FillUp, a zero waste refill shop in Alton High Street, celebrates its first birthday today.
It enables customers to reduce the amount of single-use packaging generated by their weekly shop.
FillUp owner Louise Bagnall said: “If you want to buy pasta you’re generally limited to 500g in a plastic packet that can’t be recycled.
“And every time you need to stock up on herbs and spices, you either buy new glass or plastic jars or get the little plastic sachets in cardboard boxes. Most people don’t want all that packaging, but they have no choice.”
FillUp customers can take along reusable containers – or buy some in the shop – and stock up on everything from pasta to shampoo. There is even peanut butter, made fresh before their eyes.
Louise decided to open a refill shop after visiting a similar store while on holiday in Dorset.
She said: “We walked into this zero waste shop and saw an amazing variety of products, all packaging free and competitively priced. I thought, that’s just what Alton needs.
“The response has been fantastic. People have said it is just what the town needs and that they love to shop here, which is just the reaction I’d hoped for.”