The Little Green Larder - How it Works

Hello everyone

I hope you are all well and enjoying the end of autumn. I have definitely noticed it’s getting colder, especially first thing in the morning when I am out with my lovely dog lady at the park.

Today’s post is about my zero waste shop, The Little Green Larder. We have been open for 2 and a half years now and I just don't know where the time has gone. I want to say a huge thank you to all of my wonderful and supportive customers!

Shopping in a zero waste shop can take a little bit of getting used to so I have decided to do a ‘how it works’ post for you all to explain what we are all about and how to shop with us! 

Click here for a short video showing how it works!

1 - Bring your own containers and bags

You can bring any container you have along with you to fill up. We have fresh fruit and veg, bread, whole foods, dried foods and refillable oil, vinegar and cleaning liquids. People normally bring in jars, bottles and tupperwear but anything works. We have even had people filling up a wine bottle with washing up liquid.

2 - Weigh your container

If filling up a liquid, snack or dried good you must first weigh your container. Place it on the scales and select “I have an empty container to weigh”. Then press print and stick the sticker on your container.

3 - Fill up with a product

Everything is different prices so only one type of product per container. Fill as much or as little as you need then head back to the scales.

4 - Re-weigh your container

At the scales select “I have a filled container to weigh” and then scan your printed barcode. Place the container on the scales. You will get a list of categories to choose from. Select the right category e.g. cereal. This will bring a list of items up for you. Select your item then press print. You will get a second sticker with the item name, weight and price.

5 - Pay at the till

The last thing for you to do is bring it up to the till and pay for it. We accept both cash and card. We have a few spare donated plastic bags available but we do encourage you to bring along your own. The more times you use a bag the less of a carbon footprint you have!

So why shop like this you may ask? Shopping in a zero waste/ packaging free shop means that you don’t have a huge amount of waste plastic when you get home. Less single use plastic means less waste that can end up in our environment and oceans breaking down into microplastics. You will be reducing your carbon footprint and having a fun shopping experience.

How long these materials take to biodegrade:

Shopping like this also means you will have less food waste. It is estimated that food waste accounts for 8% of the worlds greenhouse gasses and 1.3 billion tonnes of food are wasted every year! (from Zero waste Scotland Facebook page). At The Little Green Larder you can buy as much or as little as you need. This means you wont have large packets that will inevitably not get used and go off.

At The Little Green Larder we also have a large variety of eco friendly alternatives to every day items. We have metal straws, reusable water bottles, reusable sanitary items, soap bars, soy wax wraps, dish brushes and much more. Pop in to see us to find out more.

I hope you have enjoyed this blog post and it helps you realise how easy it is to shop sustainably with no packaging. If you have any questions please do leave me a comment and I will get back to you.

Jillian

Owner
The Little Green Larder