The latest zero waste news from the region, helping to make your zero waste life easier and more fun! Featuring Zero Store, Core Wholefoods, Covent Garden Quarter, and our Warwickshire cycling network.
Leamington to get not one, but TWO zero waste shops
Huzzahhh, what a couple of eventful weeks it’s been, with both eco-pioneers and zero waste warriors Zero Store and Core Wholefoods announcing that they’ll be opening their first permanent location (i.e. a proper zero waste store) in Leamington.
Charlie and Marisa from Zero Store posted on their Facebook page on 23rd August: “After months of research and planning here’s a bit of news to kick off your bank holiday weekend! 😊 Zero Waste shopping is coming to Leamington Spa! 🎉
We’ll be extending the range of dried goods and reusables, plus our 200L Fill & Co drums will be right on the shop floor so you can get all your cleaning product refills too. Zero waste shopping made easy and convenient. 🙌 Any clean container is welcome. 👍
Charlie and Marisa, Zero store
In case you were a regular to their zero waste pop up shops and/or local concessions, fret not – they will continue to run them:
“We will continue to run our local concessions (don’t worry!) and support all the local makers and producers who have become good friends to us this past year. 🙏Can’t wait to welcome you all there, please spread the word if you can! 💚”
Not long after, Beth and Alex from Core Wholefoods also announced their plans for a permanent location for their own new shop in Leamington Spa. The champus bottles were popped when they posted this on their social media sites: “We have finally secured ourselves an AMAZING shop in our hometown, Leamington Spa!!! 🤪
“As some of you well know, we have been tirelessly looking for a suitable premise since early on in the year and have had a couple of opportunities fall through, so you can only imagine how thrilled we are to be able to announce this news to you at last! 🥳”
And then just yesterday, Beth and Alex finally revealed where the new shop is going to be: at 45 Park Street in Leamington (the street behind the Royal Priors shopping centre, an established address for lots of independent, creative retailers), taking over the premises from Berylune who are moving up the road into a bigger shop.
Cheers and congratulations to both Zero Store and Core Wholefoods! Zero haven’t confirmed the exact location of their store yet, so stay tuned into their social media channels for updates.
This is brilliant news for the local Warwickshire zero waste community. And as they say – competition is great for the consumer!
Leamington’s Covent Garden Quarter’s arts, crafts and eco market returns on Sunday, 15th September
Run by local entrepreneurs from Hush Leamington and Thrills Of The Emporium, Leamington’s very own Covent Garden Quarter are back with one of their fantastic local arts, crafts and eco markets. The event will be held this Sunday, 15th September, at the Covent Garden area just off Warwick Street, west of The Parade, in Leamington Spa.
The organisers said: “Combining the best of our most recent markets, we’re showcasing arts, crafts, handmade and artisan products including food and drink, and all things environmentally conscious. Keeping our focus local, we hope you’ll join us for a great street event built by the community!”
For updates on which local artists, craftspeople and eco pioneers will be at the event, visit Covent Garden Quarter’s Facebook page. I’ll certainly be checking them out and hope to see you there!
New cycling super-highway to connect Leamington and Rugby
Ok, I admit this isn’t quite about zero waste, but if you’ve been following this blog or my Instagram, you’ll know that I’m a keen cyclist, and for me the two (zero waste shopping and cycling) go hand-in-hand (I do all my zero waste shopping by bicycle in Warwick).
So when I stumbled across the news that a new traffic-free cycle route will be built between Rugby and Leamington, I couldn’t help but rejoice!
The new 6.5 mile trail will link Leamington with Rugby via the existing route – the National Cycle Network’s Route 41 known as the ‘Lias Line’ – via Long Itchington. Walking and cycling charity Sustrans, which manages the network, will create a 3.5 metre-wide, traffic-free path with a smooth surface, and remove barriers allowing better access. The work will begin later this month.
“These improvements to the Lias Line will transform a route which was very poor into an off-road greenway. It’ll make it easier for people to make smarter and healthier travel choices, ” said Gwyyneth McMinn, Sustrans’ head of network development in the Midlands. The route will also help expand wildlife corridors, yeay!
The improvements are part of a £7million investment by the Department for Transport to upgrade the National Cycle Network in the Midlands.
Maybe it’s an incentive for all zero waste ambassadors from Rugby to start cycling to our two new zero waste stores in Leamington? 🙂
As you know, one of the aims of this blog is to collect and share any news relating to zero waste shopping in Warwickshire, and thus helping to build and promote a community of like-minded people who are passionate about protecting our planet. If you’d like to be in the loop, then please visit my blog regularly or subscribe to my email newsletter! Also please let me know if I’ve missed anything by posting in the comments below. Cheers, Bettina
blue green 