Whilst refill shops have been around for a few years now, they do tend to appeal to a particular type of person – usually someone with a strong desire to live more sustainbly and who is willing to try new things. We wanted to give all our staff here at 100Green, the opportunity to try it – and then we asked them a few questions about their experience after. Here’s what we learn’t.
Why would you go to a Re-Fill store?
These shops are popping up all over the country and the reason is, because they offer people the chance to not only browse for more sustainable household items, but instead of buying food and bathroom products in plastic packaging, you can just reuse the packaging you already have.
The Refill Campaign say; “Here in the UK, not only does our ‘lunch on the go’ habit generate 11 billion items of packaging waste a year, but we get through a whopping 2.5 billion coffee cups each year – enough to stretch around the world roughly five and a half times!”
If we all regularly re-filled just one item in our homes then together we could make a huge difference.
What products can I re-fill?
Normally you can find the following items in your local Refill store:
- Bath and Body (shampoo, shower gel, moisuriser etc)
- Cleaning (household sprays, laundry detergents etc)
-Dried Fruit
-Herbs and Spices
-Nuts, Seeds and Nut Butters
-Oats, Cereals and Non-Dairy Mylk
-Oils, Vinegars, Sauces and Syrups
-Snacks, Sweets and Chocolate
-Tea, Coffee, Hot Chocolate and Drinks
-Cooking, Baking and Sugar
-Pulses, Beans and Grains
-Rice and Pastas
How do you use a Re-Fill station?
1. Weigh your empty container on the scales and collect the label it prints
2. Fill up your container
3. Go back to the scales and scan your label before putting your container on the scales again (make sure if you weighed it with the lid when empty, that you do the same again.)
4. Locate the item on the screen that you are purchasing
5. The scales will give you a new label which will display the price and barcode
6. Go to check out with your container and the second label and pay!
How do I find my local Refill station?
The Refill Campaign has an App that you can download to find a Refill station near you
You can find the free Refill app in the App Store > or Google Play >.
How easy is it to use a refill station?
We gave all our staff a voucher and a container and encouraged them to go and find out what its like to use a refill station
83% of staff had never used a re-fill station before. But only 30% had to ask how to use it.
17% said they found it a bit tricky – but just over 80% said it was simple and they worked out how to do it.
Of those that found it difficult, the reasons why were around concerns about how much they were spending and also getting into a bit of a mess filling up the container!
How likely are people to regularly use a re-fill station?
Around 40% of our staff said they wouldn’t regularly use a Refill service. The main reason was that they found it quite expensive as well as the difficulty of keeping track of what you were spending.
However over 50% said they would use it again.
Are re-fill stations a good thing?
We asked our staff whether they thought that everyone should try a refill service at least once.
91% said yes. Here are their main reasons why:
It’s a great way to reduce plastic and packaging
Its an easy way to do your bit for the environment
The products are good quality and sustainably sourced
Everyone should give it a go at least once because how else will you know if it works for you or not?