Forever Keele 17
Zero Waste shop opens at Keele
Keele Students’ Union has launched an ambitious new venture aimed at cutting
plastic pollution across the University
The Zero Waste Shop is
one of the first student-
led outlets in the country
selling products that have no
packaging. The enterprise,
which is based within the
existing Keele SU shop,
is open to all, offering
students, staff and visitors an
alternative way to shop.
The Keele Key Fund, which
provides grants across the
University, has helped cover
the majority of the shop’s
set-up fees. The concept
is simple - shoppers select
their purchases which are then weighed by
staff and decanted into a recycled paper bag
or containers that customers bring with them,
meaning that transactions will generate zero
waste.
A wide variety of staples will be stocked
in the shop including cereal, dried fruits,
grains and pasta, as well as herbs, spices
and household essentials. Alternatives to
disposable single-use coffee cups and straws
will also be on sale. Self-service will enable
shoppers to select as little or as much as
they need, further minimising unnecessary
waste.
Keele SU will also be creating and
distributing recipe cards, and providing
customers with all the guidance they need to
produce healthy, nutritious and economical
meals from the raw ingredients stocked in
the shop.
Sam Gibbons, Keele Students’ Union
Activities and Community Officer (pictured
above), said: “In the past year there has
been a greater call for a move away from
single-use plastics, known lovingly as the
‘Attenborough effect’ inspired by an episode
on ocean plastics.
“Students have lodged motions at our
University General Meetings to remove
plastics in the Students’ Union, and setting
up the shop is a direct response to the
requests of our members. By supporting
this project the Keele Key Fund is helping
students become more responsible
consumers and creating solutions to the
world-wide plastic problem. I feel this is once
again showing Keele University leading the
way on sustainability in the HE sector, and
another step to embedding sustainability into
everything that we do.”
The Zero Waste Shop will be open for
business from 9am-5pm, Monday to Friday
and 10am-4pm at the weekends.
WATCH THE VIDEO
Click here to watch the video of Sam’s
interview with BBC Radio Stoke on
their Facebook page.