AN independent zero-waste shop has celebrated its first successful year.

The owner of the shop, 22-year-old Ella Peirson, first decided that she wanted to live a more sustainable lifestyle after working abroad and witnessing the damage that plastic can do to the planet.

Read more: Net zero: How green is Oxfordshire?

Oxford Mail:

However, she soon realised there were no independent waste-free shops when she returned home to Oxfordshire. 

So, she came up with the idea to open her own and encourage others to make better choices when it comes to using plastic and single-use items.

In 2019, at just 19-years-old she opened her first shop Sea Change in Abingdon. 

A year later, just before the pandemic hit, she opened her second shop Bee Zero in Wallingford.

Oxford Mail:

Now, aged 22, she’s successfully running two stores in Oxfordshire. 

Supermarket giants, like Waitrose, have already opened ‘waste-free’ sections in their stores but Bee Zero is the only shop in the area run by a small-business owner.  

She said her shops have plenty of returning customers but one of the biggest challenges is ‘breaking the myths’ around being ‘eco-friendly’.

She said: “We try to make the shopping [experience] as close to regular shopping as possible, because people find the transitions [to waste-free shopping] quite daunting.

“I think the biggest challenge is breaking the sort of myths around being eco-friendly, being sustainable and shopping zero-waste.

“There are places like Waitrose who do a refillable section and there is also Just Trading, who offer some refills.”

But she said she thinks her shops are the only independent retailers outside of those who offer refillable, zero-waste products.

Visit:

  • Bee Zero at 26 High St, Wallingford OX10 0BU
  • Sea Change 20 Faringdon Rd, Southmoor, Abingdon OX13 5AB

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