On Tuesday, HTA hosted a Makery Make session in collaboration with Plastic Free Hackney – a not-for-profit campaign committed to creating a cleaner and greener environment. Starting right on our doorstep in Hackney Wick, the premise of their campaign is to raise awareness of the issues of single-use plastics and work with locals, community groups and businesses to find sustainable alternatives.
During the workshops, we learned how to make our own cleaning products and natural toiletries. We were introduced to low-cost natural ingredients such as coconut oils, oats, salt, and essential oils. We followed old-fashioned recipes to create safe-to-use and environmentally friendly products such as multi-purpose sprays, cream cleaners, deodorants, and body scrubs.
Our Makery Make sessions are always an excellent way for our staff to unwind and meet new people from different disciplines while improving their mental health, happiness, and well-being at HTA. In addition, it was essential to host a session that advocates plastic-free/low-waste living and sustainable consumption in our new London office – the building where inventor Alexander Parkes produced the world’s first commercial plastic in 1866. Over 150 years later, these Victorian industrial buildings are now repurposed to be our new home – a 21st Century workplace that retains 150 years of embodied carbon and provides a low-energy, low-carbon workspace for the future.