Customize Consent Preferences

We use cookies to help you navigate efficiently and perform certain functions. You will find detailed information about all cookies under each consent category below.

The cookies that are categorized as "Necessary" are stored on your browser as they are essential for enabling the basic functionalities of the site. ... 

Always Active

Necessary cookies are required to enable the basic features of this site, such as providing secure log-in or adjusting your consent preferences. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable data.

No cookies to display.

Functional cookies help perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collecting feedback, and other third-party features.

No cookies to display.

Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics such as the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.

No cookies to display.

Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.

No cookies to display.

Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with customized advertisements based on the pages you visited previously and to analyze the effectiveness of the ad campaigns.

No cookies to display.

Shrub low-carbon co-op launches £8,000 crowdfunder

The Edinburgh community organisation needs match-funding to secure a lottery grant to support its sustainability projects

A community co-op in Edinburgh which is working to build a low-carbon society has launched an £8,000 crowdfunder to enable to access National Lottery Funding.

Shrub supports community sustainability efforts in the city, providing “a welcoming space for rethinking our relationship to waste, reducing consumption and developing effective use of resources”.

It develops and shares skills, supports community empowerment, and delivers “innovative waste prevention, creative reuse and repair practices in a living laboratory of circular economy”.

Initiatives include the Swapshop, where people can swap, donate or buy second-hand clothing, books, shoes, bags, bric-a-brac and household items; upcycling workshops; a food sharing hub; the Zero Waste Hub Cafe; and the Wee Spoke Hub where trained mechanics run bike-fixing lessons.

Shrub has just been awarded a Community Led Grant from the Lottery for its Zero Waste Community Hub – but one of the conditions is that it secure £8,000 of match funding.

On the crowdfunder page, which offers rewards for donations, the co-op says the money will allow it to continue

  • making a circular economy accessible to those on lower incomes,
  • redirecting textile waste away from foreign textile markets and landfill by partnering with hostels and other charities who can make use of the clothing it cannot sell
  • teaching people to repair clothing through workshops
  • educating the community on the importance of slow fashion
  • using its premises as a Zero Waste Hub.
  • organising community events
  • organising Freeshops to keep unwanted items from landfill
  • educating the community about behaviour change activities to hep combat the climate crisis. 
  • running its vegan cafe and community space. 
  • improving employability among its volunteers by training them in customer service, communications, governance and policy, barista work, swapshop pricing etc.
  • helping local people struggling with food poverty