Volunteering at Socially Growing
Newly opened on Thursday the 27th, on the north coast of the Highlands, Thurso, Socially Growing officially opened its doors and I went in on their 2nd day of trading to volunteer.
Socially growing is a zero-waste shop operating under the Thurso community benefit society and 99% of the products in the shop are plastic free. The whole concept is that when you come into the shop, you bring in your own containers (or there are lovely new ones available to purchase in the shop), and cut out the need to always be buying the containers that the products would usually come in. Packaging waste is reported to generate around 177.4kg per individual in the EU in 2019, with places such as Ireland estimated to have 228kg per person with plastic making up 19.4% of the waste. (Source Euro Stats).
In the buildup to the shop opening there was a buzz around the community, not just in Thurso, the excitement of the shops concept was spreading across the whole county of Caithness and beyond, to me, proving that the community are highly aware of one part they can play in the fight against climate change.
The first thing you notice when you walk in is the vast selection of products that Zoe (shop manager) and the team have sourced. The whole shop is lined from wall to wall with colourful pastas to aromatic herbs and spices, honey and oils, teas and coffee beans (which you can grind for free in the shop!) cleaning products, shampoo, conditioner, and bee’s wax wraps. It must be noted that one of the things customers commented on whilst I was in the shop, was that there was such a range of products. One customer was absolutely delighted that there was tri-coloured pasta, something she had not been able to get locally in quite a while. She was also thrilled that she could buy what she wanted it in small measures, standard purchases in a supermarket mean you mean can only buy what is pre-packaged, but the important thing about shopping in Socially Growing is that you can buy as little or as much as you want which undoubtedly means a massive impact on the amount of food waste created as well as the save on packaging!
But how does it work? To begin, you will weigh your empty container on the scales that are situated beside the till, the weight is then recorded on a sticker which you attach to your container. You then fill your product of choice, as much or as little as you would like into your container. This is then put back on to the scales, the original container weight sticker is scanned, then you select your product on the screen, the weight is measured and a priced stick printer off. This is then what is scanned at the till. It sounds a little bit of a faff, but it’s easy and once you have the hang of it there will be no stopping you! There were several young children that had come in during my shift and every one of them loved it and what a great way to inspire waste management from a young age!
For those who have allergies, they’ve got that covered too! There is a board written up with allergies and each one has a corresponding coloured dot. If the products that are on display in clear containers for self-service contain any of the allergens, they will be labelled with the coordinated dot to make sure that you know what is safe to take.
There are of course individual items for sale, one item that really appealed to me was the toothpaste tablets. I will admit to not having tried them yet, but they are on top of the shopping list for my next visit, along with the bamboo toothbrushes. According to the British Dental association, BDA.ORG over 200 million toothbrushes go to landfill in the UK every year - a lot of unnecessary plastic when there are sustainable alternatives on the market.
I had a lovely conversation with a couple who were excited about the dishwashing liquid that Socially Growing had decided to stock. The closest place that they had been able to get it, without ordering it online was Inverness. Now, as much as they would not make a trip of over 100 miles to just buy dishwashing liquid, they would order it online if they were not planning a trip south any time soon. So, they will not only be saving delivery money, saving towards their carbon footprint with extra postal packaging and the delivery miles, but because Socially Growing is a BenCom (community benefit society) it means that the money put into the shop goes towards the local community. It really is beneficial on so many levels! If all these points were not enough, Socially Growing will be growing its own produce in the ex-council greenhouses that have recently been acquired by the trust and the BenCom, you can’t get more local than that.
It was absolutely brilliant to see the shop so busy and the excitement and enthusiasm that everyone had for not only the shop, but the concept as well and how much the town and neighboring areas had already embraced this alternative way of shopping. Everyone I spoke to, young or old, whether they bought something on the day or whether they were just in to see how it worked, were all excited to come back for their refills or with their own containers. I really hope that more towns and villages look to take the same or if not, similar in their own approach to shopping within their own community.