With our focus on sharing and repairing, Plastic free July is a great reminder of how all these little changes in our lives make a difference. Our team has helped explore some fun sustainable options here in Oxford!
Reduce: Borrow Instead of Buying – Cut Plastic Waste Before It Begins
Buying something new often means more plastic. Every new item bought, especially those laden with plastic, adds to a cycle of production, packaging, and pollution that contributes to our planet. The fold-up chair for the BBQ? The camping stove? The box of plastic cups? Chances are, they’ll be used once or twice and end up stored or binned, these are contributing to a cycle of overconsumption and plastic pollution.
Our Library of Things and the others across the county directly reduce the demand for new production and unnecessary plastic packaging, playing a part in Oxfordshire’s circular economy. You can borrow what you need — for your party, your holiday, your home DIY — and return it when you’re done.
Explore our inventory at Library of Things: Discover everything from summer essentials to tools for DIY projects that help you avoid plastic, whether you want to have:
- Gazebos, bunting and cooking gear for hosting summer parties
- Camping stoves, bike racks for sustainable (and cheaper) holidays
- Carpet cleaners, bulky gardening equipment, drills, and tools for one-off jobs
Refill What You Need – Shop Without the Plastic Burden
While borrowing is fantastic, sometimes you do need to stock up on everyday consumables. This is where Oxfordshire’s incredible refill shops come in, revolutionizing the way we shop and significantly reducing single-use plastic. Here are some that our team love shopping at and some offer doorstep refill or delivery. If we’ve missed you, please shout and we’ll be pleased to add you in!
- OxUnboxed, Oxford Covered Market – An accessible and affordable way to shop low-plastic in the city centre. Just bring your empty containers and stock up!
- Flo’s in Florence Park, East Oxford – Providing easy access to refill options for everyday essentials.
- Wild Honey, Iffley – A curated selection of natural and organic products from wholesome foods to sustainable personal care items.
- The Village Refill, Yarnton – For your pantry staples, eco-friendly cleaning supplies, and even sustainable beauty products.
- Tribe Zero Waste, Faringdon – An extensive range of plastic-free groceries, household goods, and personal care items, all thoughtfully sourced.
- Nothing but Footprints, Banbury & Bicester – Oxfordshire’s largest selection of bulk staples and sustainable products for a truly comprehensive refill experience.
- The Market Garden, Eynsham – Providing fresh, high quality, and organic produce alongside a growing range of dried and liquid products for refill.
- So Sustainable, Watlington – A community-focused refill spot offering a variety of plastic-free household essentials and pantry goods.
- The Mix, Sustainable Wantage – offer a refills station alongside all their other eco-activities, community fridge, library of things and repair cafe.
Repair Instead of Replace – Give a Second Life to What You Already Own
Many items, especially those with plastic components, are often discarded at the first sign of trouble, contributing to landfill or CO2 from incineration and driving demand for new, often plastic-intensive, products.
CAG Oxfordshire’s report states that 30 groups organised a total of 350 Repair Café events in the last year, This is a doubling of the number of events since 2021, highlighting a significant and growing shift towards a repair culture in Oxfordshire that directly reduces waste.
This is where SHARE Oxford’s Repair Café fits in – doing our bit to build this “fix not bin” culture. At our monthly Repair Café, volunteers help fix electricals, clothes, bikes, kitchen gadgets and more. Rather than bin another broken item, bring it in. You might be surprised how much our volunteers can fix, giving things another life and saving you money.
Our Repair Café runs every third Sunday of the month. You can book your slot here. We hope to not just get your stuff fixed but help you build your skills and confidence to fix more yourself at home.
Redistribute and Pass On – Keep Plastic in Circulation
Beyond borrowing, refilling, and repairing, selling or giving away your secondhand stuff is a great way to help others avoid buying new plastic. Got items in good condition that you don’t use anymore? Don’t let them gather dust or, worse, end up in landfill. Pass them on! Donating items to charities, participating in swap shops, or finding new homes for unwanted goods all contribute to a vibrant circular economy.
Check out the WISH team’s Sustainable shopping map if you need inspiration of where to buy or sell.
Recycling – The Last Resort
Despite our best efforts to reduce, reuse, and repair, some items will inevitably reach their end-of-life. Recycling of course plays its crucial part in the waste hierarchy: Reduce, Reuse, Repair, then Recycle. Especially when it comes to plastics, recycling can be complex, with different types of plastics requiring different processes, and contamination often leading to materials being rejected.
At SHARE Oxford, our primary focus is on preventing waste from being created in the first place, or giving items multiple new lives through borrowing and repairing to lessen the burden on our recycling systems. For those items that cannot be given another life, check out Oxfordshire recycling guidelines.
Or check out what items you can recycle and where the nearest location you can recycle them here on Recycle Now.
Small Actions Add Up to Bigger Impact
CAG Oxfordshire’s Annual Report 2024-2025 showcases the incredible collective power of our local groups. With nearly 120 community action groups working to make Oxfordshire “greener, fairer, safer, and more sustainable”. Along with all the other community and environmental activities these groups take on, we’re seeing the impact of how borrowing instead of buying, refilling instead of binning, repairing instead of replacing can help you reduce plastic and contribute to a healthier planet, and of course, save you money. SHARE Oxford is proud to play our part in that and help build a cooler, cleaner future for our lives.