end in sight to the plastic problem.

Our goal is to eliminate packaging at the source and put power back into the hands of the consumer by making plastic-free shopping easy and affordable.

By supporting our campaign to open Portsmouth’s first community-owned plastic-free supermarket you’ll be helping to shape the future of the supermarket industry and empowering people to redefine the way they consume.

Their store will be run by the community for the community. As a not-for-profit social enterprise, all profits will be reinvested into the shop and local projects aiming to better Portsmouth and Southsea communities.

Reaching their target will enable them to give Zero Waste Portsmouth a long-awaited permanent home. All the money raised through crowdfunding will be used to cover building and business set-up costs (including first year rental of the premises), the stock to get us up and running and fit out the shop. This new home will also be used to facilitate workshops and events that share innovative solutions for minimising waste and promoting sustainability.

There is much more information over on their crowdfunder which is linked below. From speaking to those involved, they would be really appreciative of any support that you can give this great cause, whether that be financial or just spreading the word of the campaign.

Campaign: www.crowdfunder.co.uk/packagefreelarder-portsmouth-s-first-plastic-free-community-shop

Website: packagefreelarder.uk
Facebook: facebook.com/PackageFreeLarder
Twitter: twitter.com/PFL_Portsmouth
Instagram: instagram.com/packagefreelarder