Green Business - Unpackaged

Many of us are frustrated by the amounts of unnecessary packaging used on products. Catherine Conway is too and she has done something about it. But it's not only the excessive multiple layers that she has dealt with - if you visit her shop Unpackaged you do away with any packaging at all.

It is surprisingly easy. Arrive with your containers, have them weighed, fill up with whatever you want, weigh again and get a discount of 50p. You only buy what will fit into your container and therefore avoid the frequent frustration of not being to fit the complete contents of your packet into the storage jar. If you only want a small amount for a recipe, you can buy the exact quantity you need.

You can use anything you like to put your purchases in. The website says: ‘Bring anything you like, there's nothing to date that we haven't been able to refill (even our lovely friend who likes putting lentils in old water bottles!). Bring glass jars, Tupperware, old takeaway cartons, brown paper bags, plastic bags, old packaging...' Customers have even been known to search their bags for envelopes to hold yoghurt-coated raisins.

Unpackaged began in 2006 as a market stall at Exmouth Market and Broadway Market and since November 2008 has occupied the old Lloyd's Dairy Shop in Amwell Street, London N1. The dairy was open until the 1970s and is now a listed building. Little has changed from its original fitting, although the attractive food boxes give it a modern feel.

Unpackaged describes itself as an ‘organic grocer' and has a wide range of dried goods, fruit and vegetables, dairy, bread and handmade cakes, oils, herbs and wine. For a full product list, look at the Unpackaged website. Food is organic wherever possible and Fairtrade, and Catherine likes to source products as locally as possible.

There are extensive household and personal care sections. The complete Ecover range is available, with refills. Vinegar and bicarbonate of soda are sold loose. I like the washing up loofah that can be put on the compost heap when it stops washing dishes effectively. This is the only place I have found to buy the replaceable heads for toothbrushes, soap is completely unwrapped and Faith in Nature bottles can be refilled.

Customers tend to be people who are committed to the Unpackaged idea. People travel from all over London, and indeed from beyond London as many have seen the shop mentioned in newspaper and magazine articles or on the internet. The refill rate is 73% so that is a lot of packaging saved. Obviously local people come in when passing by, then they like the idea and become regular customers.

Although individual shoppers relish the idea of no packaging, it is harder to convert the suppliers. Catherine enjoys the challenge of finding suppliers who will work with her towards the no packaging ethos although it tends to work better with small suppliers - the supplier of rapeseed oil takes away the empty drum when he brings a new one. But if Catherine approaches a large company, the type that supplies supermarkets, they see the unpackaged market as too small to be of interest to them.

Perhaps a good way of evaluating the environmental impact of shopping at Unpackaged is to look at my own purchases. Over the last two years I have used the same two Ecover bottles for laundry liquid, delicate laundry liquid, floor soap, multi-surface cleaner and toilet cleaner respectively. I reckon they've all been refilled at least twice. That's a lot of bottles saved. I take my smart containers for flour and sugar (the ones I usually decant the packets into) and if I'm buying something for which I don't have a container I take old M&S mini-bites pots. I regularly buy golden caster sugar, porridge oats, cous-cous and lentils. I've bought the best ever semi-dried prunes there and I always buy a blueberry slice to eat on the way home. I've refilled a wine bottle (I wasn't sure how long it would keep so drank it quickly!), I buy unwrapped soap and toothbrush heads, and I am on my second refill of bubble bath. When loo rolls were sold loose, I regularly bought them. I wash my dishes with a compostable loofah and next time I visit, I plan to take my vinegar bottle for refilling.

If I lived nearer I would shop at Unpackaged more often. When I do go, I am limited by how much I can carry home on public transport. I have to plan my visits, but I believe it is an important contribution to saving the planet and I am trying to go more often.

I love this shop for so many reasons. I love the building, the step back into history in its fittings, the friendly welcome from Catherine and her staff, the quality of the food on sale and most of all the fact that when I get home, I unpack my cotton shopping bags and I have nothing to throw away.

As far as I know, Unpackaged is the only shop of its kind although Ecover refills are not uncommon and there are some health food shops that sell loose items. It would be nice to see more.

Do visit the Unpackaged website for more information, and if you get a chance please pay them a visit. Every refilled item makes a difference.

Caroline Fletcher

Unpackaged, 42 Amwell Street, London, EC1R 1XT. Tel: 020 7713 8368 www.beunpackaged.com

photos (c) Unpackaged 2010

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