THERE is something deeply infuriating about seeing a good Scottish neep wrapped in packaging which not only obscures its origins but goes straight in the bin when you get home. Plastic-clad tumshies aren’t just bad for the planet, they add costs to our shopping too.

According to Zero Waste Scotland, the average Scottish household buys 130kg of single-use grocery packaging each year, at a cost of almost £250 – that’s 7% of the average annual grocery bill on packaging we throw straight into the bin. Supermarkets argue that, without that ubiquitous cover of plastic, produce will quickly lose its quality as it goes from field to sorting depot and on to the shelves where it might sit for several days before it is bought.

Food miles is a huge issue: you might have noticed trimmed green beans from Kenya in wee plastic trays, wrapped in cling film. Many of those will have been grown in Kent then flown to Kenya to be topped and tailed, before being shipped back to the shelf before you. Not so fresh, and very far from sustainable.

The zero-waste revolution is a modern way of connecting people with fresh produce and so much more: dried foods such as flour, pulses, rice, and spices are attractively displayed in hygienic dispensers.

Zero-waste shops are appearing on high streets from Dumfries to Lerwick. Tina Williamson runs A Longer Table, a community interest company in the heart of Kirriemuir.

“It is essential to stock locally grown fruit and veg, not only to cut the carbon footprint and plastic packaging but to support the local economy,” Tina says. “The produce we get from our north-east suppliers comes in cardboard cartons and is away off the shelves in a few days, so the nutritional value is high.

“Having local suppliers means we can get what we need as we need it, which cuts waste and keeps food fresh.”

It’s not just about food and drink, though. Zero-waste shops provide local outlets for Scotland’s coffee roasters, kombucha creators, eco-friendly washing producers, candle-makers using wax made by bees feeding from the heather on our hills, and so much more. The shops provide an important service to people on a tight budget too.

If you go in with 53p to spend on lentils, that’s exactly what you can buy.

“The year we opened, one elderly gentleman came in with his Christmas cake recipe and I weighed out the exact ingredients he needed for his cake. The next Christmas, he came back again with the same recipe. I hope we’re here for him this year too!” Jillian Elizabeth says with a smile.

She runs The Little Green Larder on the Perth Road in Dundee, which opened its doors in 2019. Jillian says: “I wanted to shop in a shop like mine, but I couldn’t find one, so I opened it: an ethical and sustainable alternative to supermarkets.”

The Little Green Larder was one of the many local businesses across Scotland which provided a crucial lifeline to their communities during the Covid lockdowns.

People queued along the Perth Road to buy the essential foods Jillian was able to source through local suppliers. Now? The Little Green Larder is one of the many high street shops finding it hard to survive.

“This year, it seems as though folk have stopped going out, passing trade has just dropped off,” she says, looking with concern at the spate of small businesses closing across Scotland. But Jillian isn’t giving up without a fight!

“When people support us, they’re supporting so many other unique Scottish businesses – it creates a positive cycle across our communities, it’s good for the planet, and it’s good for people’s pockets too!”

At a time when many of us are looking for ways to make our money go further, zero waste might be a good way to go.

Ruth Watson is the founder of the Keep Scotland the Brand campaign