{"id":1030,"date":"2024-11-26T11:31:30","date_gmt":"2024-11-26T11:31:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/sustainability\/?p=1030"},"modified":"2025-04-08T10:39:20","modified_gmt":"2025-04-08T09:39:20","slug":"reuse-refill-recycle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/sustainability\/2024\/11\/26\/reuse-refill-recycle\/","title":{"rendered":"Reuse, Refill, Recycle"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Could you buy nothing new for just one month?<\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nothing New November is a UK wide challenge that calls the public to fight overconsumption and impulse purchases by buying nothing new for one month (excluding essentials like food etc). The aim is to waste less, make the most of the stuff we already own, and cut our carbon footprint (Keep Britain Tidy, 2024).  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As part of Nothing New November, we have been thinking of ways to shop for essentials in a more planet friendly way! So, this month I have been exploring the independent, sustainable shops in and around Newcastle. I hope this blog will encourage others to pay these amazing little shops a visit, and we can all try to be a bit more mindful about the things we buy, and the waste we create.<\/p>\n\n\n

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How to use a re-fill shop?<\/u><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Using a re-fill shop can seem a bit daunting if you haven\u2019t done it before, so I\u2019ve put together some tips to help first time shoppers:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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  1. Collect some empty containers, glass jars work well. Often the re-fill shops have some you can buy too so don\u2019t worry if you don\u2019t have any.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Take a list of items you\u2019d like to buy with rough measurements of how much you need, and head to the re-fill shop with your clean, empty containers.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. When you arrive, speak to the staff! They are always so helpful and explain the process to you. But normally they weigh your empty jars before you fill them up.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. Then just fill up your jars with whatever you please and the containers will be weighed again, and price totalled up at the till like any other shop.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  5. Enjoy all your plastic free goodies!<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Re-fill shops around Newcastle<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    1. 109 General Store, Heaton<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
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      Image: 109 General Store<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

      109 General Store<\/a> is a family run low-waste general store located on Heaton Park Road. They have a variety of green cleaning products, sweet treats, fruit, veg, local eggs and fresh bread from Northern Rye. The in-store staff are friendly and are happy to help customers, or you can order food online for click and collect. I often do my weekly shop here then pop next door to their sister shop Heaton Perk for a coffee, Newcastle\u2019s only coffee shop exclusively using glass bottled dairy milk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      2. Ernie, Stepney Road, Ouseburn<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Ernie<\/a> is a small deli shop located in Ouseburn which sells organic veg, household refills, and unique local cooking items and gifts from sustainable and small businesses. You can order locally sourced fresh produce to your door using Ernie\u2019s fresh delivery service, delivered on Fridays by bicycle!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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      \u2018Real people, real food, less is more, buy less, buy better – making a difference is always within reach.\u2019 <\/strong><\/p>\n(Ernie Ouseburn, 2024)<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n

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      Image: Ernie, taken from Ernie.com<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

      3. Buy the Kilo, Tynemouth<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Buy the kilo<\/a> is another family-run refill shop located on platform one of Tynemouth metro station. After a walk on the beach, I stopped off to check out this shop and pick up some oat milk. The shop is hidden down a little alley of independent businesses in shipping containers, which if you\u2019re not looking for you probably would never notice! It was my first time visiting the shop, and the ladies working in the shop were more than happy to help and walked me through exactly how to work the weighing system. The shop also exhibits artists\u2019 work that highlights issues about the environment, making it a must visit if you\u2019re in Tynemouth!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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      Image: Buy the Kilo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

      Thank you for reading this blog, I hope you enjoyed it! A big thank you to the owners of these shops for all their efforts in reducing waste. Let us know in the comments if you visit any!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Could you buy nothing new for just one month? Nothing New November is a UK wide challenge that calls the public to fight overconsumption and impulse purchases by buying nothing new for one month (excluding essentials like food etc). The aim is to waste less, make the most of the stuff we already own, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12007,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[151,13],"tags":[129,15,56,29],"class_list":["post-1030","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-all-blogs","category-lifestyle","tag-nothing-new-november","tag-sustainable","tag-sustainable-action","tag-sustainable-campus"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/sustainability\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1030","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/sustainability\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/sustainability\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/sustainability\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12007"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/sustainability\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1030"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/sustainability\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1030\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1041,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/sustainability\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1030\/revisions\/1041"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/sustainability\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1030"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/sustainability\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1030"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/sustainability\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1030"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}