I was so excited when I saw Flitvale Garden Centre opening their Zero Waste Refill Station the other week I paid it a visit the very next day…
This post is a review of what I found there, and is not sponsored by them in any way, just an Eco-Influencer and my experience of finally having a zero-waste store near enough to use regularly :)…
What was there:
I wanted to start by breaking down what is there… The food area is at the front of a regular garden center, with everything which you would expect (and more) beyond…
- The first area you come to is the fruit and vegetable section, which is mainly package-free with lots of sturdy paper bags available, along with a fridge with some packaged items. The only criticism I had of this space was that I berries were in plastic boxes, and I hope that they may look at getting them in egg box (compostable) cardboard boxes at some point – but overall very impressed with the quality and variety of package free fruit and vegetables
- Then you have a bakery section, where the packaging isn’t the best but it’s all locally sourced so and looks delicious
- Then you have a refill station on the left; with everything from grains to pasta to rice to cereal to snacks and treats
- Then also a liquid refill section from the wonderful re-fill brand FILL
- On the side of this, you have frozen separates (meat, fish, fruit, veg, pastries) – which I love as you can use your Tupperware and buy only what you need rather than plastic packages of specific amounts which might not be divisible by your household members
- Then you have various jars and cans – generally from organic brands
What I bought:
- Bunch of Carrots
- Yoghurt Coated Raisins
- Little Gem Lettuce
- Plain Organic Flour
- Frozen Croissants
- Granola
- Apples
- Hot Cross Buns
- Chilli Crackers
- Mushrooms
- Onions
- Chocolate Coated Raisins
- Melon
- Bananas
- Plums
- Pasta
What to Bring with You
Here are my suggestions of what to bring with you in order to make the most of your experience of package-free shopping {N.B. if you do shop in supermarkets, then you can also bring these things along to make things more package-free there to, by say getting your meat from the meat counter rather than the shelf and getting your fruit and veg loose – it all helps}:
- Produce Bags – I got some of mine from Waitrose & some from EcoVibe, they are usually between £5-7 and come in sets, they can be used over and over for shopping or storing food and are well worth owning. If you are a dab hand with the sewing machine, drawstring bags are very simple to make out of scrap fabric or old tea towels 🙂
- Food tubs – whatever you have in – they don’t have to be fancy – just a container which seals and can carry food and not be too heavy – re-using takeaway containers is therefore ideal, or any old lunch boxes or Tupperware
- Jam Jars – well, surely you would never expect me to miss this one! But in all seriousness – these are perfect for any smaller items, for example, chocolate raisins, nuts, seeds, couscous, sweets, etc. I also keep old tomato ketchup bottles and salad dressing bottles as these can be vessels for refill soap, dish liquid, oil, laundry liquid, etc
How the Prices Compare to the Supermarket:
I worked this out best I could as I personally wanted to know and thought that my readers would too… Overall it seems that it’s a bit swings & roundabouts in that some things are slightly more and some slightly less but it is definitely a comparative price to the supermarket overall and whilst you can’t get everything there you can certainly get an excellent selection of, importantly, package-free items which aren’t necessarily offered at all in the supermarket. Yes it’s an extra journey – but one very worthwhile doing in my book, at least once a month and this is what I plan to do going forward… here is my comparison receipt for info:
