Eco Winchester
This page is a list of resources for people in Winchester who value the environment. Please send any additions or corrections by email.
Reduce
Ask yourself:
- Do I really need to buy this item (whatever it might be)? Can I borrow it from someone[1] or hire it instead?
- If an item is broken, can I fix it myself or take it to a repair cafe?
- Can I make this item last a bit longer before throwing it away?
Reduce food waste by buying loose (which also reduces packaging) and following the recipes and advice over at Love food, hate waste.
Reuse
There are plenty of charity shops in Winchester.
It’s better to buy second-hand goods online than new goods, e.g. you can buy second-hand books on eBay.
You can reuse plastic bottles by refilling them at:
- Project Zero in Projects, 6 Middle Brook Street, Winchester, SO23 8BQ.[2]
- Westlands Farm Shop, 154 High Street, Winchester, SO23 9AH.
Salvation Army clothing banks collect clothes and shoes which are sold in their charity shops or reused overseas. Follow the link and look for “Find my nearest clothing bank”.
Recycle
Household kerbside recycling in Winchester now collects:
- General recycling.[3]
- Glass.
- Food waste, which has the added bonus of producing environmentally-friendly fertiliser, known as “digestate”.
- Small electrical items.
- Household batteries.
Winchester Houshold Waste Recycling Centre (“the dump”) recycles all of the above plus other materials such as metal foil. Follow the link for a list of accepted items.
Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance collect clothes, including bras, shoes, bags, belts, and hats. Follow the link for a map of recycling banks.
Soft plastics[4] can be recycled at Tesco Extra, Easton Lane, Winchester, SO23 7RS.
Medicine blister packs, toothpaste tubes, and small cosmetics can be recycled in Boots, 35-39 High Street, Winchester, SO23 9BL.
You can recycle Tetrapak – juice cartons, long life milk cartons, etc. – in a bin in the Worthy Lane car park. The car park is near the junction with Andover Road.
Other resources
- A-Z of recycling in and near Winchester (August 2024), from Littleton and Harestock Parish Council.
- Recycle now.
- Reduce, reuse, recycle magazine website.
Some neighbourhoods run a WhatsApp group where items may be borrowed. ↩︎
Only take empty bottles to refill at Projects because they charge based on the size of the bottles, rather than the weight of product you put in them. ↩︎
Paper, cardboard, plastic bottles, tins & cans, aerosols. ↩︎
Soft plastics include bread bags, crisp packets, pet food pouches, cling film, salad bags, fruit and vegetable packaging, and pasta and rice packaging. ↩︎