Browse through our blog posts to find out what life is like at Hoe Grange Holidays along with some great ideas for days out in the Peak District.
Zero Waste Week – what will you do?
September 4, 2022Archives
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It’s Zero Waste Week but don’t be daunted, taking lots of little actions can make a big difference!
Aiming for Zero Waste is a long-term target. Total zero waste is impractical for most of us and here at Hoe Grange we are far from perfect, but we try our best!
It certainly can’t be achieved overnight, so try to look at it as more of a journey taken over time.
It’s about taking small steps, giving new ideas a go and sharing what works. It’s about replacing convenience disposable items with better reusable alternatives.
Aiming for complete zero waste is almost impossible for the average household, but doing what you can, when you can and being more conscious of the waste you produce will have a big impact.
What is zero waste week?
#zerowasteweek is an annual campaign which takes place in September. It was founded by Rachelle Strauss back in 2008 when she took on a challenge to send zero waste to landfill for a week and shared her experience with her readers on a blog.
Now with climate change on the agenda, Zero Waste Week is more important than ever with hundreds of people stepping up to the challenge.
Zero waste week raises awareness and encourages everyone to look at what we throw away and think about ways to reduce waste. By becoming aware of the waste problem we can work at finding solutions.
How can you join in zero waste week?
- Sign up to the campaign here: Zero Waste Week Sign up and follow #zerowasteweek online
- Join the Facebook Group for inspiration: Zero Waste Week Heroes
- Check out the Ambassador page for information on Zero Waste related themes
Here's some easy zero waste swaps from Stem Response Team

Fighting food waste
This year’s theme is all about food waste, which is a MASSIVE issue and a BIG driver of climate change.
Did you know that 50% of food waste occurs in the home? Collectively we throw away 1/3 of all food we buy - that's enough food to feed over 3 billion people!
The good news is that reducing food waste is something we can all easily achieve given a little extra thought and planning.
An easy place to start is to plan your meals and stick to your shopping list and don't be tempted with supermarket BOGOFs. Better still shop local rather than a national supermarket. During lockdown the fruit and veg shop started local deliveries and we have continued with these as they source local produce, and use cardboard boxes and paper bags not plastic. Also think about buying seasonal produce.
Next try organising the food in your fridge by use by date to avoid wasting food and having to throw it away. Don't forget you can pop things in your freezer if plans change and you aren't going to use them up.
Here at Hoe Grange vegetables slightly past their best are made into soup or sometimes enjoyed by our Pygmy goats! If you haven't got a handy goat and things have gone too far you can always compost them.
Zero Waste Shops
People are beginning to change their shopping habits seeking out products that come with less waste and avoiding single use plastics. New zero waste shops are springing up around the UK, stocking all kinds of locally and ethically made zero waste products!

We are so lucky to have Skopa the zero waste place in Wirksworth which is just 6 miles down the road from Hoe Grange. Opened in January 2020 by Belinda and Sarah who are passionate about #LoveLocal products just like us. You can take along your own containers to refill with dried goods, oils and cleaning products – no plastic packaging, no waste. They also do a click and collect service.
Or why not pop along to one of our local Farmers Markets, such as Bakewell on the last Saturday in the month, for a real taste of local Peak District produce without the plastic.
The 5 R’s of zero waste
Is Zero Waste really possible at home? It all starts with your purchasing decisions, proper planning and setting up a system for what and how materials enter your home in the first place.
Every item we use has an environmental cost, some greater than others. We can all make a difference by being mindful of the waste we generate and managing our waste in accordance with the 5 Rs
- Refuse – start refusing things you don’t need, such as plastic carrier bags, food wrapped in plastic, plastic straws, water bottles, and junk mail. David get cross with the number of bags for life in our car boot, but it means I never have to buy a plastic bag when I go shopping!
- Reduce your consumption and save resources – reduce plastics by having milk delivered in glass bottles from your local dairy. Take leftovers to work for lunch instead of buying prepacked sandwiches, and taking your own water bottle with you. Use beeswax wrap instead of cling film. Make your own cosmetics or cleaning products. Reduce the amount of clothes you buy, (lockdown has been great for this!) and buy quality or second hand.
- Reuse (and repair) Instead of buying brand new, try to reuse and repair. Swap single use items with reusables and save money and waste by mending broken items or get creative and repurpose things - we made a flower trough from old pieces of decking. Choose rechargeable batteries over single use batteries.
- Recycle as much as you can. Hard to recycle items that cannot be recycled by your curbside collection, such as light bulbs, batteries, electronics and soft plastics can be recycled through TerraCycle.
- Rot or in other words compost your food scraps as fertiliser for your garden, which also helps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions produced by landfill.
What small steps will you take? Me I'm off to check the fridge out and use up the odd leftovers for tonight's supper!
Felicity







