The Refill Shop in St Neots

Aim

To open St Neots’ first zero-waste, plastic-free, refill shop with in-house production of raw, vegan chocolate.

Our hope is to inspire a zero-waste culture.

Our goal is to make zero-waste packaging become the normal way to sell all products currently available with unnecessary packaging.

We plan to open an organic, vegan, zero-waste shop in St. Neots selling a wide range of foods and household items. 

All items will be vegan friendly (apart from Honey and wax wraps) and will be sourced as ethically and locally as possible. 

You will be able to bring your own containers and buy as much or as little as you want minimising wastage and reducing costs. 

Some of the bulk food products we will stock are: pastas, rice, lentils, beans, baking products, Oils, herbs, spices, dried fruits, nuts, seeds and raw chocolate.

As well as non-food items such as shampoo bars, soaps, bamboo toothbrushes, toothpowder, reusable wipes, soap nuts etc. 

We will also be selling refill household products including laundry detergent, toilet cleaner, washing up liquid, fabric conditioner and surface cleaner.

Who are we? 

I am a 41 year old mother of two. I'm an oil's based artist and I teach Philosophy and Spanish. I've lived in St. Neots for 11 years and run the St. Neots Film Festival. My 44 year old partner Alexis does home improvement building work which will be handy renovating the shop and save money. He is also a music and sound designer and a raw artisan chocolatier.  We are both dedicated to reducing the harmful impact of fossil fuels and plastic on our planet. We are alarmed by the data scientist's have released concerning climate change and the only option is to act.

We believe we can all help make a huge difference if we start doing it now!

I started St Neots Zero Waste Club nearly 4 months ago as a small buying group on Facebook. It now has 400 members. Together we have already saved over 500 plastic items from going into landfill by reusing containers. Imagine how much we could save as a thriving shop!

The location

We've found a lovely shop just 3 minutes walk from St. Neots town centre High street which was previously a retro shabby chic furniture place so needs a bit of renovation and a new kitchen for our raw organic artisan chocolate production. 

What's wrong with plastic??

Not all plastic is bad! For certain uses plastic is a great material but single use plastic is where the problem lies. Plastic water bottles, toothbrushes, food packaging, plastic bags, coffee cups, straws, wet wipes are some of the biggest culprits when it comes to polluting our waterways. 

* The equivalent of a truckload of plastic enters the oceans every minute. That's 8 million pieces a day!

* Some Plastics can take up to a thousand years to break down!

* Over 150 plastic bottles litter each mile of UK beaches.

* Recent studies have shown plastic inside the bodies of 100% of marine turtles, 59% of whales, 36% of seals and 40% of seabird species examined.

* One million plastic bottles are bought every minute around the world with only a small amount recycled. The rest end up in landfill or in our oceans.

Plastic production is increasing every year but people are starting to take notice of the problem and with the help of programmes like Blue Planet 2 attitudes are starting to change. 

What Will The Money Be Spent On?

Shop fittings - Shelving, Tables, Displays, storage units.

Kitchen - Kitchen worktops, tap and sink, Fridge, storage.

Gravity dispensers - This is the most expensive part. Each dispenser is around £50. We need lots for things like rice, pasta, coffee beans, nuts and seeds.

Scoop bins & Jars - For Sugars, Flours, Powders and Herbs & Spices.

£4800 pays for the basic set up of the shop.

£2880 pays for a nut butter grinder 

£1100 pays for a cold press juicer

£540+ pays for a coffee machine

Eventually we aim to expand our range to convenience foods also and provide a delivery service. We would love to have a coffee machine and cafe area with vegan cakes and lunches.

How will shopping here be better for the environment?

You can bring your own containers to fill up which means less single use plastic waste.

No product in the shop will contain plastic or be packaged in plastic meaning less waste will end up in landfill or polluting our waterways.

The large containers that all the liquids come in are collected by the supplier and returned to actually be recycled.

How does it work?

Bring your own containers or buy some nice jars in our shop.

Weigh your container and write your weight down.

Fill it up from our dispensers and pay. Buying only what you need reduces wastage and minimises costs.

Why Crowdfunding? Why not go to a bank for a loan? 

Starting a business debt free will allow us to keep our prices competitive to supermarkets and invest much more of the profits back into the business and allow us a much greater freedom in what we do. 

This project successfully funded on 1st November 2019