Eco-friendly refill shop - Fill Your Boots

Aim

My aim is to open an eco-friendly, zero waste, refill shop that will serve as a community hub to encourage others to live more sustainably.

My Plan

My plan is to open the first refill shop in Gloucester selling dry store cupboard foods that are competitively priced but with NO plastic packaging, helping people to make small but simple changes to live more sustainably. I will also stock refillable household cleaning products, and toiletries as well as a selection of eco-friendly products.

My Inspiration 

The legacy of Sir David Attenborough's 'Blue Planet II' is that we are much more aware of the problems caused by plastic waste on our planet.

'Never before have we had such an awareness of what we are doing to the planet and never before have we had the power to do something about that. Surely we have a responsibility to care for our blue planet.' - Sir David Attenborough, Blue Planet II.

I am a mother of three young children and I feel a responsibility to them to do everything I can to ensure they still have a beautiful planet to grow up on, and to raise their own children on. While caring for the environment has always been important to me, programmes like 'Blue Planet II' and 'Hugh and Anita's War on Plastic'  have really highlighted the plastic problem in particular and that is something I want to help with. I am passionate about reducing my plastic use and I am keen to encourage others to do the same. I believe that being environmentally friendly should be easy and does not have to cost the earth.

By buying products in bulk and then selling to customers in their own containers at near bulk prices, we can reduce plastic waste and generate less food waste as customers only need to buy the amount they need. By encouraging each other to make small changes such as this way of shopping, we can create a strong sense of community and provide a positive example to the next generation. 

How it will work

• Bring in any containers you have available

(Tupperware, ice cream tubs, take away containers, glass jars, cotton bags, even a clean sock!)

• Tare (weigh) your empty container and label it.
• Fill your containers
• Bring to the counter where we will weigh again
• Pay 

We will also stock glass jars and paper bags if you forget your containers, or end up buying more than you planned.

What the money will be used for

The money from your pledges will be spent on;

• fitting out the shop with gravity dispensers and scoop bins
• purchasing the initial order of stock
• buying tare scales

Future plans.

As well as extending the range of products stocked, future plans for the shop include creating an eco-community hub which will organise litter picking and tree planting events, clothes swaps and market nights to promote local small businesses.

A bit about me, Louise Coleman

I live with my husband, Rich, and our three children (8,6 and 10 months) in Gloucester. I currently work as a Registered Nurse which I love, but recently the plight of our beautiful planet has started a fire in my belly and I feel like I need to do anything I can to help. I’ve always cared for the environment but earlier this year I started on a journey to reduce my family’s reliance on single use plastics and from there started making my own cleaning products, changed my shopping habits and ditched fast fashion! I am so excited to open Fill Your Boots to get to know the lovely people in my community and help the area become more sustainable. I also love coffee, chocolate and crochet, preferably all at the same time!

Thank you for taking the time to read about my project,

TOGETHER WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE 

Louise x

This project successfully funded on 8th December 2019