Zero Waste Shop Consultants (for if you need some help!)
Do you run an indie shop and like the idea of going zero waste, but have no idea where to start? You’ve likely seen a zero waste shop in your town or the next. Rather than ugly shops full of plastic packaged goods, these little beauties tend to be beautifully decorated in muted colours.
Customers then arrive and fill up their reusable tubs (must be clean and dry) with anything from bulk lentils to eco-washing powder. They then weigh the goods using a tare system (so they are only paying for products, not packaging). Then they happily skip back home, glad that they’ve helped the planet.
Most zero waste shops also make profit from selling reusable items like toothbrushes, coffee cups, water bottles etc. And in this day and age when people are going green and don’t want to waste money on packaging, turning your little grocery or other store into a ‘niche’ zero waste store, will likely get you most customers and make more profits!
Small shops can’t compete on price with big supermarkets, so must offer something different. And this is one such idea.
If selling plants or flowers, learn which ones are unsafe near pets, to know what not to sell to people with animal friends.
The good news is that there are a few consultants nationwide who have set up successful zero waste shops, and can help. And because we’re always super-thoughtful at England, Naturally that many of you don’t have enough money to hire a consultant, we’ve even found a couple of freebies too, if you go down that route!
Unicorn Grocery’s free ‘Grow a Grocery guide’
Unicorn Grocery is a thriving Manchester food co-operative that is owned by its staff (who get paid a real living wage). All items are vegan (2500 foods) and fresh produce is from its own farm.
It also offers organic beers and eco-refillable beauty and household items, sold in plastic-free packaging. Salads and olives are sold in reusable tubs, and there’s even a soup cup deposit scheme.
With no plans to expand, you can download Unicorn Grocery’s free Grow a Grocery guide to bring the same to your town.
Get discounts with the loyalty card. Prices are very good (due to no shareholders and most produce is local). A few items cost more (like homemade organic flapjack). The ‘Good Stuff’ apple logo indicates favourite companies.
ReUp is a successful zero waste shop, that offers a series of blog posts for other shops, to distil their green wisdom! From how to start one, how to launch a rewards system and which systems to choose.
Unpackaged (a professional zero waste consultancy)
GoUnpackaged used to run a successful zero waste shop in London. But now the team has switched hats, and instead make their income from teaching other shops (small to supermarkets) how to do so too. This has a larger knock-on result than just one small shop.
If every UK household refilled one item a week, that would be over 1.4 billion items of single-use packaging eliminated in just one year.
This organisation helped to develop London’s Abel & Cole’s refillable delivery service, and has also worked with Waitrose to deliver the first supermarket refill stations. But it also works with small businesses, even if it’s just showing you how to find and use tare systems, and find refill stations.
The Clean Kilo (England’s largest zero waste shop)
The Clean Kilo (Birmingham) was founded by a married couple, and is now England’s largest zero waste shop. It even lets customers make their own peanut butter with a machine! They order loose crisps from local suppliers and offer reusable Brummie Cups that you can return after use.
It not only offers consultancy services, but can supply shop design, like herb/spice racks made from reclaimed scaffold planks and vintage apple crates (ideal to house organic local fresh fruits and veggies).
It can also advise on floating dispenser walls to house refillable lentils and other goods. Again using reclaimed floorboards for a unique Scandi design. They are also easy to customise, so you can fit more products in later on, if your shop grows. Includes scoop dispensers.
A free guide from a Devon zero waste shop
Earth.Food.Love was England’s first zero waste shop, set up by a married couple (he is a former Manchester United football player who gave up a lucrative career at 27, to become a shopkeeper! He is also co-founder of ReRooted Organic, a company that makes and delivers organic plantmilks in reusable glass bottles.
This couple has kindly written a free e-book so that other people considering the same path, can learn from everything they did, and avoid any potential mistakes. Just download here as a free pdf.
It covers everything from setting up and branding, suppliers, hygiene, stock, marketing and taking payments.
