A GROUP is looking to open a refill store in Bude, offering plastic-free, natural and palm oil-free products.

With the heightened concern surrounding single-use plastics having come to light over recent years — and particularly since the BBC’s Blue Planet II aired in 2017 — people have recognised the need for a more sustainable lifestyle, and refill shops do just this.

Five local women in Bude are now looking at the possibilities of opening a refill store, strengthening the town’s existing environmental activism. Home to ReFILL Bude, #2MinuteBeachClean, A Greener Bude and Bude Cleaner Seas Project, many people in Bude have been campaigning for cleaner beaches and a healthier marine environment for years.

Jackie Diffey, who has agreed to be project manager for this initiative, explained that it will be a social enterprise — in other words a ‘business where society benefits’. It will be run initially by volunteers with 100% of profits reinvested into local projects, such as those run by A Greener Bude.

“The concept of a refill shop is that customers ideally bring their own containers and fill them with products they want. Alternatively, glass storage jars will be available as well as draw-string cloth bags and paper bags,” Jackie said. “So many people have told us they would like the option to buy items plastic-free and to cut the amount of single-use plastic in their shopping.”

With that in mind, the group hopes to stock a wide range of goods including pasta and rice, cereals, muesli and oats, beans, peas and lentils, nuts and seeds, herbs and spices, oils and vinegar, cleaning products and toiletries.

Jackie said: “The more money we can raise to start the shop, the greater the range of products we can offer and the space we might have available.”

In recent market research conducted by the group at the recent Budelicious Food Festival, one of the most important factors was to offer value for money. As well as offering customers the option of buying as much or as little as they want, it will be important to offer products at an affordable price. Products would be displayed in gravity hoppers mounted on the walls where customers are able to serve themselves as well as in scoop bins for dried fruit and nuts.

The committee — which consists of Jackie, A Greener Bude and ReFILL Bude founder Deb Rosser, Rachel Wilson O’Hare, Karen Ashton and Genevieve Pearson — has taken inspiration from The Refill Store in Truro.

Having only set up in May, the Truro store has been very successful and has offered advice and support for a similar shop in Bude.

Jackie said: “Refill shops are taking off in towns across the country and the community of ‘zero-waste’ shops is very strong. The Truro store has been very supportive but in forums nationwide, people are sharing and helping each other — there is growing demand for a new way of shopping and we all want to see this alternative being offered locally.”

She added: “If we can set up a similar store in Bude, that would be fantastic.”

Recent news has highlighted the decisions of some supermarket giants in promising to reduce or remove entirely single-use plastic packaging, plastic bags and more by a certain time. However, the problem is still very much relevant in many stores as fruits and vegetables continue to be wrapped in plastic, fish and meat are laid upon non-recyclable black plastic trays and mountains of plastic is thrown away by consumers every day.

“It is frustrating,” Jackie continued. “Much of the packaging used by large supermarkets is clearly marked non-recyclable so it goes into landfill and will stay there for decades. It may cost a few pence more but surely if recyclable alternatives could be used that would be a small improvement.”

The group is currently searching for premises in Bude and have some options to consider.

“We obviously want to keep costs down for the consumer so the shop will not be on the high street necessarily, but hopefully not far from it. We need to get our communication right so that people will make a point of planning their shop with us.”

The group is hoping to set up a crowd-funding campaign very soon and will also be applying for a grant in order to get the project off the ground.

During Budelicious food festival, the group conducted some market research with 80 surveys completed to gather information about about the likely support for a refill shop and the products people would want to buy.

“100% of those interviewed said they wanted to reduce their consumption of single-use plastics,” Jackie said. “If the products on sale are competitively priced, as well as offering flexibility on quantities, no plastic and a more pleasant shopping experience, we hope this will be really attractive to the people of Bude.

“Shoppers will also have the added benefit of knowing their weekly shop will be supporting other community projects, which will make Bude a much better place for everyone.”

Deb Rosser, who founded the successful ReFILL initiative and is chair of A Greener Bude, which was officially established in February, is excited at the possibilities of welcoming a refill store to Bude. She said: “It’s fantastic, and is something everyone feels is needed here in Bude.

“I spent the weekend at Budelicious, and people I spoke to there were absolutely delighted that we are considering this, saying it will be a great thing for Bude and a great thing for the planet. If we can start reducing our consumption of single-use plastics, even if it’s just a small difference to our day-to-day living, it will hopefully project a larger influence on others and spur supermarkets to think differently about their packaging and excess packaging. It will be going back to how my grandparents used to shop!”

Deb said that there will definitely be some crowdfunding involved to kickstart the project, but is positive the people of Bude will show their support.

She said: “The Bude community is so supportive, and everything, all projects like this in the area are run for the community, by the community — that’s how we tend to do things here in Bude.”

Although consisting of just five main committee members, the refill store group is hoping to get lots of people involved in the coming weeks and months, and have already received a lot of support.

Deb added: “We really need to start thinking about reusing and refilling where possible. If we can avoid plastics, let’s do that. If we can shop local, let’s shop local.”

The group is very much in the research phase of this project, looking into possible grants and the structure of the initiative. However, they are looking for anyone who might be able to help with the project in some way. Jackie can be emailed at [email protected]