Wow…..Finally I have time to take a breath since Covid-19 came to the UK and sent us all into lockdown.  What a worrying time It has been but I am so happy that I have been able to help and support my community and able to ensure that some of the most vulnerable in our communities still had access to food and consumables.  Your ongoing custom and support has kept Olive and I going whilst still contributing to reducing plastic waste and saving our planet has been incredible, I can not thank you all enough.

So how did Covid affect Olive and I? The first real challenge was when the Government decided to shut all shops, and for us to stand two metres apart from one another.  This meant all my lovely customers couldn’t step foot in Olive, but you all stood in a safe distanced queue and waited patiently whilst I served others from outside, and for this again I am truly thankful. Whilst re-filling Olive one afternoon it suddenly dawned on me that I could help my loyal customers even more and instead of standing in the queue for hours I could offer a pre-order system where if you knew what products you wanted to buy you could just message me your list with when and where you wanted to collect from and I would have them ready and waiting to go. I even had one of my lovely regular customers offer to manage the pre -order queue to help me.

Next came the baking phase where everyone started to be part of the ‘Great British Lockdown Bake Off’ I lost track of how much flour I sold but it was a lot! At the very beginning I had customers queuing for up to two hours. The worse thing was I never got to taste any of these delicious goodies or have the time to make any of my own, and for those of you that know me well know how much I love to bake!

The next Government announcement was face coverings to be worn on public transport. As I am an experienced seamstress, and many of my customers were asking where they could get them from I thought I could help, so in my evenings I started making face masks. I must have made hundreds, and worked tirelessly most evenings making all different sizes and all different patterns. I even had a pre school ask me to make adult ones for the teachers, with children’s fabric to make them child friendly, and not so intimidating for the children.

Lockdown is now easing and we are starting to get back to as normal as possible. The sun has been shining a lot which has helped make people feel better and be more active. However, as we live in such a beautiful place here in Dorset there has been a lot of people visiting our beautiful beaches and sadly leaving huge amounts of waste including lots of plastic behind. Whilst this really saddens me to see this, the positive I took away is that there is a growing number of people out there these days that want to save our planet and seeing people spreading how upset they are and how disgusted they were that people left our beautiful beaches in such a state on social media made me realise that there is definitely more and more people that want to help save our planet. I am still learning with you all on how best to reduce the use of single use plastic to save our planet.

Thank you for coming on this journey with me……Keep an eye out for my next blog to hear what exciting changes are on the way!

Our first stop was at the Eco Church in Hamworthy, St Michaels, even though it was cold the sun did come out for me and the rain held off which I was very happy about. I met lots of new customers and people popping by to suss out what we do and what we sell, and from the reactions they were all very please and are coming back armed with their containers next week. 

I will be looking forward to seeing the array of different re storage idea they come up with. It was great to meet the vicar Tess as well and to be able to say a personal thank you for letting me use the car park.

Just as the cold was taking hold of me I was brought a lovely nice warm cup if tea by Joe, Tess’s husband which was very much appreciated. 

I then travelled onto Sturminster Marshall to The Red Lion, I was again greeted by lots of new customers, including the very friendly postman and lady who were doing their round in the village.

It was great to see Dave and Louise as they were one of my very first ‘come and use our car park’ when I posted about where would people like to see us.

Wednesday morning saw me bright and early at the Dorset solider car park in Corfe Mullen, nice and close to home. Geoff the landlord was very keen when I asked if it was a possibility to use there car park as I had so many requests for me to have a stop there, and again the local people showed that they do want to opportunity to have plastic free shopping and I was very busy. I was also very spoilt again by being brought a nice hot cup of tea by a customer.

Thursday saw me in Lychett Matravers at the Chequers Inn, where I was visited by Margrit who supplies us our bees wax food wraps and liz who supplies us with our gorgeous soaps. I also had a furry visitor that was very inquisitive of Olive, he definitely wanted to explore which I reluctantly had to put a stop to.

Vanessa the pub landlady popped in to see me, with the offer of a hot drink (i am loving all these hot drinks) again a very good response to what we are doing and selling. 

Friday was a very early start as I had to be at Wimborne Market for 6.30am gulp.  It was so lovely being able to chat with other market stall holders about the comes and going of being in a market, I met lots of new people that were very curious about what was inside Olive so I had to entice them in to browse, the response was amazing.

I totally enjoyed my first week, thank you all for stopping by to see me and for your constant support.

Zero-waste mobile shop set to launch in Dorset

‘Our Planet Zero Waste’ to help local communities buy local and shop plastic-free –

14th November 2019 – Wimborne-based start-up, ‘Our Planet Zero Waste’, is set to launch on 23rd November, amid growing demand in Dorset for waste- and plastic-free shopping.  

The Dorset-based company is a mobile zero waste shop which will help the people of Bournemouth, Poole and Christchurch to do their bit to protect the planet by buying what they need in a more environmentally friendly way. 

Our Planet Zero Waste is the brainchild of local entrepreneur Laurraine Veal who is passionate about preserving the environment and reducing unnecessary waste and plastic use. 

The company aims to source its products as ethically and as locally as possible, and to provide a convenient service for people who are environmentally conscious and motivated to buy plastic-free products. They also hope to encourage customers to relearn their storage solutions so that we can all contribute to a greener, more sustainable environment. 

Together with her partner Mark Burchell, Laurraine has purchased and fitted out ‘Olive’ – an eco-van which will soon be travelling around Dorset selling affordable plastic- and packaging-free products such as dried foods, household products and personal care products. Olive has been fitted out with reclaimed pallets and second-hand items which would otherwise have ended up in landfill.

As well as the waste- and plastic-free shopping facility, Laurraine will also offer a re-fill service. Customers can bring their own containers, tubs or bags for refilling to prevent the need to purchase single-use containers for products ranging from shampoos, soaps, cereals, rice and pasta. 

Olive will be stopping at locations including Christchurch Market, Hamworthy, Sturminster Marshall, Ferndown, Broadstone and Corfe Mullen, and Laurraine is also planning to take her to farmers markets, festivals and local events throughout 2020. 

Customers in those communities will be able to buy directly from the van, or they can place orders online at www.ourplanetzerowaste.co.uk/click-collect and later collect from the business’ HQ in Corfe Mullen.

Laurraine said: “We want to be able to help more people shop the zero-waste way. Over the last ten years we have produced more plastic than during the whole of the last century! We know that so many people are frustrated by the lack of zero waste shops in their local communities, and this is despite the zero-waste movement gathering force in other parts of the country and around the world. 

Laurraine continued: “While I’ve always recycled, I was becoming more and more aware that recycling was not the complete answer. Like so many other people in Dorset, I want to reduce waste and buy products that aren’t wrapped in a lot of unnecessary single-use and plastic packaging, and resuse what we already have. But, when buying from supermarkets, the options are so limited. I knew this was the right time to offer local shoppers an eco-friendly alternative.”

The company is welcoming pledges of investment from local businesses and individuals who support the ethos of the company in exchange for a variety of rewards and prizes including discount vouchers and branding opportunities.  

A launch party is being organised for November 23rd and anyone interested in attending to learn more about the Our Planet Zero Waste service and to take a look at the ‘Olive’ eco-van are welcome to attend. For more details visit  https://www.facebook.com/ourplanetzerowaste. 

ABOUT ‘OUR PLANET ZERO WASTE’

About Laurraine Veal – Founder of Our Planet Zero Waste

From an early age, Laurraine lived in the New Forest and enjoyed growing up with her family using the services of the local milkman, baker and butchers. She even remembers taking Corna glass bottles to the back off the pub for 5p. 

Buying from small, local producers is something that Laurraine feels very lucky to have experienced. But she is sad that this is not what today’s generation of young people have ever experienced. 

As a mum to teenage daughter, Lilly, Laurraine has decided to do her bit to re-establish that sense of local community and with the aim of giving something back to help make all of our children’s futures a better place. Like a lot of teenagers, Lilly is very aware and saddened by what is happening to her planet and her future as a result of excessive waste and plastic use. 

https://www.facebook.com/ourplanetzerowaste

https://www.instagram.com/ourplanetzerowaste/

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What does ‘Zero Waste’ mean?

To live zero waste is to stop or drastically reduce the amount of products that get sent to landfill and recycling. 

• Refuse to be a part of the problem. Confidently refuse over-packaged products and single use plastics.
• Reduce what you don’t need, simplify your life, donate unused items. Then reduce your carbon footprint in other areas too.
• Reuse bags, jars, bottles, clothes; give everything a new lease of life.
• Repair, mend, darn. Think before you throw items away, can this be fixed.
• Rehome, can I give this to someone who might want it, give to charity shops, school, there is always someone who loves your junk.
• Recycle what can’t be refused, reduced or reused.
• Rot your organic materials, composting is nature’s natural process of recycling.