TOP TIPS FOR REDUCING YOUR PACKAGING FOOTPRINT

With more time spent at home in the past couple of years, many of us turned to home deliveries for everything from household essentials to food. But as we know, with home deliveries comes masses of packaging and you can often be left wondering what on earth to do with it all.

Launched during lockdown, ethical online food retailer 44 Foods was created with a mission not only to reduce food waste, but to minimise their impact on the environment by using as much planet-friendly packaging as possible for their sustainable food bundles. We caught up with Managing Director Hannah Anderson to  find out some of her top tips on how to recycle and reuse some of the most commonly found packaging materials to not only reduce that growing cardboard mountain next to the recycling bin but reduce your packaging footprint too!

Foil

“When it comes to food deliveries foil is a common material that we use to keep food fresh in transit. Once the individual layers are separated, foil can be recycled with your household waste, but it’s also perfect for protecting glass fridge shelves from jars and metal storage pots. One of our customers told us they’d even put it to good use insulating their kitchen ceiling! It also makes an excellent shield, sword or rocket for creative playtimes.”

Wool

“Wool is a common packing material, especially for food deliveries as it acts not only as a protective layer but as a way of insulating the box to keep things cool. We’ve actually started  to minimise the amount of wool we use in our boxes, but if you’ve received an abundance of wool in a parcel, there’s plenty you can do with it.  Wool is a great material for those of you with green fingers. Reuse it in the garden to keep plants and seedlings healthy as the slugs and chickens will keep away. Or, why not get crafty and use it to upholster seat cushions or as pet bedding? Wool is also the ultimate frost and draft excluder, so during the winter you can use it to pop around pipes to prevent freezing or use it to cover any gaps under doors and around windows.”

Chiller packs 

“The chilled gel packs that you get with lots of food deliveries are actually a really handy item to keep on hand. Our chilled gel packs are non-toxic and food safe, which means you can snip the end and wash the contents down the sink before recycling the plastic pouch. However, we keep a stash in the freezer for picnics and lunchboxes. They are also handy for bumps and bruises!” 

Insulated paper bags

“We use innovative insulated i-paper bags in our packaging to keep our chilled items cold which are not only made from 100% FSC certified paper but are fully recyclable along with your normal household recycling. They can also be reused several times and because of their built-in insulating core, they’re ideal for keeping items cold when packing picnics or packed lunches.“

Paper bags and cardboard trays 

“For normal paper bags it’s worth keeping a stack for packed lunches or cutting into sections to use as scrap paper. Keep the cardboard trays to store berries or mushrooms in your fridge. Alternatively, you can recycle both.”

Cardboard boxes 

“We love seeing the creative ways our boxes have been repurposed. From rocket ships, camper vans and dens to moving days, decluttering, and filling with books for the local charity shop, their study nature means they can be reused several times. You can also break them down and pop into your household recycling.” 

Plastic

“We know that plastic gets a bad name, but it is incredibly good at protecting fresh items such as meat and fish (and in turn, reducing food waste). We always try to strike a balance and keep plastic use to a minimum within our own deliveries but almost all of the plastic that we use can be recycled or re-used. You can wash most plastic items and pop into your household recycling or re-use items like bread bags for sandwiches or plastic trays and tubs to keep your fridge nice and organised.”

For even more inspiration or for more information on 44 Foods and their environmental mission, visit www.44foods.com