A store where customers can refill containers with food they purchased, thereby reducing plastic waste has been launched in Co. Waterford.
GIY (Grow It Yourself) has opened a brand new sustainability refill store called ‘Larder’ at its base in Waterford city, GROW HQ, which is set to encourages a low waste and organic lifestyle by selling reusable, refillable or compostable products.
This is achieving GIY’s goal of supplying essential products alongside locally grown fresh produce, while replacing everyday plastic purchases that end up as waste.
‘Larder’ offers household essentials including organic cereals, nuts, seeds, rice, sugar, pasta, oils, herbs, spices, dried fruits and vegetables, flours, chocolate, purees and sauces, all sold in refillable containers.
These products will be joined shortly by organically grown seasonal fruit and veg grown by GIY at its market garden on the Curraghmore Estate in Waterford and will be sold loose or via a weekly veg box order.
GIY founder Michael Kelly has said: “I think most of us are horrified at the amount of unnecessary packaging on products that we’re bringing into our home so this has been a long-held ambition of mine to be able to make low-waste options more widely available.
“While recycling is the answer for many people, we actually only recycle about 15% of annual household waste, so really prevention is the most important way of ensuring that single-use plastic doesn’t become a long-term pollutant.
Kelly explained that GIY is trying to “offer as many common-use household products as possible” and also make the refill usage “as easy as possible”.
“We hope that this becomes the new norm for many people,” he added.
At GIY, a range of household cleaning products from all-purpose cleaners to fabric softeners, to detergents and wash-up liquids are also available for refill.
Customers can also enjoy a range of fresh produce from GROW HQ sandwiches, salads, hummus, pestos, and mustards made from the HQ kitchen all laid out in a grab and go fridge.
There is a range of fresh food produce from local suppliers such as artisan sausages, black pudding and organic milk and customers can sign up to a weekly fresh seasonal fruit and veg box, all grown locally at the GIY market garden.
‘Larder’ will encourage people to reduce, reuse and recycle – as an estimated 1.2 million tonnes of plastic go to waste each year in Ireland.
At the ‘Larder’, shoppers will be able to take home food in their own refillable containers to cut down on waste and use of paper wrapping where required.
All products at the new GROW HQ refill store are sold without a container. To purchase refill products, customers bring their own containers and pay by the weight of the product (as containers are weighed empty before filling).
Customers can bring cleaned jam and pasta sauce jars, kombucha bottles or emptied detergent pitchers to refill at the store.
Customers without a jar can purchase a long-term use one square top jar of 1L, 1.5L, or 2L, spice jars, and milk bottles of 1L and 0.5L, or use one from the store’s free ‘container library’ made of reused, and donated containers.
The ‘Larder’ at GROW HQ is open from 9:00a.m to 5:00p.m from Wednesday to Sunday.