Plastic-free shops are struggling. Some have even closed.
But in the Perthshire village of Methven, The Filling Station is bucking the trend.
June Wallace is the shop’s no-nonsense owner.
Having set up her zero waste store in Main Street during the lockdown of summer 2020, she admits she is “lucky” to have a loyal customer base.
Business is steady, she says.
“I’ve got a lot of loyal customers.
“Once I got established, I got a good following.”
Elsewhere, it is understood three zero waste shops across Scotland have closed down in as many months.
So how does a business like The Filling Station compete with supermarkets during a cost of living crisis?
June says, quite simply, it doesn’t.
Particularly when you can now buy plastic free toothbrushes and solid shampoo bars at mainstream stores.
“I’m not competing against Tesco. I think I’m competing against farm shops.
“I’m not open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
“And the supermarkets are starting to try to do a little bit. You can buy a wooden toothbrush in Tesco, in among all the other plastic ones.”
People have less time and more to worry about
June, 55, doesn’t blame people for heading to the supermarket.
“People have got more to worry about now. They’ve all gone back to work.
“There’s less time and there’s a lot to worry about.
“They see the wooden toothbrush in Tesco and think ‘brilliant, I’ll throw that in’.”
The challenge, she says, is making her business as attractive as possible for “normal” people.
“We want normal housewives to feel that it’s really easy to come in and fill up with washing up liquid, shampoo and pasta.
“It shouldn’t be, and isn’t, that difficult. There are shops like this everywhere.”
Having started off selling just 67 different products, she now has a range of more than 1,000.
She sells “one of everything”.
On the rare occasion she doesn’t have what a customer is looking for, she’ll order it in.
Your containers don’t even have to be washed out, or empty, as long as you’re filling up with the same thing.
“If there’s an inch and a half of washing up liquid in your bottle, bring it.
“You only pay for the little bit you get.
“Just when you’re passing, I’ll top up anything.”
Going completely eco friendly is ‘impossible’
Our Saving the Planet series has been looking at how people across Tayside, Angus and Fife have been reducing their carbon footprint and plastic use.
June says most will not want to sign up to a complete lifestyle overhaul.
And she admits that part of her motivation for setting up a plastic free shop was to “offset the rest of my lifestyle”.
“People want to do that. They still want to go on holiday once a year, but they want to try their best.
“So the idea was to make it as easy as possible.
“It’s nearly impossible to go completely, super ecologically sound.
“But I can make it as easy as possible for you to buy all the pantry staples.”
Louise Humpington runs the Grain and Sustain chain of zero waste stores in Fife.
She knows of three refill stores across Scotland that have been forced to close since the start of the year.
Echoing June, she says: “We understand that time is precious and perhaps filling containers doesn’t seem like a priority for many.”
Louise is now taking steps to “make things easier” for customers and is auditing her stock to see where she can be more competitive.
June says plastic free stores will “always be a bit niche”.
But for those who want to cut plastic use, and use more environmentally friendly household products, she believes they have something to offer.
For those choosing eco-friendly products over budget supermarket brands, plastic free shops like The Filling Station can be good for the purse as well as for the planet, she adds.
“Some of the liquids are more expensive, but not by eco standards. It’s still cheaper to come and refill the washing up liquid here than it is to buy a bottle of eco product.”
