A new plastic-free refill shop - which will be the first of its kind in the district – has opened its doors.
The shop, which is the first of it's kind in Huntingdonshire, stocks a range of food, household essentials and beauty products that avoid plastic or plastic packaging in an effort to help people reduce the amount of plastic they throw away.
Former teacher, Melina La Firenze says she realised there was a need for a refill shop after starting a 'zero waste club', where she would bulk buy items and then distribute them to people in the town who wanted to make a conscious effort to reduce the amount of rubbish they were throwing away.
The 41-year-old mother-of-two, who lives in St Neots set up a Crowdfunding page in a effort to raise funds to help open the shop and keep costs low as she felt that some refill shops can be expensive, and wanted to keep costs in line with supermarkets.
Melina said: "The launch was really amazing, we have been so busy since we started. We had the launch party on the Friday, which people who had donated were invited to and then opened on the Saturday.
"Everyone has been so supportive and said that they are thankful that this shop has opened as they were looking for a refill shop. We are also matching the prices of Tesco Organic products, which is great as it means that we are not expensive to buy from. We wanted this to be as accessible as possible, which I am hoping it is. We also sell coffee and cake at the shop, so people can stop to have something to eat and a hot drink."
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