The Refilling Station, a Harrogate zero-waste shop, is encouraging customers to live more sustainably through their unique shopping concept.
A zero-waste shop in Harrogate is encouraging customers to live more sustainably through their unique shopping concept. The Refilling Station on Cold Bath Road reduces waste and single-use plastic by asking shoppers to bring their own containers to buy products such as pasta, rice and oats. The shop, which moved from Grove Road in September, has already been popular with shoppers as people become increasingly conscious of their plastic use.
Kirsty Dodds, Owner of Refilling Station, explained the concept:
[caption id="attachment_9962" align="alignnone" width="2560"] The Refilling Station on Cold Bath Road, Harrogate[/caption] Kirsty said:"We’re essentially a packaging-free shop, so people can bring their own containers and fill them up with pasta, rice, oats and that kind of thing without having to take home any packaging they don't want.
"I think people are realising that they have far too much plastic in their life, especially the single-use kind of plastic that can’t be recycled."
The Refilling Station also stock a selection of crisps sealed in air-tight containers, reducing crisp packet waste. The shop has been able to stay open during lockdown whilst the majority of neighbouring businesses on Cold Bath Road had been forced to close, although Kirsty said that this has had an effect on footfall for the shop:"We encourage people to come here with their jars, pots and bottles and they can fill up their washing up liquid, laundry liquid, oats, lentils, herbs and spices, coffee, tea and we’ve even got a peanut butter machine where people can grind their own nuts and make their own peanut butter!"
[caption id="attachment_9963" align="alignnone" width="1386"] The Refilling Station allows customers to bring their own containers to fill up with various products[/caption]"We’ve been a bit quiet since [non-essential] shops reopened as I think people have recognised the need to spend their money in shops that they’ve been desperate to see back open!
"We’ve been open the whole time [during Covid] and it’s been really tough. I think that because some shops who have been shut - its obviously been really tough for them - but we’ve then had the knock-on effect."
As a new store, Kirsty believes the concept of container shopping at the Refilling Station can be "intimidating" for some, but is confident it will catch on.
She added:The Refilling Station also has a shop on Harrogate Road in Leeds. Find out more about The Refilling Station in Harrogate online, on Facebook or on Instagram. Read more local stories from Your Harrogate here."We’re here to help anyone. Often it can look quite intimidating - people don’t often know what 100 grams feels like or what a typical sized packet actually holds, but we can help them with that.
"It doesn’t have to be scary, people can start with something really small like just refilling their washing up liquid!"
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