Start SMALL
Starting out on a zero waste journey can be an overwhelming decision to make. There’s so much to learn, so many aspects of your life to tackle because let’s face it, plastic is everywhere. Because refilling is still a somewhat niche concept to most, the lack of market saturation often means the financial aspect of going zero waste puts people off.
We're here to show you that it doesn't have to be this big, expensive, overwhelming journey to begin! We relish in the imperfectness of refilling! Grab that old jam jar and fill it with washing up liquid! Those empty spice jars in the back of the cupboard can become a new home for garlic powder or you can even use last night's delivery bag to carry home your rice.
Sure, there's an aesthetically pleasing side to refilling but for most people, new matching jars with fancy lids and labels just isn’t always in our budget. Have them as something to aspire towards, but for now, the coffee jar you're about to finish would carry home this week's lentils easily! A lot of places also offer free recyclable paper bags that will get (almost) anything home and can be reused in store.
Our best advice is to start small. Make a list of all the aspects of your life you want to adjust. Here are a few ideas to get you started:
- Herbs and spices
- Pastas, rice and beans
- Body/hair care
- Dental
- Menstrual products
- Household cleaning
You can pick as many or as few as suits you! Try starting with one area and slowly spread out once you're sure you're getting the right products at a price that works for you. Shop around, get emailed receipts to keep track of what you're spending and make use of any loyalty schemes or discounts available to you. The beauty of shopping this way is you can be very budget specific and shop per price rather than by weight. If you had a £10 budget for food that week, you can ask for £2.50 worth of pasta, 30p worth of paprika ect.. Make it work for YOU.
Refill shops can’t promise to always be cheaper but we can definitely promise quality products which are much better for the environment, plus because you buy exactly what you need, less waste is created on your end! Win, win!