Sustainability & Environmental Responsibility
One of the PRSC’s stated objectives is “to generate an ethos of sustainability” – we do our best to apply that wherever possible. Here are some of the efforts we’re making…
Reuse & Repurpose
We’re keen on giving old stuff new life – saves it going into landfill, and sometimes saves us money too!
Tents & Sleeping Bags – We accept donations of unwanted tents and sleeping bags, kitting out local rough sleepers on request. We also have a small stash of second hand waterproof clothing and boots to help keep people dry.
Paint – Much of the paint we use is damaged, half-empty cans or mis-tints diverted from landfill.
Art Supplies – Our weekly creative community drop-in, the People’s Art Club, utilises many donated or scavenged art supplies & paper.
Building Materials – Salvaged from skips, offered by supporters, found in the street, we have a huge store of building materials destined for reuse, either within our building, or for interventions on the streets.
Packaging Materials – Cardboard boxes from china/beer deliveries, out of date issues of The Bristol Cable, shredded paper from our recycling bin, bubble-wrap discarded by other shops… the list is endless!
Recycling & Composting
We separate out all our recyclable waste of course, to minimise how much goes to landfill (although it’s worth noting- general waste in Bristol is incinerated in Avonmouth, as a supposedly greener alternative), but try to get as much use out of things first.
Paper waste – Any paper with blank usable sides/space is added to our Scrap piles – we have one in each of the shop, office & venue. These are used for notes, test printing, makeshift signage, sketching etc. We’ve also got a retro paper shredder, turning paper waste into packing materials.
Cardboard – Many of the boxes we take delivery of (mugs, chinaware, beers) are re-used as packaging for sending out our online orders.
Food waste – We do our own composting in the yard! Our small food waste caddies are emptied into a large wheely bin we’ve converted into a wormery. Loads of fat pink worms eat it all up and poop it back out, then we collect fresh, rich compost from a hatch cut into the base of the bin, plus all the nutritious worm juice. We’ve got plenty to share if you’d like some for a donation!
Stokes Croft China
As the factories in Staffordshire closed their doors in the early 2000s, Chris Chalkley, founder of both PRSC & Stoke Croft China, had the foresight to salvage the decorative transfers from the last major independent decorating factory in Stoke: Broadhurst Bros. of Burslem. He also rescued kilns, factory equipment, large quantities of undecorated chinaware and more transfers from long-closed factories, leading to what we believe is the largest collection of vintage ceramic transfers in the UK.
- We make use of as much of each transfer as possible, keeping scraps, off cuts and leftovers to collage together into one-off designs and unique mugs.
- Mugs and chinaware with blemishes are either decorated with the flaw as a feature (true beauty lies in imperfection/wabi sabi) or used to stock our staff/artists kitchens.
- Whiteware and new transfers are sourced from Stoke to support British industry.
- Many of our non-mug chinaware shapes are end of line/leftovers that would otherwise be destined for landfill.
- Decorated and fired on-site in Stokes Croft, Bristol.
- China sales directly fund the activism & activities of PRSC.
Suppliers – supporting local industry
Where we can, we try to source materials as locally as possible, to both support the local economy and reduce transport miles.
Energy
We’re already with a green energy supplier, and with the help of our landlords, Stokes Croft Land Trust, we recently secured a grant form the Megawatt Community Energy Fund, so now have a solar array contributing to our electricity usage. We’re actively working with the SCLT on more ways to reduce our energy use, and become more self-sufficient.
Packaging
We retail both in person and online, using as much repurposed packing material as possible.
- Newspaper for wrapping china – we mainly use old editions of The Bristol Cable,which doubles up as great reading material.
- All carrier bags offered are paper bags, though we’re lucky enough to have a customer base who frequently bring their own bags!
- Outsized online orders are packaged in recycled boxes – some purloined from incoming deliveries, others collected/donated by staff.
- We try to only use second hand bubble wrap & packing peanuts, preferring recyclables where possible – we’re currently using shredded paper, shredded in house with paper diverted from the recycling bins.
DIY Environmental Protection: Settling Tanks
We use lots of paint, and however much we scrape and wipe off our tools and kit before washing, some inevitably goes down the drain. That’s why we’ve improvised this two-stage system of settling tanks so most of that gunk settles out of the water before it reaches the waste water system. They’re not glamorous or pretty, and they smell terrible, but we wanted to prevent paint (and other pollutants) getting into the water. A few litres of sludge is emptied into a bucket every month or so, and then disposed of in the general waste. It’s far from perfect (this’ll then go to incineration at Avonmouth, which is horrendous), but it’s better than letting it go straight into the water system!