GREAT BRITAIN -- Natural Weigh is a zero-waste shop that opened its doors to the residents of Crickhowell. The shop is filled with everything you need from pasta noodles, seeds, grains and even dried fruit. All of these food items are served in hoppers because they don't come in plastic packaging.
Liquid and other detergent products are put in old refillable bottles. They also offer other environmentally-friendly products like bamboo toothbrush, dental floss and vegan snack pouches made of leather. All of these look very lovely on the shelf. When you enter the store, the displays are truly captivating you would want to give up your dependence on plastic packaging.
Concept stores like Natural Weigh is what experts call the silent revolution. Over the last two years, the call to minimize the use of plastic and save the environment has become stronger that it pushed to open more than 100 stores across the UK that offers the same kind of concept as that of the Natural Weigh. Is it possible for homes to become zero-waste? The shift to zero-waste management at home may not come easy, but it doesn't mean it's impossible.
"We got the idea for the store in 2017," said Chloe and Robin Masefield when asked about why they started Natural Weigh. "We found a shop in Totnes that claims to be the first zero-waste shop in Britain and thought that it was something we could get going." Both Chloe and Robin work for companies involved in the environment. Chloe works for Woodland Trust while Robin is into the fishing industry. They both saw that starting a zero-waste shop would only serve as an extension of what they do for a living.
The shop is located at an area that used to be a pub. When it closed, the government considered it as the perfect venue for another grocery store, but locals bought it instead. Today, it houses an antique shop and a cafe alongside Natural Weigh. The one reason the the Masefields don't sell organic vegetables and fruits in their shop is because they believe someone in their community will be able to do it better. They don't want to undermine the possibility of their neighbors wanting to be part of the green revolution.
"I like the concept because it helps us keep out household waste-free," says Ann Williams, a regular customer of Natural Weigh. She says she buys all her laundry and cleaning materials from the shop including some of the dry goods they also need at home. " I don't understand why we moved away from the concept of not making any trash," she added.
There are more than a handful of shops in Britain that hopes to help put an end to the waste problem. Buying from a zero-waste shop is not just benefitting the household or the community. It comes with a whole lot of gift for the environment.
