The Refilling Station took a decision, around 6-months ago, to move from a small unit on Grove Road to a much bigger shop premises on the Cold Bath Road in Harrogate – 47 Cold Bath Road to be precise, or opposite the pub!
Owner, Kirsty Dodds, said:
The UK is the biggest producer of plastic waste in the world behind the USA (Greenpeace May 21) – as a country we are literally drowning in plastic waste.
Plastic waste a problem, it is using finite fossil fuels to manufacture, plastic is not indefinitely recyclable and lots of plastic items are created to be used only once then discarded.
Plastic breaks down into smaller microplastics and takes hundreds of years of degrade. Micro Plastics entering our bodies are detrimental to our health.
The Refilling Station is an Eco-friendly shop, selling a variety of household and food products.
Kirsty said:
We provide eco-friendly grocery shopping, selling household detergent refills, our large tanks get refilled for us too, along with loose wholefoods.
We have many eco-friendly products such a shampoo, conditioner, hand and body lotion and body wash refills – all plastic free products.
Also working with Yorkshire suppliers and independent makers such as true tea, proper nutty, stickeys honey, local jam, locally roasted coffee.
The shop offers an alternatives way to shop, as the main high street supermarkets pay little attention to the packaging, other than to ensure sales and to shift responsibility to saying it being demanded by the customer.
Kirsty said:
The shop offers a true alternative way to shop, we help customers avoid lots of unnecessary plastic packaging.
Customers can buy the quantities of loose foods and refills they want, so they avoid waste.
You can bring your own containers or use our bags and bottles. Our scales allow customers to minus the weight of their container after filling, so they only pay for what they fill.
Some are unsure about how a refilling station works.
Kirsty said:
An easy switch to start with would be refilling hand soap or washing up liquid then take it from there. As your items run out, replace with what you need.
But it is not just about plastic, there are lots of other reasons to buy from us. Lower food miles, with using local suppliers, products that are eco-friendly, so create less damage to the environment, supporting the local high street to make the neighbourhood more diverse.
We employ local staff who also spend locally to keep the local economy going.
