Shopping
Whether you like to pile everything into a weekly haul or prefer picking up bits day-to-day, it can be surprisingly fast, efficient and cheap to do your shopping without a car in Oxford.
People who took part in the Oxford Car Free Challenge often expected shopping to be one of the most difficult journeys to undertake without a car; and yet Elizabeth, a mental health nurse based in the city, found that shopping by bus saved her both time and money. It avoided the hassle of needing to park and return within two hours (or pay a higher charge). As a result, she could get more done and her trip was more relaxed. “I went to the post office, I went to do my shopping, I had coffee, I met a friend,” Elizabeth explains. “Without the car it’s very, very flexible and convenient.” Richard, another participant in the Challenge, also points to the ease of picking up evening meal ingredients on his way home when commuting by bike: “You don’t need to find a parking space, pay for parking, do a separate journey. I can just cycle to the shop on my way.”
For those carrying larger shopping loads by cycle there are plenty of options to choose from. It can be as easy as adding a basket, and a couple of panniers can add 40 litres of carrying room to a bike. Where standard car boots offer about 300 - 500 litres of space, some cargo bikes come with a whopping 900 litres of storage, meaning you don’t have to compromise on capacity. If you don’t have your own cargo bike, you can always make use of the Oxford Cargo Bike service in Rose Hill, which allows you to borrow an electric-assist cargo bike for free for an hour, or just £1 for two hours. According to Stephen Thomas, who co-runs the scheme, people also use the bike for all kinds of trips, from moving books or disposing of garden waste, as well as their big food shop. If you want to hire it for a little longer, prices are £5 for five hours or £8 for eight hours - or you can get in touch directly to negotiate a deal. Many of Oxford’s major supermarkets provide bike parking and if you’re visiting stores within the ring road you will probably be home before the drivers.
If cycling isn’t your thing, there are still plenty of options that don’t rely on cars to get your goods home. In recent years, many of us have discovered the convenience of home deliveries. According to Statista, the rate of British individuals shopping online for food and other groceries has nearly doubled since 2016. Not only is this type of shopping often more convenient - especially for parents, people with mobility issues and anyone working the kind of hours that prohibit popping out to the shops in person - it can also be cleaner and greener. According to studies in the UK and US, getting food shopping delivered can be more environmentally-friendly, as a single delivery vehicle can make several stops on a larger route, rather than many individual customers driving their own car back and forth from the shop. If you have flexibility around when your delivery comes - for instance, if you work from home during the day - you can often pick up free slots; whereas if you’re pushed for time, some supermarkets like Tesco and Waitrose have a 20-minute service, while many others will guarantee same-day delivery if you book before midday.
However, if you’re looking to save money and reduce waste, you might think about changing your shopping habits to favour smaller, local shopping trips sometimes, rather than always traipsing up to a big chain store. The UK throws away around 9.5 million tonnes of food waste in a single year – even though 8.4 million people in the UK are in food poverty - and once that food is in a landfill, it will start to create methane, which contributes towards heating the Earth. Shoppers are far less likely to be seduced by bulk offers and three-for-two deals when visiting independent, specialised shops, which in turn makes it less likely that the food we do buy gets thrown away, unused. When it comes to the white stuff, MilkandMore deliver a host of dairy products, as well as daily essentials like bread, eggs, tea and toilet roll right across Oxford; while Oxfordshire has several vegetable box deliveries like Sandy Lane Farm, Veg in Clover and North Aston Organics.
Away from the edibles, you might be surprised to learn that the Westgate Centre in town has a free home delivery service, including a same day cycle courier, that can do home delivery to OX1-OX4. So, whether you’re buying books, shoes, trousers or toiletries, it may be easier and more convenient to simply drop your bags at the Guest Information desk and let them do the lugging for you. During the summer sales, Elizabeth went bargain hunting with friends and bought cut price bedding, towels and saucepans: it was bulky, she says, and would have been hard to carry, “But they delivered to all three of our homes the same day.” You can even choose to have your shopping delivered to work, a hotel or other convenient location.
If you live a little further afield and are happy to do your shopping by bus, but can’t always access public transport when you need it, the Oxfordshire Comet will give a lift to anyone in Oxfordshire unable to access existing public transport between 10am and 2pm, Monday-Friday for a reasonable fee. You just have to register for £3 and then call to book your ride at least 24 hours in advance. Outside of the city you can find a host of other community transport options in the Oxfordshire County Council's Community Transport Directory or Live Well Oxfordshire's searchable directory.
Tips for getting started
Not sure you can carry everything yourself? Lots of supermarkets, food shops and other retailers will offer home delivery for free or a small cost. Or you could try car sharing, or lift sharing with someone else so you do your big shop together, and share the driving between you.
Build it into your commute. Switching to some form of more active travel - whether that’s cycling, walking or getting public transport - for some or all of your journey is likely to make it easier to pop into local shops and businesses on your way to and from work, school or other errands. So you don’t have to drive out again to the shops.
Start small. You don’t necessarily have to lug a week’s worth of tins home on the back of your bike to make a difference. Why not try popping out for smaller, daily shops first and see how you get on.
If you have experience in using active travel, buses or trains in and around Oxford for shopping and can offer tips, ideas or feedback of help to others, let us know.
Updated September 2024