Ipswich mum Lucy Storey is planning to set up a zero waste shop for the town - to help families be green shoppers.
Ms Storey, 39, who lives in the Sidegate Lane area, said: “I’m a mum to two boys aged 12 and 15, and I have a growing passion to be more sustainable.
“I am wanting to bring an accessible-to-all, affordable, one-stop low-waste shopping experience to Ipswich through a new shop, Unwrapped & Refill.”
Ms Storey is currently looking for premises in the IP3/IP4 area of town.
“I have been trying to go plastic-free, but I found I was having to go to so many different shops,” she said.
During coronavirus lockdown, she decided to do something to help other shoppers in the same situation.
The single mum said: “I was becoming more and more frustrated having to spend so much time sourcing products from different places, just to try and be more environmentally friendly.
MORE: New deli to bring ‘a little bit of happiness’“I didn’t have the time or money to maintain this and thought ‘why isn’t there somewhere in Ipswich that I could shop for the majority of my shopping in one place?!’ This soon spiralled into wanting to open my own shop.”
The shop will initially stock bulk foods including store cupboard essentials like flour, grain, beans and pulses, cleaning products and personal care items, seasonal fruit and vegetables without packaging, tinned goods and reusable baby products, and fresh bread and cakes sourced from a local supplier.
Customers will bring their own containers to refill and there will also be containers available to buy.
MORE: New warehouse selling furniture and clothes for charityMs Storey said: “Purpose, people and the planet over profits is the ethos. I will be donating at least 10% to a few local charities that deal with food banks, period poverty and homelessness.”
It is also hoped to hold workshops and demonstrations in the shop, and as the business grows to make secondhand uniform available, with board games and books to swap.
She has arranged a start-up loan, and is also crowdfunding to help meet some of the initial costs, with the chance for NatWest to contribute up to 50% of funds raised up to £5,000 via the Back her Business scheme..
For more details, search for @unwrappedrefill on Facebook, and visit the store’s crowdfunding page here
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