To maintain the integrity of Eco Shops and ensure they are an effective and most importantly sustainable projects, there are a number of core principals:
- EcoShops are an environmental project, reducing food waste and protecting the earth’s natural resource, and should only be promoted as an Eco project.
- Use of the EcoShop logo shows the collective action of community groups, organisations and schools. Together we are creating an empowering movement and the EcoShop brand ensures we do it together, following the same ethos and delivering the same service and message.
- EcoShops operate on a basis of 10 items for a suggested donation of £2. This ensures Eco Shops become financially sustainable long term and has proven to work.
- Any additional revenue that is generated from the EcoShop after covering running costs should be reinvested into complementary projects.
- Additional activities and events (eg. book swap, clothes donation) should be in addition to the EcoShop and should not carry the EcoShop name or brand. We advise they are promoted as environmental projects and follow the same ethos of environmental sustainability.
- Every effort should be made to follow other sustainable practices when running EcoShops. Such as:
- never using single use plastic bags (encourage people to bring reusable bags and using paper bags for fresh produce)
- electronic promotion
- if printing, print double sided