Feature Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash
Waste is a Recent Problem
Before the 1950s products were typically made to be high quality and reusable, and refill models such as “the milkman” and “money-back bottles” were popular. We were a society of “make-do and mend”; we repaired, repurposed, or reused our belongings. We mended our clothes, and cobbled our shoes valuing the things we owned that were made to last and could be handed down to each generation.
“Today, we produce and buy 70 times more stuff than we did in the 1950’s, 99% of which becomes waste within the first 12 months of purchase – all this because of the amazing affordability and convenience of using something once and then throwing it away”.
Loopstore – The Idea
THE PROBLEM WITH PLASTIC
Cheap, flexible and multipurpose plastic has become the ubiquitous material of today’s fast-moving economy, but pointless plastic packaging on our food and on everyday products has become overwhelming; in general, single-use packaging is now the norm in retail. Everything from water bottles and beverages to personal care, beauty and cleaning products are all packaged in containers and bottles designed to be used once, and then discarded and because they are not always accepted by public recycling systems, they end up in our landfills (or worse, our oceans).
The billions of tons of rubbish we are depositing into landfills is creating problems for future generations that we don’t even fully understand yet. Much of this buried rubbish includes polystyrene or petroleum-based plastics like polyethylene terephthalate (PET), which is used to make containers, cups and bottles. Mass production of plastics, which began just six decades ago, has accelerated so rapidly that it has created 8.3 billion metric tons.
Some plastics are considered indestructible because they don’t decompose in the same way organic material does and many sources suggest that it can take from 10 to 1,000 years to decompose, others argue that plastic will never biodegrade. Plastic waste is one of the biggest public health and environmental issues of our generation.
An estimated 79% of all global plastic – from product packaging to shopping bags, covers landfills, washes into the ocean, or litters our streets and countryside. Plastic is polluting our oceans at an astounding rate. 22 million kgs of plastic enters our oceans every day, and this number is increasing. It is estimated that every year 8 million metric tonnes of plastic enter our oceans, adding to the estimated 150 million metric tonnes currently being circulated, which has a detrimental impact on marine life and ecosystems.
The impact of plastic is becoming catastrophic; Ocean Conservancy estimates that 60% of seabirds have been found to have plastic in them and 1000 marine mammals and turtles and 1 million seabirds are killed by plastic pollution annually. If we don’t act now, by 2050 there will be more plastics particles than fish in our oceans.
Experts say the world is “drowning in plastic”; one of the worst offenders are plastic bottles, with a million of them sold every minute around the world. According to Statista, 2,066 million litres of bottled water were consumed in 2013, and most recently, this figure has skyrocketed to over 2,988 million litres.
It’s clear that as the amount of plastic being used continues to grow around the world, we must find a solution to this growing problem. One of the ways to prevent plastic from ending up in landfill is to avoid plastics altogether, or alternatively you can reuse and refill the plastic containers you already have.
WHAT ARE WE DOING ABOUT PLASTIC WASTE?
THE PROBLEM WITH PLASTIC
The UK government has laid out strategic initiatives to help combat the global plastic problem and in 2018 a target was made to eliminate any avoidable plastic by the year 2042, including an introduction of numerous policies such as the ‘Plastic Packaging Tax’. This has led to a nationwide commitment from many UK businesses, pledging to cut down the use of single-use plastic.
The United Nations is also stepping up by building international awareness and developing strategies to eliminate unnecessary plastic use. In 2017, the Commission confirmed that they will be pursuing the goal to have all plastic packaging recyclable by the year 2030. The ambition is to ensure that adequate plastic waste prevention, collection, and recycling systems are in place across all parts of the world, developing a circular plastic industry globally.
A recent report “Reuse Rethinking Packaging” by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation (PDF | 18MB), cites reusable packaging as a critical part of the solution to eliminate plastic pollution.
“As part of the New Plastics Economy Global Commitment, over 350 organisations have recognised that, wherever relevant, reuse business models should be explored to reduce the need for single-use plastic packaging”.
The New Plastics Economy Global Commitment unites businesses, governments, and other organisations behind a common vision and targets to address plastic waste and pollution at its source. Signatories include companies representing 20% of all plastic packaging produced globally, as well as governments, NGOs, universities, industry associations, investors, and other organisations.
The Global Commitment is led by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, in collaboration with the UN Environment Programme. The Ellen MacArthur Foundation leads the engagement with the private sector (the business signatories and endorsers), and UNEP leads the engagement with the governments.
The Refill- Reuse Challenges
Every day we are faced with having to really think about all the plastic we’re generating and how it’s impacting our planet, but thankfully consumers and companies alike are starting to make changes. There are several companies in the UK, that are now offering refill technology and there are several ways in which refill-reuse models work. The Ellen MacArthur Foundation Reuse Rethinking Packaging report identifies that refill on the go is a great model for traditional retail urban environments, and in low-income markets, the model can accommodate customers’ needs for small quantities at affordable prices without relying on single-use packaging.
There are four reuse models refill at home, or on the go, return from home and return on the go. The refill on the go model enables consumers to bring their own reusable bottle or container or pay for one in store and bring it back for a refill when they’re ready for more. The refill at home model enables consumers to fill up their container at home using refills bought in a shop or online. Alternatively, consumers can get their empty containers picked up from home, replenished and delivered back. Another way to reuse is through companies that enable consumers to return packaging at a store or drop-off point, as part of a deposit-return scheme.
While different options will suit different consumers and different circumstances, they all pose their own challenges, one of which is that each require people to change often long-held habits in terms of how they both shop and consume.
From a business perspective, there are also various considerations. For example, putting a dispensing machine in a shop or picking up empty packaging to wash, refill and return requires very different distribution and logistics operations that, to work, need to be efficient and economically viable.
Deposit and reward schemes must be carefully thought through to ensure they incentivise the return of packaging without putting consumers off with a high initial deposit. And if companies want consumers to return bottles, they need to make sure there are enough drop-off points in the right locations.
Some retailers are hesitant to install refill stations in their stores, mainly because they don’t like change, and secondly, they have no idea how much consumers want this technology. One thing you can do as a consumer is show retailers how serious you are about using refill technology by signing the #WeWantRefill petition, which is dedicated to the mission of giving consumers the option to refill household products in local stores. If you really want change, then take charge; by signing the petition you will send a clear message to retailers that it’s time to refill, not waste. Will you do your part towards a zero-waste world and sign the petition?
REFILL INITIATIVES THAT ARE MAKING A DIFFERENCE
REFILL
The number of companies offering refillable options is growing. One UK organization Refill, which is dedicated to helping people live with less plastic, is helping consumers to keep track of where to refill through their app which enables consumers to find places to eat, drink, and shop with less waste. On the app consumers can find water refill stations, restaurants that eliminate to-go containers by packing food in consumer-provided lunchboxes, refills on your coffee cup, groceries and even cleaning products and toiletries, or stores that don’t use plastic bags, giving consumers the power to reduce plastic at their fingertips. If stores offer a discount for using a reusable, you’ll find this on the app too, as well as grocery stores where you can take your own containers.
Initially Refill started as a free app that tapped into a global network of more than 30,000 places offering free drinking waterglobally. Their campaign has already avoided over 100 million pieces of single-use plastic at source and is making ‘reduce, reuse, refill and repeat’ the new social norm with over 300,000 app downloads.
REFILL MY BOTTLE
Another water refill organisation Refill My Bottle is a community of responsible travellers, conscious locals and mindful business owners who’s goal is to reduce the number of single-use plastic bottles used unnecessarily throughout the world. Accessed through the mobile app, the RefillMyBottle map shows you nearby locations where refillers can walk in and fill up their bottle with clean drinkable water for free or a minimum fee. Since the initial conception in Bali, RefillMyBottle has grown significantly and now over 4,000 businesses in Indonesia, Southeast Asia and around the world have become refill stations, offering conscious travellers an alternative to buying single-use plastic bottles.
THE BODY SHOP
The beauty sector generates billions of pieces of packaging every year and the Body Shop, a UK company that sells skincare products, was revolutionary when they started an in-store refill and recycling scheme in 1993. Although recycling is extremely important, they’re now embracing a circular economy approach to eliminate some of the waste from their products, rather than recycling it.
In 2019, Body Shop relaunched a product refill scheme in two of their concept stores in Bond Street, London and in their Pacific Centre store in Vancouver. You can pick from six of the company’s most popular shower gels and pump them into a reusable bottle. Due to growing concerns about single-use plastics, The Body Shop also plans to phase out wet wipes, give consumers coupons for returning empty bottles, and add upcycled furniture to its store.
Loop – in partnership with Tesco
The concept with Loop, is that consumers can purchase zero-waste versions of everyday essentials from all well-known brands. Consumers pay a 100% refundable deposit to borrow their products packaging and afterwards send the dirty packaging back to them when it’s finished with and Loop will professionally clean and reuse it.
Working with leading product designers Loop have redesigned their packaging to be durable, functional, and stand the test of time. Their totes are repairable and unlike a cardboard box, the Loop Tote was designed to be shipped and cleaned again and again.
When consumers have finished with a Loop product, it can be popped into the Loop Tote and picked up free from home, or it can be returned at one of their drop-off points or scheduled to be picked up to coincide with the next delivery. Loop are working to make returns even easier with a network of collection points coming soon, including many local stores and restaurants.
Every Loop product has an end-of-life solution or can be recycled back into itself once worn out. Their parent company TerraCycle is the leading recycling expert globally for hard-to-recycle waste streams, and together they have developed a recycling methodology for every Loop product at its end-of-life.
MY TOP TEN REFILL STORES
Keep it local
Did you know that a fifth of your shopping bill goes on packaging? Disposable packaging not only costs you money, it requires natural resources to be produced and also costs local authorities billions of pounds to be collected, sorted and recycled. If you’re starting out on your zero-waste journey and are looking to ditch single-use plastics and cut down on packaging this guide should help you make that change easier to achieve.
The UK has recently seen an explosion in the number of small, independent refill initiatives and zero-waste shops in our towns and cities, many of which have emerged from the frustration of not being able to shop without creating waste.
Independent businesses are where innovation happens; it’s how things move forward and progress and these independents are helping to make zero-waste the norm.
These stores usually sell non-packaged food requiring shoppers to bring their own containers; most of the time it will be vegetarian or vegan dry good staples like pasta, rice, oats, spices, nuts, cereals, and oils and vinegars that can be decanted into reusable containers and often they also provide locally sourced produce and other sustainable eco-friendly products, like toiletries, cleaning and beauty products, homeware and household essentials.
Shopping locally instead of at the larger supermarket chain stores is a great way to reduce your environmental impact and has many benefits. Local businesses are the backbone of our economy, the epitome of the UK high street and shopping locally helps ensure a strong and sustainable local economy foundation and helps create local jobs and support local entrepreneurs. Local independents are run by people, not by boards, stockholders or algorithms and have a natural authenticity, good customer service and their supply is based on customer’s choices; if more people chose to pop to the local high street rather than driving to the supermarket stores, this would considerably reduce air pollution, reduce traffic and congestion, and improve the quality of the nation’s high streets.
Bulk Market®
Bulk Market® is a social enterprise on a mission to tackle food and packaging waste, supporting suppliers who are making a difference to people’s lives and the environment. Their business model is inspired by – refuse, reduce, reuse, recycle, rot (compost), and operate using the principles of the Circular Economy. They have a physical shop in Hackney, London but also sell online and work in partnership with a local logistics partner using a range of electric vehicles/hybrids and electric cargo bikes to deliver our goods across London.
Bulk Market® think businesses should make it easy for people to make the right choices and ditching disposable packaging is one of their missions. All the ‘not currently recycled’ grades of plastic usually end up in landfills or polluting the oceans and the recyclable grades of plastic can only be down-cycled; their solution is to simplify things and let customers take home only the food they buy. One of their initiatives is a TerraCycle recycling scheme for Colgate Oral Hygiene products. TerraCycle uses only circular methods (reuse, upcycling or recycling) for repurposing the waste collected through their programmes and will never landfill or incinerate waste.
FAVE PRODUCT:
Bulk Market® has a dedicated natural do-it-yourself beauty counter called the DIY Beauty Bar™ where you can buy essential ingredients such as Dead Sea Mineral Mud to make your own beauty products. Bromides and Iodine are present in the Dead Sea, including other minerals such as Magnesium, Sodium, Calcium and Potassium, which work together as regulators of cell activity and daily functioning, relieving muscular pain and stabilizing fluid levels in the body. Dead Sea Mineral Mud is often used in spa treatments as a face or body mask, by applying and leaving on skin to dry, then rinsing off and moisturizing to complete this refreshing feeling.
The DIY Beauty Bar™ concept is the next step of zero waste shopping, where customers can have total control and understanding over the ingredients used in their skin care products, creating natural body butters, face masks, skin toners, makeup removers, face serums and bath salts without toxic ingredients and totally plastic-free.
The system works in the same way as the rest of the store – customers are encouraged to bring their own containers to refill natural and organic cosmetic ingredients such as mineral clays, carrier oils, essential oils, cosmetic butters, floral waters, dried flower petals, bath salts, natural waxes and vitamins.
All those ingredients can be combined to create a multitude of products ranging from lip balms, body butters, body and face oils, serums with anti-aging properties, body and face scrubs, cleansing lotions, bath bombs, bath salts, face toners, face masks and so on.
In store customers can also learn about each of the ingredient’s properties and have ideas of what can be created with the range of products available. Bulk market® have also curated and tested a collection of recipes and made available for consultation at their DIY Beauty Bar™ in a recipe book.
Bower Collective
Bower Collective aim to make sustainable living simple and accessible for everyone. Their inspiration is the Bowerbird – famous for recycling brightly coloured plastic scraps to decorate its nest, or Bower. All Bower products are cruelty-free and never tested on animals. Most Bower products are Vegan except for those that contain beeswax where it is clearly stated on the product page and wherever possible Bower products are made from natural ingredients and are non-toxic.
The driving inspiration behind Bower Collective is the elimination of plastic waste from the natural environment, most notably from our oceans, which is why they have partnered with the Marine Conservation Society, the UK’s leading charity for the protection of our seas, shores and wildlife. For every purchase you make, Bower Collective will make a donation to help protect 1m2 of endangered seagrass.
Bower Collective also aim to help customers reduce plastic waste through use of reusable and refillable packaging which can be decanted into reusable containers; once the pouch is empty, it can be folded and returned in a pre-paid postal return box. The pouches are returned and recycled with their specialist partner. Bower Collective are currently developing new reusable packaging which will allow them to reuse and refill the pouches at scale.
You can calculate your own plastic waste here using Bower Collective’s plastic waste calculator to work out how much plastic you use and read our useful tips for cutting down on the amount of (non-food) plastic waste your household produces!
As sustainability is at the heart of the Bower mission and all their products and suppliers are carefully vetted to ensure they meet their sustainability criteria, which means an Ethical supply chain with all suppliers meeting the Ethical Trade Initiative base code which ensures workers are paid a living wage and treated fairly.
FAVE PRODUCT:
Bramley’s mild Digby shampoo is gentle dog wash is made from 100% natural and cruelty-free ingredients, using the finest essential oils and natural botanicals and is kind to your dog’s coat and gentle on your hands, perfect for washing away a day of play and smells wonderful.
Bramley’s mild Digby shampoo is infused with lavender and mandarin essential oils, the wash has a higher pH level than Bramley’s usual shampoos so it’s suitable for your dog’s sensitive skin. The shampoo’s naturally non-toxic antifungal, antiseptic and antibacterial qualities help to keep fur healthy and clean.
Bramley care about the environmental impact of their products, so you won’t find anything Mother Nature wouldn’t approve of. The shampoo comes in refill pouches, which means that the packaging is 100% recyclable.
Eco Earth Market
Eco Earth Market is not a refill shop per se but sells a wide range of products that fulfil their eco-friendly ethos of protecting the natural world including some refills. It was founded by a biology student in 2019 and is a UK company that package products by hand using recycled Kraft card wrapping paper, which is 100% recyclable, biodegradable and compostable.
Their products carry 4 different symbols: Recyclable, Biodegradable, Sustainable or Plant-Based to ensure transparency. They also plant one tree for every order received. Products include everything from a lagoon rice-husk travel cup, EarthKind sea saver microplastic collecting wash bag to OceanSaver cleaner refill drops.
FAVE PRODUCT:
Reusable Laundry Egg Refills. Since switching from liquid detergent to an eco-friendly Eco Egg, this is where I buy my refills, which are available fragrance-free, fresh linen or spring blossom fragrances and last up to 50 washes.
The natural mineral pellets contain no harmful chemicals and leave significantly less residue on your clothes versus traditional detergents and fabric conditioners. The
pellets are Vegan, cruelty-free, SLS and SLES free, palm oil free, hypoallergenic and accredited by Allergy UK and have been officially lab tested and awarded ‘excellent’ for sensitive skin.
They’re also cost effective costing just 10p per wash when you buy the refills and will save up to 40* bottles of plastic each year. (*Based on 7 washes a week and 18 wash bottles) and are supplied in recyclable plastic bags.
Eco Earth Market are offering SUZSTAINABLE readers 15% off on first orders using the code SUZSTAINABLE
Earth.Food.Love & Rerooted
Earth.Food.Love is an organic, wholefoods, plant-based, bulk-buy, zero-waste shop based in Totnes, South Devon, where owners Nicola & Richard wanted to recapture the past, where eating real food with minimal packaging was normal practice and return to these simple ways to benefit not only our health, but the planets too.
Earth.Food.Love stock over 100 organic, loose, self-serve products and also have a variety of liquid goods such as oils, vinegars and syrups and two nut butter machines. They also stock a small section of non-food items that help you get a little closer to living a zero-waste life.
Earth.Food.Love offer Click and Collect in-store or can deliver goods in brown paper bags to the same areas as their sister company ReRooted.
Earth.Food.Love were the first business in Totnes to become a member of 1% for the planet, an organization leading the way in creating a healthier, happier planet by addressing the most pressing issues facing our planet through environmental nonprofits. Ecotricity provides their shops energy; a company committed to clean, renewable energy.
“Living gently on this planet can be approached from many different angles; having shorter showers, cycling to work and ditching the aerosols, but what if changing the way you shop becomes the most powerful form of activism that you do? Every time you make a purchase, you cast a vote for the kind of world you wish to live in. We want that world to be sustainable, clean and thriving for our future generations to enjoy.
We look forward to you joining us on this mission; together we can be the generation of change!”
If not me, who? If not now, when?”
ReRooted are the milkmen of the future delivering organic, zero-waste fresh, dairy-free plantmilks in returnable, refillable glass bottles. They started off making plantmilks for Earth.Food.Love, but soon took hundreds of households, cafes, and shops were crying out for fresh plantmilk without the waste.
The name ReRooted is multi-dimensional, incorporating their plan on re-routing how people shop for plantmilks; re-imagining a future that’s dairy-free and plastic-free and re-using over re-cycling, through re-washing and re-filling their bottles every time. Their name also reflects their belief that roots are the life force that connects living things to the ground; to be rooted is to be connected.
ReRooted deliver across Devon, Cornwall, Bristol, Bath, and nationwide with a little help from Riverford Organic.
Their doorstep deliveries are done with electric vehicles and their entire business – from bottle-washing to vans – is powered with renewable energy.
ReRooted ardently support organic farmers and farming practices and are proud to be certified by the Organic Soil Association.
They are also proud members of 1% for the planet and adhere to the Positive Standards of being a regenerative business.
earthian zero waste shop
Earthian Zero Waste Shop is a physical shop in Winchester, that specilaises in plastic-free, organic, sustainable, toxin-free and ethical low waste, plastic free home and personal care items, including toothbrushes, deodorant, washing up brushes, CSP, jars, bottles and produce bags. Bring your own containers to the store to stock up on their vegetarian or vegan food staples, such as grains, beans, pasta and cereals or fill up with a wide range of liquid cleaning, bathing and personal care refills.
Calling themselves a Zero Waste Shop comes with a responsibility that they take seriously as they strive to be a “zero to landfill” business and in addition, they passionately support both local and global sustainable action.
Earthian Zero Waste Shop are a collection point for Terracycle, which enables the public to recycle their usually hard to recycling materials, or materials that don’t go in council recycling collection and turn them into new materials and new products. To reduce packaging waste on the supplier side and in the running of the shop, they send packaging back for refilling in closed-loop supply chains and also give boxes and food sacks a new life through local donation.
FAVE PRODUCT:
Miniml Apple Orchard Washing Up Liquid. Miniml are a small, family run business from Yorkshire who produce green, toxin-free and zero waste cleaning.
All of their liquids are vegan, cruelty-free, biodegradable and palm oil free. In terms of toxins, they have a long list of nasties that they avoid: Parabens, Chlorine Bleaches, Optical Brightener, Thiazolinones, Sulphites, Methylisothiazolinone (CMIT), Gluten, Alcohol, SLS, ALS, ALES, Formaldehyde or Phosphates.
This washing up liquid is gentle on the skin and is effective in both hard and soft water. It’s suitable to use on paintwork, rubber and metal surfaces and bulk refills are collected, cleaned and refilled. It’s made in Yorkshire, using water from The Yorkshire Moors and Miniml provide a really comprehensive transparent list with additional information about their ingredients.
EcoRefill
EcoRefill is an online zero waste shop selling package-free, refillable groceries, household items and everything from a selection of compostable cards and even ones containing wildflower seeds, to be planted and enjoyed for years after use, to biodegradable paper tape. EcoRefill offer postal delivery that’s flexible and UK wide and personally deliver to areas local to their offices in Brighton and Kent. You can return your re-purposed and reused packaging free using a prepaid postal label, or they will collect it when they are delivering in your postal area.
Founded by two sisters Florence and Olivia, their mission is to make it easier and more accessible for everyone to be able to make zero waste choices from the comfort of their home, whilst positively impacting the world around them and offering discounts, tips and tricks on how to all save the planet.
“Enough of the endless plastic packaging and throwaways which are unavoidable at the supermarkets! We hate landfill, ocean-fill, any-fill that not’s refill!”
EcoRefill is not only focused on making environmentally conscious decisions easier, but also in paying it forward, so for every purchase made, they donate 5p to the SOS Charity who are pioneering the way forward to rid our seas and land of dangerous plastics; for every sign up they get, they support local homeless and rehabilitation centres, supporting individuals into getting back into work and teaching them how to sustain a manageable life by building confidence to conquer this world as a community and for every monetary milestone they reach, they dedicate 1 hour of their team’s time to educating local schools and young people about how they can contribute in saving our planet and making it a better place to live.
EcoRefill also work closely with large corporate brands to educate them on how as a company they can encourage a sustainable, eco-friendly work environment for all.
EcoRefill are offering SUZSTAINABLE readers 20% off using the code SUZSTAINABLE2021
FAVE PRODUCT:
Organic Popping Corn and 0.75L Glass Storage Jar. I confess I have a sweet tooth but I’m trying to snack on more healthy options so this organic popcorn, which can be stored in a reusable storage jar with an airtight seal is a perfect solution.
But if my sweet tooth gets the better of me EcoRefill’s gluten free pick n mix, fizzy gums or pear drops are a guilt-free indulgence that are 100% vegan and there baking ingredients, include organic flour, sugar, nuts, dried fruit and gluten free options too.
Get Loose
REFILL
Get Loose is a social enterprise which aims to help you shop more ethically and is located at Hackney City Farm. Get Loose is supported by a team of volunteers and there’s a blog on the website where you can find out more about Get Loose’s products, their suppliers, waste-reduction inspiration and a host of recipes.
Get Loose sell a wide range of fresh and dried organic produce, loose and in non-plastic packaging.
FAVE PRODUCT:
UK produced Bio-D cleaning products that are made from natural, plant-based ingredients that are cruelty free, vegan and ethically sourced packaged in 100% recycled plastic packaging waste.
Once the huge 15ltr containers are empty they are sent back to Bio-D for recycling.
SUZSTAINABLE readers get 20% off all products on their website with the code SUZSTAINABLE. The code needs to be used at checkout and are delivered by Zirro.
Visit www.zirro.net and have Get Loose goodies delivered to your door – Zirro are also able to collect and refill your containers for you (see details on their website).
Green Pear Eco
nspired by David Attenborough and the low-waste/climate-strike movement, Green Pear Eco endeavours to be as close to low waste as possible or at the very least, 100% recyclable/plastic-free. Green Pear Eco is an online marketplace for eco-friendly products, with the aim of making eco-friendly products more accessible for everyone and to convert the more ‘hard to sway’ people away from plastic swapping bottles to bars, and single use to reusable and they deliver by post nationwide.
Green Pear Eco‘s refill delivery services cover Saffron Walden and the surrounds, where you can refill at home with their liquid refill service for bulk eco-friendly household essentials. Green Pear Eco aims to become a ‘one-stop-shop’ with a wide range of products to help everyone make swaps away from plastic throughout their homes. They have partnered with TreeApp to plant a tree for every order of £10 and over, as they don’t only want to help reduce plastic consumption, they also want to help reduce climate change, reforest and cool the Earth. TreeApp work with NGOs One Tree Planted and Eden Reforestation Projects to plant trees all over the world.
FAVE PRODUCT:
Body Wash & Bubble Bath Starter Pack, which comes in a 5 litre 100% PCR (post-consumer recycled) jerry can plus one or two empty glass bottles. If you already have your own bottles to refill you can order the jerry can without the accessories. The jerry can comes with a cap for transit and a choice of 30 ml dose pump or tap. The glass bottles are also part of the starter pack and come with a choice of cap or pump.
The Body Wash & Bubble Bath is made from naturally derived, sustainable ingredients including glycerin and aloe vera and has a subtle pink grapefruit and aloe vera fragrance. It is Vegan, Cruelty and Palm Oil Free and contains no sulphates, phosphates, parabens, chlorine bleaches or petrochemicals. It’s made in the UK and is suitable for sensitive skin, gently cleansing and leaving your body conditioned and soft.
The refilling system is closed loop, so you return empty jerry cans for refilling and receive a 5% discount on every recurring order. Green Pear Eco also offer a rewards scheme and you can earn ‘Pear Points’ for buying this product and for following them or liking/sharing them on your socials. Not only that. If you refer Green Pear Eco to friends or family, you both receive 10% off!
My Refill Market
My Refill Market is a zero-waste shop founded in 2008 in Milton Keynes where you can buy a wide range of organic, local and excellent quality dry foods, toiletries, cleaning products and zero waste accessories.
My Refill Market offer home delivery and click and collect, where dry goods are packed in paper bags and for liquids empty bottles are collected from customer doorsteps at lunchtime before the delivery or customers can bring their empty bottles to refill in-store.
FAVE PRODUCT:
Bamboo charcoal water filters that are biodegradable reusable, then compostable and zero waste. Suitable for a 1 litre jug of water. They come in a pack of 4 or 8 packed in a reusable natural cotton bag.
The bamboo charcoal is placed in jug or bottle filled with tap water and will slowly filter out impurities such as chlorine and chloramines. They are compostable at the end of their life but also can be reused in many useful ways throughout your home, for example after 2 months of use, reuse the filters for mouldy kitchen and bathroom corners, place in the fridge to keep produce fresh, help remove smells from your fridge or bathroom, or use to help remove moisture from damp areas.
SUZSTAINABLE readers get 5% off all products on their website or in the shop with the code BRINGYOUROWN. The code can be used once at checkout and there is no expiry date. Visit www.myrefillmarket.com for a detailed list of products.
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