Below is a list of initiatives and projects that help people to reduce the waste they produce, by providing alternatives to products, services or waste streams.
Refill / Eco Shops
The Refill Shop
Starting as a food group, and developing into a shop, since November 2019. The Refill Shop sells zero-waste, plastic-free, whole food, ingredients and domestic products and raw artisan chocolate. They also sell Rawtangle dairy-free chocolate and nut milks.
Location: 40 St. Mary's Street, St. Neots, PE19 2TA
Visit their Facebook page
Alpino Garden Farm
Market garden and refill space.
Location: 67 Station Road, Catworth, PE28 0PE
Please check Facebook for current opening hours.
Visit their Instagram page
Clare’s Refill Station
A local refill station supplying affordable, sustainable cleaning products with no plastic waste. All products are vegan, biodegradable, cruelty-free and manufactured by an independent family firm in the UK
Visit their Facebook page
The Refill Shop of Ikigai
We want to help reduce waste, both plastic and food, and make it easy for you to do it too, by not selling items in plastic or packaging that leaves a lasting mark on the planet
Location: White Hart Lane, St Ives
Visit their website
Visit their Facebook page
Visit their Instagram page
The Little Fenland Eco Shop
Based in The Ramsey Initiative Indoor Market, their aim is to stock a range of eco friendly products to give people the choice to buy biodegradable, plastic free or reusable alternatives locally.
Location: 28A Great Whyte, Ramsey, PE26 1HA
Monday - Saturday: 9am-4pm
Visit their Facebook page
Happy Earth Refills
Selling a range of eco-friendly, vegan, biodegradable, cruelty-free, plant based, affordable, UK produced refill products, as well as homemade local plastic free products too. Refill containers are sent back to the supplier to reuse, making it even more sustainable.
Location: Pebble&Pier, Overcote Lane, Needingworth, PE27 4TW
Monday - Saturday: 9am-5pm / Sunday: 10am-4pm
Telephone: 07751 375521
Visit their Instagram
The Eco Earth Shop
An online store (but based in Brampton) providing eco-friendly, zero waste, plastic and cruelty free products for you and your home. From solid shampoo bars and organic lip balms to home compostable kitchen sponges. They use a range of different suppliers to bring you the very best products which are both beautiful and sustainable. Their ethos is to 'make the change one product at a time' in the hope of supporting those at the start of their zero waste journey.
Visit their website
Telephone: 07889 738230
Email: theecoearthshop@gmail.com
Visit their Facebook page
Explore Zero Waste
Refill station for household and personal cleaning products. All products are eco-friendly, free of harsh chemicals, cruelty free, palm oil free and sustainable.
Location: 1 East Street, St Ives
Friday: 9:30am - 2:30pm / Saturday: 9am - 2pm / Sunday and Monday: 10am - 3pm
Email: stivesrefill@gmail.com
Visit their website
The Riverport Refill Co.
Refill station providing cleaning products, laundry liquids, hair care and personal care products, without single-use packaging. All our eco-friendly refills are made in the UK, vegan-friendly, and cruelty free. Also stocking a range of vegan-friendly and gluten-free breakfast cereals.
Location: The Courtyard, Station Road, St Ives, PE27 5BH
Monday - Friday: 9am - 5pm / Thursday: 6pm - 8pm / Saturday: 9am - 4pm / Sunday: 10am - 4pm
Email: theriverportrefillco@gmail.com
Visit their website
Visit their Facebook page
Visit their Instagram page
Weigh Too Good
A shop where you can find eco-friendly and socially conscious gifts and yummies that are great for you, others and the world. That's Weigh Too Good!
Location: Cambs Lock, 1 Saint Mary's Street, Huntingdon, PE29 3PE
Wednesday - Friday: 10am - 5pm / Saturday: 9am - 5pm / Sunday: 10am - 4pm
Email: sales@weightoogood.com
Visit their Facebook page
Refill/eco shops are an alternative to supermarkets, offering consumers a way to buy products package free by taking their own containers to be refilled again and again.
Repair Cafes
Barrington Repair Cafe
Location: 17 Orwell Road, Barrington, Cambridgeshire, CB22 7SE
Cambridge Repair Cafe
Location: Cambridge Carbon Footprint, The Bike Depot, 140 Cowley Road, Cambridge, CB4 0DL
Cottenham Repair Cafe
Location: Cottenham Community Centre, 250A High Street, Cottenham, Cambridgeshire, CB24 8RZ
Histon Repair Cafe
Location: St. Andrews Centre, School Hill, Histon, Cambridgeshire, CB24 9JE
The Eversdens Repair Cafe
Location: Eversden Village Hall, 4 Chapel Road, Great Eversden, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, CB23 1HP
Villages South of Cambridge Repair Café
(Fulbourn, Sawston, Shelford, Abington, Linton)
Location: The Fulbourn Centre, Townley Memorial Hall, Home End, Fulbourn, Cambridgeshire, CB21 5BS
Middle Ground Repair Cafe, Yaxley
Location: Recreation Ground Pavilion, Middletons Road, Yaxley, PE7 3LR
Repair cafes are free meeting places and they’re all about repairing things (together). You can repair clothes, furniture, electrical appliances, bicycles, crockery, appliances, toys, etc. You’ll also find expert volunteers, with repair skills in all kinds of fields.
Community Fridges
Millfield Community Fridge
Our fridge helps to reduce food waste and food poverty. Anybody can put food in anyone can take food out. Bringing the community together. It has developed into an amazing community hub.
Location: Open Door Baptist Church Hall, Searjeant Street, Millfield, Peterborough
Wednesday: 10am - 12pm / Thursday: 10am - 12pm / Friday: 9:30am - 11:30 am and 1pm - 3pm
Paston Farm Community Foundation
A community centre housing a community fridge.
Location: Paston Farm Community Centre, Freston, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, PE4 7XB
Yaxley Community Fridge
A community project set up by the parish council for the benefit of the parishioners. Free to use no matter what your social status is. If you wish you can leave something in the food bank in return, such as biscuits or tins.
Location: Austin Hall at the Amenity Centre on Main Street, Yaxley
Weekdays: 9am - 4pm / Saturdays: 9am - 1pm
Cambridge Community Fridge
This community fridge enables businesses and individuals to waste less through the sharing of good quality food that's within its use-by date. You can drop off good but unwanted food, and help yourself to what's on the shelf. Please read the instructions and disclaimer prior to use.
Location: The EDGE Café, 351 Mill Road, CB1 3DF Cambridge
Monday – Friday: 8am - 4pm / Saturday: 9am - 4pm
Oxmoor Community Fridge
A free to use service for the community, running from Thongsley Fields Primary School to redistribute excess food from local supermarkets, shops and farms.
Location: Thongsley Fields Primary School, Buttsgrove Way, Huntingdon, PE29 1PE
Tuesday: 2pm - 4pm
A community fridge is a refrigerator located in a public space, enabling anyone to put food in and anyone to take food out. The main aim of community fridges is to reduce food waste. They also enable people facing hardship to have easy access to fresh, nutritious food.
Swish
PECT
Annual event during the Green Festival.
Titch's Pit-Stop
Last Saturday of the month - 10am to 12pm
Owen Pooley Hall, Yaxley, PE7 3LU
Come along and take up to 5 items for free.
Any queries, please contact: titch-pit-stop@outlook.com / 07751 201245
Swishing is a clothes swapping event. They are a place to take along unwanted clothing and to take away someone else's donations, all for free.
Reusable Nappies
We have teamed up with the following suppliers to offer 10-25% discounts:
- Cheeky Wipes
- Cherry Bottoms
- Ecoriginals
- Fleecy Bums
- Green Blue You
- Merry Go Round UK
- Sugar and Scoop
- The Nappy Den
- The Nappy Gurus
- The Nappy Lady
- Tots Bots
There is also the secondhand route, as reusable nappies keep their value well. Buying secondhand reduces your impact even further as you are not requiring new resources to produce the new nappies. They are usually also much cheaper than buying new. A few reselling Facebook sites are:
- Close Parent pop-in - buy, sell and trade
- St Neots Cloth Nappy Chat
- The Nappy Lady Buying and Selling Page
- TotsBots Preloved
For more help and support visit the Reusable Nappy Initiative page.
Cambs Reusable Nappies, Huntingdon Nappy Library and Ramsey Nappy Library offer further support and advice. There is also a Nappy Library Chat for St Neots residents.
Bells Bumz also offer an incentive for reusable nappies, which is applied for through their website.
A growing community of 'real' nappy users. A group of people offering advice and guidance on using 'real' reusable nappies, some also offer support on acquiring 'real' nappies for either a trial or to buy.
Reusable Personal Care
Reusable period products come in various forms (cups, pads, tampons, applicators and pants) and so there is something to suit all. If you have any queries regarding reusable period products, please get in touch - WasteMinimisation@huntingdonshire.gov.uk.
We have teamed up with the following suppliers to offer 10-25% discounts. To apply for this discount, you will need to complete the application form and read our terms and conditions.
Period Products and Wipes:
Period Products, Incontinence Products and Wipes:
Some of these suppliers also offer discounts on reusable nappies, which is their main selling points and explains their company names.
Bells Bumz also offer an incentive for reusable period products, which is applied for through their website.
Reusable personal care items can greatly help with reducing costs and waste, and so are a much more environmentally and economically sustainable alternative to disposables. The average big brand period pad is made up of 90% plastic, and the average menstruating person will spend nearly £5,000 on period products across their lifetime.
Reusable Party Kits
Eco Friendly Party
Address: CB1 7TY
Telephone: 07578560505
Email: hello@ecofriendly.net
Eco Party Pack – Cambridge
Address: SG8 0BB
Email: katyshepherd26@gmail.com
Eco Party Pack St Ives
Address: PE27 3TG
Email: ecopartypack@thelilacshed.com
Eco Party Pack St Neots
Email: ecopartypackstneots@gmail.com
Facebook
Friends of Burwell Village College Primary
Address: CB25 0DU
Email: partypackbvcp@gmail.com
South Cambridge Eco Party Hire
Address: CB22 3JU
Reusable partyware can include plates, bowls and cups, and often cutlery, decorations, table linen and much more. By hiring a kit instead of buying disposable partyware these kits can reduce both the carbon footprint of your party and the waste going to landfill or incineration. Worried about all that washing up? Many kits include washing up in the price of the hire or offer it as an optional extra. But what about all that plastic? Yes, many of the kits use plastic however they don't contain any single-use plastic. Plates and partyware can be used again and again.
Toy Libraries
Cambridge Jumbo Toy Library
Location: Brown’s Field Community Centre, 31A Green End Rd, Cambridge CB4 1RU
Frequency: Once a month – first Wednesday of the month at 2pm-4pm
Email: jumbolibrary@gmail.com
Cottenham Toy Library
Location: Cottenham Community Centre, 184, High Street, CB248XT
Frequency: bi-weekly on Fridays during term, from 11.15am-12.15pm
A range of toys available for borrowing either for a small fee or for free. From small puzzles and baby toys to large ride-on, sit-in toys, dependent on Library. Take children along for a play, and meet other local mums and dads.