Reasons to Support Local Zero Waste Shops
Zero Green (Bristol) not only sells zero waste staples. But if you have a coffee at their shop, you can eat the cup as it’s edible! It tastes a bit like a thick ice-cream cone and the drink will keep for around 40 minutes, before the ‘cup goes soggy’ (the paper sleeve holder is then recycled).
Most towns now have one or two little zero waste shops. These are really nice, usually fitted out with natural materials and refill stations where you can take clean dry containers, and just fill up with dry foods, cleaning, laundry and beauty products.
- Read up on food safety for people and pets (it’s best to bin bin allium scraps (onion, leeks, garlic, shallots, chives) along with rhubarb, tomato and citrus scraps, as acids may harm compost creatures.
- Choose unscented beauty, cleaning and laundry products for pregnancy/nursing and near babies/pets (and read our post on candle safety).
- If growing food, read up on pet-friendly gardens (avoid facing indoor plants to gardens, to help stop birds flying into windows).
Some zero waste shops sell pet food, this is a complicated subject due to various ethics, mixed with the nutritional needs of animal companions. Read our post on quality pet food (in consultation with your vet).
Most zero waste shops also sell a reusable-over-disposable items like water bottles, coffee cups and toothbrushes – and also sell reusable containers if you forget to bring your own.
Understanding the Tare Weight System
Most zero waste shops operate on a tare weight system. This means that you can take your own clean dry containers, this will save money, as most goods have 30% of the price from packaging.
Tare weight is that of the empty container, before you add the contents. So you basically weigh the container then the goods, so get a sticker so you are only paying the weight of the goods.
You can hire consultancy from UnPackaged.
It helped Abel & Cole to launch their Club Zero. Customers rinse their empty bottles and screw the lids on, then put them next to their organic fruit and veg boxes, for collection, refill and reuse.
Brands including ReRooted (organic plant milks in glass bottles) and Miniml (an eco-friendly cleaning range made with Yorkshire water) are involved.
And Nonscents (for unscented items for pregnancy/nursing, babies and pets).
Typical goods sold at zero waste shops include:
- Cereals, grains, pulses, pasta
- Spices, herbs, loose-leaf tea, coffee beans
- Dried fruit, nuts, snacks
- Household cleaners in refillable bottles
- Bath and beauty products (like lotion, shampoo, hand soap)
So if you only want a couple of scoops of a spice, or just enough rice for dinner, you can buy it.
Some Major Zero Waste Shops
The Clean Kilo (Birmingham) is England’s largest zero-waste supermarket. Situated in Bourneville, it’s beautifully fitted out with a deli, chilled plant milk dispensers and machines to make your own orange juice and peanut butter.
Earth. Food. Love (Devon) was England’s first zero waste shop, and the founder is also co-founder of ReRooted organic plant milks (sold in returnable glass bottles). This shop was founded (with his wife) by a former Manchester United footballer. Who says if you told him that he would give up a lucrative career in his late 20s to become a shopkeeper, he never would have believed you!
This lovely couple have even created a free downloadable e-book (pdf) to help anyone set up their own similarly successful zero waste shop. It covers everything from location and products, to marketing, pricing, hygiene and payment methods.
Although touted more as an independent and affordable plant-based co-operative supermarket, Unicorn Grocery could fairly also be called a zero waste shop too.
As well as giving fairly paid jobs to local people and offering mostly locally-grown and sourced items, it offers discounts on unpacked ‘hoppers’ stocked with grains, pulses and nuts that you fill up yourself, and also for loose fruits and vegetables.
If you forget your own bags or containers, there is a customer jar collection by the tills, with boxes from their veg deliveries to carry your shopping home. The store also runs a bag deposit scheme, and is happy to take small loose and fruits and vegetable purchases at the till.
Again, this store offers a free Grow a Grocery guide, for anyone inspired to do the same. It has no plans to expand into a multi-chain company, but wishes to help others wanting to build local thriving zero-waste plant-based grocery stores.
Two Little Mobile Zero Waste Shops
Oat Float is a quirky 70s vintage milk float, that has been developed into a mobile zero waste shop in Bristol, doing the rounds to deliver plastic-free daily essentials. Customers can buy pantry staples like pasta and porridge oats to eco beauty and household items.
Incredible Bulk (Cornwall) delivers to several villages in this rural but fairly small county, so it’s likely the van will be visiting near you at some time or another. Their converted van travels through Cornwall, turning up at village halls and markets.
