Shop on a mission to tackle plastic waste in Harrogate

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JarFull, on Bower Street, has opened its doors to the people of the town in a bid to encourage them to change their shopping habits and commit to using less plastic.

Customers can purchase household items in a variety of ways from the store, such as loose fruit and vegetables, cereals, grains and snacks, with a focus on less packaging.

They can also pick up domestic items and body care products like shower gel.

It was an idea born from a personal mission to be more eco-friendly, when owners Rebecca Lodge and partner Matt Lee moved into a town centre flat and found themselves with a continuous mountain of overflowing rubbish and recyling.

Rebecca said: “This was a light bulb moment for us.

“Recycling is good and is part of the solution but reduction and reusing must come first. After all, producing packaging in the first place uses huge resources.”

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The couple set about changing their home life, buying bars of soap rather than bottles, buying loose fruit and vegetables and using reusable cups, but they soon became frustrated with the lack of options for other common items.

Rebecca added: “We got frustrated at not being able to find simple pantry items such as rice, nuts and cereals without plastic packaging, so knew we had to do something.”

In January 2018, they launched a successful new venture to home deliver more sustainable products. And after its success, they took the plunge to open a shop in Harrogate’s busy town centre and encourage more people to get involved.

Rebecca said: “At JarFull we are aiming to improve accessibility to environmentally friendly products and break down the barriers to sustainable shopping in Harrogate.

“Now we’ve launched into a bricks and mortar shop on Bower Street we couldn’t be happier. The shop has allowed us to expand the range of products we can offer considerably due to the extra space including our recent addition of a selection of fruit and veg too.

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“Since we’ve only been open a couple of months, we have a lot more in the pipeline too including new products, evening workshops and even cut your own herbs.”