A Guide to Being an #EcoSwine: How to Dispose of Your Little Pig Meal Kit Packaging & Feel Incredibly Smug at Your Eco Efforts all at once

We’re on a mission to become the most sustainable mealkit company in the world...but we need your help.

So what to do with all the packaging!? Fear not fine swine, we’ve crafted a handy guide for you. We prioritise using the most eco-friendly packaging available, to help you become an #EcoSwine and make a positive impact on the environment by responsibly disposing of the components of your meal kit packaging (you can also read further here).

Boxes: Your Little Pig box is an eco esky legend, protecting your delicious meals during their journey to your door...

If you’re planning another order, store the boxes, liners, and icebricks in a clean, dry and out of the elements spot, then leave them out for us to collect on your next delivery day (every Monday). This helps us extend the lifecycle of our packaging and reduce waste as we can clean, sanitise and re-use this for another order many times over.

If you're not reordering (why ever not, piglet?..seriously though why not?..we’d love to hear your feedback, just be brutally honest to Chris at via the swine line here ), here's what to do with the boxes:

• Swing by to say Hi: We’d LOVE you to drop them back to us in Bayswater at Unit 2, 35 Radius Loop for cleaning and reuse.
• Break Down Boxes: Flatten the boxes and place them in your recycling bin OR you could use them as a rocket/racing car/cubby house for small children, pack some old textbooks in to store in your garage that you won’t look at until you move house or use it in your garden as mulch.
• Liners: The wool inside your box is fantastic for garden mulch, hanging basket liners, or as a cool bed for your worm farm. The outer plastic wrap, however, should be disposed of in the general bin or taken to a special soft plastics recycle bin centre, if you’re really inspired about saving the environment.
• Icebricks: Pop your icebricks in the freezer for reuse during summer picnics. When they reach the end of their life, empty the gel into the sink and dispose of the soft plastic shell in the general waste bin.

Containers: Providing every single ingredient means no food waste but it also does mean extra containers. Don’t worry though we have a plan...

• Plastic Containers (PP #5 Symbol): Return clear plastic containers to This Little Pig. They get taken to a special team that crush and turn them into the beautiful shiny roads you drive on everyday.

Follow these steps:

1. 1. CLEAN OH SO CLEAN! Give all the containers a good wash with hot soapy water (oily containers have to jog into landfill plus they make our sorting team sad.. and oily)
   2. Remove the labels. *Helpful Hint: Removing the labels before washing can sometimes be a little easier. Also you could get any small children around to help as they have tiny hands/nails (albeit poor work ethic though).
   3. Place in a biobag (use the ones your vegetables come in).
   4. Pop in your returning box.
   5. Pat yourself on the back, you just eco warriored like a young Greta Thunberg.

• Biopak Containers: These are made from biodegradable materials. Containers with a green line and Biopak logo are commercially compostable, not home compostable. Unfortunately, they can't be recycled, so we recommend popping them in a bag (clean) with all the other Biopak containers (and next to your soft plastics bag) and taking them to a recycle centre once a month. If you have run out of eco energy you will need to place them in the general waste bin but at least you know they will break down far quicker than everyday hard plastics.
• Glass Jars: Get creative! These jars are perfect for homemade preserves or as nifty storage solutions. If you work hard at it like Jessica & Katherine at This Little Pig, you too can have a whole drawer full of glass jars that your partner rolls their eyes at.

Bags: Not all bags are created equal..

• Biobags: The green biobags are made from corn starch (how cool is that!?) so can be composted. If you don't have a compost bin, check if any local community gardens accept them.
• Polypropylene (PP) Bags: Some items don’t store well in biobags (such as herbs – they go wilty and sad) so we use Polypropylene bags for these. Dispose of these in your general waste bins or with soft plastic recycling.
• Brown Bags: Made from paper, these can go into your recycling bin or into your compost.

Food Scraps: Composting is nature's way of recycling...        

Turn your offcuts and leftovers into garden gold. No compost bin? Inquire at local community gardens who may welcome your contributions. Last option is; you could also sit on your front porch, heckle people who walk past and pelt them with food scraps if you want to add a little spice to life.

By following these simple steps, you're not just enjoying delicious meals but also contributing to a greener, more sustainable planet. We are constantly trying to refine our packaging and eco antics so please get in touch if you have any ideas or see a product that might work for us to improve our sustainability and eco credentials. You should feel proud #EcoSwine! Happy recycling, repurposing, and reusing, piglets!