Last month at The Green Parrot was a quiet one for us on social media, but don’t let that fool you! We have been eagerly working away behind the scenes on a new project, which we know will appeal to the eco-warrior in each of you.

Over the last few weeks, we’ve been asking our customers for their thoughts on a zero-waste scheme being implemented here at the shop – and what a response we have had! Results have poured in from our questionnaires handed out in the shop and from our online survey. We found the reactions were overwhelmingly positive and that this is really something you want! So – we have little choice! There’s no turning back – the next question is ‘where do we go from here?’

Initially, we looked into purchasing self-dispensing containers (Hoppers), which allow people to help themselves to the product of choice without exposing the product and are a relatively easy option for us to take. However, not only are these units unbelievably expensive to buy but they are also primarily made of the one thing we are trying to avoid – plastic!! Our message is clear, we want to see less plastic not more, so how is buying huge plastic containers going to help? We know this isn’t the right path for us to take, not until we know it would be popular enough that the amount of plastic waste we would save from packaging would outweigh the amount needed to produced a hopper. We want a different way of doing things that will bypass plastic altogether.

The other priority for us to make it cost-effective for you. If we can show a significant saving by going waste-free more of our customers will buy this way instead. Buying stock in bulk means we can give large discounts to you, guaranteeing that this is the most economical way to shop every time. As an added bonus, the size we will be buying stock in is packaged in a paper sack rather than plastic.

The biggest hurdle for us is that the majority of you have said that you would prefer organic to non-organic products. We feel this is a good way to go as it is better for the environment and for our health so we want our bulk products to be organically sourced where possible. But to do this we need to find a way of passing on our organic products without interfering with the original packaging, reducing contamination.

So how are we going to do it? Well, we have come up with a plan which we feel is going to make zero-waste shopping much more achievable for you and, as a business, will not further impact on the planet.

So we would like to tell you our plan!

All day Friday, (and Saturdays from 11-2) we will be running a refillable counter. You can bring in your containers to refill – tell us how much you would like of each product and we will fill them up whilst you do your shopping. To start with, we will be serving pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, golden linseeds, white basmati rice and brown short grain rice – all organic. We already sell loose teas and coffees, and refill laundry liquid, fabric conditioner and washing up liquid. And we already reuse your egg boxes for your eggs, and have a glass jar recycling scheme for our jam makers and picklers! We want to help you reduce the waste you produce, as well as producing less waste as a business. We feel we’ve come up with the best solution – but it’s going to be trial and error for a while so please bear with us! Any suggestions to improve the service will, as always, be greatly appreciated. More products will be added, once we get going. So join us and help to reduce our impact on the planet. See you on Friday! Thank you!