University of Nottingham opens first waste-free shop

The University of Nottingham has opened its' first sustainable shop on campus, selling items that are completely free from single-use plastic packaging.

The new zero waste shop is called Portland Zero and it opened at the start of the university's Sustainability week (March 2 - 7) in the Portland Building.

Students will now have the opportunity to reduce their impact on the environment by choosing to bring their own packaging, such as glass jars and containers, to fill up on whole-foods, liquid products and other goods.

Watch Portland Zero in action. Jane Hesketh reports:

It is evident that a lot of students at the university are passionate about the environment as many have said that they would be willing to change their shopping habits to be more sustainable.

The shop has been part-funded by the university's late levy scheme which gave an extra 20p towards the shop every time a student purchased a drink in a disposable cup.

The scheme helped to save over 75,000 cups and raised over £60,000 in 2018/19 which is being reinvested into projects to reduce waste.

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