Hampshire's zero-waste shops work to reduce plastic packaging

Supermarkets pumped out roughly 58 billion pieces of plastic packaging in 2019 which will eventually end up in landfill to be burned, buried underground or pollute the oceans.

The stats are overwhelming. However much people like to argue about climate change and plastic pollution, namely presidents and leaders, the facts do not lie.

But a crop of new zero-waste stores, which are popping up across the country, are turning the tide of mainstream supermarket shopping to encourage us all to shop as package-free and as environmentally-consciously as possible.

Selling household detergents to porridge oats, and healthy snacks to pasta, these shops vend similar pantry and staple items you would usually buy at your supermarket but without the packaging. It’s as simple as taking your own container and filling it up.

Tracey Riches, the co-owner of Wey To Go at Hayling Island opened her package-free shop in February this year. ‘I have loved shopping at zero-waste stores and then my partner, John, left his job because he wasn’t enjoying it. I suggested we opened a store here because he is from Hayling,’ explains Tracey, 47.

‘I think in a way the pandemic helped us because the community really got behind us and were always sharing our posts on Facebook. We take the containers and fill them up for customers to avoid cross-contamination.’

Tracey and her partner John Brown worked tirelessly throughout lockdown to provide their customers with sought-after products, such as toilet rolls and flour. ‘I think people started using us as their corner shop, which was nice. It definitely kept us on our toes. It was quite fun,’ says Tracey.

SEE ALSO: Hampshire woman’s eco-friendly online shop starts to gather steam

In July, another zero-waste store opened at Elm Grove, Southsea, called The Package Free Larder. The idea for the shop was kickstarted by Delphine Laveyne, who runs the group Zero Waste Portsmouth, when she held a meeting in September 2018.

Connie, who volunteers at The Package Free Larder, explains: ‘Our shop is a community project. There are nine of us on the committee who run it and are all working as volunteers. We all worked together on the idea and the business plan for nearly two years.’

In June 2019, the committee launched a crowdfunding campaign to raise £40,000 for the shop to open and be refurbished. In just 56 days, they raised £43,756. Connie, 21, smiles and says: ‘It’s been built from the community. We knew it would be all or nothing, either we would open or we wouldn’t.’

With the refurbishment of the Elm Grove premises taking place during lockdown, The Package Free Larder opened its doors to customers and has been a lot busier than expected.

Excitingly, they have just installed freezers – donated to them through Hive Portsmouth – so they can now provide package-free frozen goods.

Connie, who is a university student but has taken this year off to work at the larder, says: ‘We had such great support from All Good Things of Wickham.

‘It doesn’t seem to be competitive in this business because we’re all working towards the greater cause of reducing plastic waste. It’s a little green community.’

Up the road in the Meon Valley, Nina Goodall – owner of All Good Things of Wickham – is busy greeting her customers, replenishing her stock and, of course, her sought-after snack selection.

She says: ‘Previous to this, I sold reusable menstrual pads, facial wipes and nappies all over Europe. I think that came from when I had my children and I wanted an alternative to plastic.’

Nina set up shop at the Shedfield Equestrian Centre, just outside Wickham, and hasn’t looked back. She says: ‘I started with a small unit of refillable household detergents and then moved to plastic-free food items. By mid-summer 2019, Hampshire County Council launched an initiative to help businesses who were helping the environment. I got a grant which allowed me to get the food business off the ground.’

With such a strong customer base who split their time between Nina’s zero-waste store and other small businesses in Wickham, some customers don’t shop at supermarkets now. Nina, 40 explains: ‘I think my household detergents and pantry goods are very popular. I have around 30 different snacks which people love, from flavoured rice cakes to nuts.

‘It’s important that package-free items become normal. But it’s also about knowing where your food comes from and that it’s ethical.’

Together, these stores hope to change the pattern of shopping and all-consuming lifestyle which has become unhealthy for our planet. Connie, of The Package Free Larder, explains: ‘By 2050, there will be an estimated nine billion people on the planet. We’re at seven billion and we are creating a huge amount of rubbish.

‘The only two ways we get rid of it is through burning it, which pollutes the atmosphere and contributes to climate change, or burying it which has the same effect. We can’t continue with our destructive habits. If we could all be responsible for what we buy and throw away, it would make such a difference.’

Nina adds: ‘What’s really important now is educating the next generation. They have such an influence on their parents. Environmentally-friendly shopping doesn’t cost a lot of money and it needs everyone’s consideration. Finding sustainable changes is doable.’

Zero-waste shops near you

:: The Package Free Larder: 76 Elm Grove, Southsea. (023) 9217 4725/packagefreelarder.uk

:: Wey To Go: 36 Station Road, Hayling Island. (023) 9246 1256/weytogohayling.co.uk

:: All Good Things of Wickham: Unit 16, Shedfield Equestrian Centre. allgoodthingseco.co.uk

:: Eco Freaks Emporium: 14 South Street, Gosport. 07717 357416/ecofreaksuk.com

:: Refill and Replenish: Folly Market, College Street, Petersfield. refillandreplenish.co.uk

:: The Little Green Van, covering Waterlooville to Bosham, delivering zero-waste products. 07572 402460/thelittlegreenvan.co.uk

:: The Hampshire Refillery, a mobile business from Eastleigh offering a delivery service. thehampshirerefillery.com

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