Zero waste / refill shops 5 January 2022 at 11:41AM in Old style MoneySaving 14 replies 2.2K views

Floss

I've got a couple of zero waste / refill shops near me - both about 5 miles away though - that I'm considering using. What are the things that you buy / would buy from a zero waste shop?

bit_by_bit

We have bought flour and soaps, hair conditioner and tea 

joedenise

We haven't got a zero waste/refill shop near us unfortunately but if we had I'd be looking for things like dried pulses and lentils.  Soap powder/liquid, dishwasher powder/liquid.  Shampoo, conditioner, soap.

I think a lot depends on what you use and also what storage space you have.  @bit_by_bit mentioned flour but that is something I wouldn't be buying as I use very little of it as I don't bake!  The only thing I use flour for is Yorkshire puddings!

Brambling

joedenise said:

I think a lot depends on what you use and also what storage space you have.  @bit_by_bit mentioned flour but that is something I wouldn't be buying as I use very little of it as I don't bake!  The only thing I use flour for is Yorkshire puddings!

 I try not too bake as well so find they can be useful to buy smaller amounts of flour and sugar cheaper than buying the smaller bags in SMs 

Rosa_Damascena

I am not convinced that such places are entirely hygenic. My concerns are E.Coli based.

elsien

Herbs and spices. 

Not caught any lurgies from them as yet, 

Guineapigsqueaks

I use mine for washing up liquid, hand wash, laundry liquid, loo cleaner, citric acid and oxygen bleach. Also, Ocean Saver refills. I've had various other bits such as a non plastic dishwash brush, toothpaste tablets, beeswax wraps, safety razor as I've tried to reduce plastic. They do soap/shampoo bars/loo roll/dishwasher tabs, but not the ones I like so I buy those online. I don't buy food items, not because of hygiene concerns but because I have a tree nut allergy and they sell a lot of loose nuts, I worry about cross contamination. I would say just try it one or two swaps at a time, see how you get on.
Guineapsqueaks x

Carrot007

Rosa_Damascena said:

I am not convinced that such places are entirely hygenic. My concerns are E.Coli based.

Indeed, these types of shops were massive in the 80s. I would not use them then Iand I will not now.

Of course non self serve would up the price. But big boxes with scoops. No thanks.

They need to find a better way.

Floss

All the ones I've been in across the country have dry goods in hoppers with a feed, rather than "big boxes with scoops". As I would be taking my own containers & I regularly use hand sanitiser I don't feel that there is any IPC issue.

Brambling

We have had a small shop in town for about 30 years (he was ahead of his time) and there has never been any reported issues, it's always very popular.  As well as 'bins' he is the cheapest place for herbs and spices which he decants into small sealed bags 

greenbee

On the occasions when I’m near one - refills for cleaning products, toiletries, dry ingredients (pulses, nuts, grains), peanut butter, and if they do it - milk (zero waste shop is vegan so does refills for oat milk, farm up the road has an electric cow for dairy). Ours also has lots of plastic-free items like face wipes, period products, reusable kitchen roll and stocks plastic-free loo roll (although I get that delivered direct). Stick some clean jars and bottles in the boot of your car and go along and have a look! If it has a website you can check prices online to see how they compare.