The Big Plastic Count at The Shower Lab

The week of 16th-22nd May saw the launch of The Big Plastic Count - the UK’s biggest nationwide investigation into household plastic waste. The incentive, set up by Greenpeace and Everyday Plastic, seeks to understand how much plastic is passing through our homes and what happens to it next. During this period, we encouraged our employees to submit their own household findings on plastic usage to support the research.  

The Big Plastic Count | Greenpeace & Everyday Plastic

 Earlier this month at our Head Office, we decided to count the plastic wastage from our offices and kitchen for a period of one week to focus on where our plastic waste was coming from and, how that plastic could be reduced. Our count revealed that we had 40 pieces of plastic waste, which although all goes in the recycling bins, it is still 40 pieces of plastic too many. Through education, raising awareness and being proactive to prevent plastic usage (and consequently waste) in the first place, we have found ways to successfully reduce the plastic waste in our office. The Shower Lab encourages employees to think about how they use plastic, how it can be avoided and how each of us can increase the longevity of a plastic item, by: 

One Week Plastic Count at The Shower Lab HQ

• Choosing to bring their lunches to work in reusable containers instead of buying food/drink products daily from a shop. 

• Refilling their own water bottles repeatedly (to avoid buying a new plastic bottle). 

• Ensuring any plastic waste is disposed of appropriately using the specified collection bins around the premises. 

• Ensuring that any product used at work is used for its entire lifespan before being thrown away. 

 As a business, we are aware that little changes can make a big difference in reducing our impact on the planet, and this is a key focus. Our packaging has been re-designed, moving towards plastic alternatives wherever possible. For example, we now wrap our profiles in paper packaging instead of plastic and polystyrene. We have changed some packaging tapes to a paper type instead and ensure that our used toner cartridges are sent to suitable companies to recycle this end product. This reduces the need for the use of excessive raw materials, and also the production of new plastic items.  

We recognise that it is our responsibility as a business to continually work on reducing our impact on the environment. As such, we continually revisit and readdress our waste reduction policies to ensure they are working to their full potential. Our team is also working on additional changes and measures to reduce plastic, so make sure to watch this space for our latest updates.