A new zero-waste store will open later this month in Inverness.
Ness Refill, founded by Evelyn Elder, will provide a central location for people to come with their own containers and fill up on essentials.
The store will be located on Queensgate just down from the Post Office and has been eight months in the making for Ms Elder.
Refill stores are a much more eco-friendly shopping experience with items stored in large containers mounted to the wall, which customers help themselves.
Customers are encouraged to bring containers from home, reducing the number of plastic containers used and so more environmentally conscious.
Ms Elder was keen to offer a wide variety of products and produce to appeal to more people, with customers simply filling their containers, weighing them and paying.
Items available include pantry items such as lentils, oats, flour, herbs, spices and oils as well as unpackaged bread, rolls and pastries.
Ness Refill to open on March 18.
While many items are bought wholesale, Ms Elder also wanted to carry some local produce.
The store will supply honey from Loch Ness Honey, jam from Jinty’s Jams n Jellies and soap from M.Soap.
Refillable hand wash, soaps and cleaning products will also be available.
Ms Elder says that filling up with stuff you need, helps to eliminate food waste as you only buy what you need.
She said these stores existed back when she was younger, however, the popularity of bigger and more convenient supermarkets made them obsolete.
However, two zero waste stores have opened in recent years like the Highland Weigh in Nairn and Wyvis Refills in Dingwall.
“If you buy a packet of flour from a supermarket, which is a kilogram, how many people actually finish the packet before it goes out of date, or they don’t use it or forget it’s even there.
“You’ve not only wasted your money buying a bigger packet but there’s also food waste, whereas if you are bringing your own container, you can reuse over and over again and will only get what you need.”
Ms Elder believes households on a limited budget could also benefit by just purchasing what they need, as it saves money.
“We need to do something to reduce the amount of packaging and just the rubbish that we create,” she said.
“As much as people are conscious of the amount of packaging they produce and do recycle, this gives them more of an opportunity to take part in it, if there are more of these types of shops around.
“It gets people into the mindset that this is a sustainable option for them and by offering wide-variety people will be less likely to go to supermarkets.”
Ms Elder aims to have the store open and welcoming customers on Saturday, March 18.
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