Let's get Bournemouth from ZERO to HERO!

Dear friends and supporters of our campaign, 

Firstly, I want to say a MAHOOSIVE thank you for all your wonderful pledges and donations. It really DOES mean a lot to have you on board and believing in what we are looking to do.  So thank you, thank you, THANK YOU! 

Secondly, we have (understandably) been asked more than once now, what will happen if we don't reach our target? So here's the thing... 

Our target amount of £12,838 was reached based on information I had at the time and my IDEAL VISION for what I wanted the zero waste area to look like within Sunrise. (I had been down to Totnes, visited 'Earth. Food. Love', had a fabulous chat with the guys there and came back to Bournemouth thinking 'now THAT'S what I want to create at Sunrise!') Not only that, but also what I see now was my uber optimistic and somewhat IDEALISTIC NOTION that each of our 4500 Facebook followers would be super willing and very happy to part with just three little pounds which would have had us reach our 12K target in NO TIME! Sadly, this has (so far) not been how it's gone. We've had THOUSANDS of 'VIEWS' of our posts  and videos, HUNDREDS of 'LIKES' and 'SHARES' but nothing close to this amount in pledges or donations.  (A case of me wearing rose tinted crowdfunding specs perhaps..?!?) 

HOWEVER, fear not my fellow zero waste enthusiasts. Since creating the campaign several weeks ago and it going 'live' in March, a couple of things have dramatically changed... 

Firstly the amount we 'need' to raise has more than halved to be something nearer £5000. This is partly because I have now discovered there is a Swedish company that also makes gravity fed and ski boot style food dispensers but at a much reduced price of the Martek ones. (Around 40% less!) The Swedish company supplies dispensers that are made to order in Poland and have a distributor in the UK whereas the Martek ones which are also made to order come from America, which is possibly why they are so much more expensive. Import duty and all that! 

Secondly, and possibly the more significant of the changes is that I have seeeriously reined in my 'inner perfectionist', the part of me that sooo wanted the big 'ta-dah' moment of unveiling our super duper, up to the minute, BEAUTIFUL  zero waste area. This is because I now realise that what it looks like and the dispensers we use is actually, to a degree, unimportant. What IS important, is that we actually START a zero waste area, just as we did with the shop and allow it to grow and evolve as we grow and evolve! 

So what if we don't have floor to ceiling gravity fed and ski boot style dispensers from the start? So what if we reuse large glass jars that we already have to put stuff in? So what if all the containers don't match? (Arrrggghhh... I have to confess, that is one thing I'm still grappling with such is my OCD for that kinda thing!) 

So what? So what? SO WHAT? 

NONE of that will make any difference to our planet's rivers, seas and oceans nor to any of the wildlife inhabiting them. What WILL make a difference is providing the facility at Sunrise (in whatever way, shape or form) for ourselves and our customers to start shopping as zero waste as possible. So although my vision for the zero waste area may have had to be 'downgraded' somewhat, my determination to 'MAKE IT HAPPEN' has only INCREASED! 

So there you go folks! That's the situation. We could still do with a bit more money but I just wanted to reassure you all that WHATEVER amount we raise, every single penny (minus the Crowdfunder platform fee) will go towards buying as many containers / dispensers that we can possibly get!

Thanks for reading, and here's to making Bournemouth a zero waste HERO! 

Peas and love, 

Liz x 

P.S. Sadly, the one bit of info you can't change on a Crowdfunder campaign once it's gone live is the target amount. Just in case anyone was wondering... x