Another Way launches £40,000 crowdfunder for Falmouth zero-waste shop

Every week, UK households bin 1.7 billion pieces of plastic. Every single day, 2000 rubbish trucks’ worth of it ends up in our oceans. A climate charity reckons Falmouth can do something about that, and it has given itself just four weeks to prove the town agrees.

Another Way has launched a crowdfunder to raise £40,000 by the middle of June, money that would secure the premises for Another Weigh Falmouth, a zero-waste shop planned for the town centre. The idea is simple enough: let people shop ethically, affordably and with as little waste as possible. The ambition behind it is rather bigger.

More than a shop

The plan is for the space to double as a community hub, with a programme of events and workshops built around sustainability, wellbeing and connection. According to the charity, that includes pop-up swap shops for clothes and books, repair cafés to encourage reuse and skill-sharing, a hot drinks station, a co-working zone, evening talks and climate events, and space hire for community groups and clubs.

The charity says it wants the hub to be “a safe and inclusive space for all,” with sustainable shopping, climate education and community events accessible to everyone.

There is also a financial knock-on. All donations to the crowdfunder will be match-funded, and once the shop is trading, every purchase will go towards funding Another Way’s wider work.

📷Amy Bray

Who is behind it

Another Way was founded by Amy Bray in 2019, when she was just 16. It has since grown into a nationwide, youth-led environmental education charity focused on encouraging people to live more compassionately towards the planet.

Amy, the charity’s CEO and founder, said the location matters. “I believe that the residents of Falmouth deserve a way to eat healthy, sustainable, delicious food without creating plastic waste that ends up in the ocean,” she said. “We know that plastic pollution is a huge problem, and one that our community is especially switched on to, as we all rely on the sea for our wellbeing, livelihoods and are impacted by its health in countless ways.”

She added that she can already picture what the space might become. “I can already envisage the thriving, community hub that will become central to our town, and the impact this will have on helping people to live more sustainably, meet others doing the same, and learn about our planet.”

The profits from the shop, Amy said, will be fed back into the charity to support young people taking climate and nature action. “I hope that the community will help us make our dream a reality by supporting our ambitious crowdfunder.”

The clock is already running. You can find the Falmouth zero-waste shop crowdfunder here.

📷Another Way shop in Kendal