Johannesburg has been added to the growing list of places in the world that now have plastic-free grocery stores, the newly opened Refillery is making a change.
Johannesburg, South Africa – Waste-Free grocery stores started becoming hot topics last year. We shared a story about a waste-free grocery store in Australia at the beginning of 2017 and our readers loved the idea. Then in October of 2017, South Africa got its very first one in Cape Town. South Africans based outside of Cape Town were all green with envy. Now, just two years later, Johannesburg has joined the hype and got its very own plastic-free grocery store.
The Refillery opened its doors earlier this year and has changed the face of plastic-free shopping in Johannesburg. It is a growing trend that people are going plastic-free by moving to reusable straws, mugs and water bottles.
Sam and Dom Moleta are a young couple with two small kids who decided to challenge themselves to “plastic-free July” last year and cut out plastic wrap, plastic shopping bags, take away cups, straws and water bottles as their first challenge. They managed to survive the month without using any of those items. They then challenged themselves to go completely plastic free or as zero waste grocery shopping as possible, which they said was a lot harder.
They then became inspired to open a store that embodied the challenge to its fullest. They quit their jobs, sold their home and used all their savings to open their store.
“We decided that if we created an option that made being eco-conscious accessible, mainstream and easy we could actually make an impact on the plastic pollution that we face today – So the Refillery was born.”
“We strongly believe we don’t need a handful of people doing Zero Waste perfectly but rather a million people doing it imperfectly. We don’t care much for your lifestyle choice whether you are vegan, a health guru, nut lover or choc-o-holic we simply want to change the way you shop.”
They have a large selection of grocery items on hand, all displayed in bulk jars for ease of shopping. At the Refillery, people are encouraged to B.Y.O.J – Bring Your Own Jar or make use of the paper bags on offer.
“We have lived, worked and travelled the world by sea and have seen first hand the deterioration of the ocean and the huge amount of plastic polluting the beaches and seas around the world”
As the message spreads about the pollution problem across the globe, more people stand up to offer solutions to the problem. This is yet another couple taking a stand and helping people transition from using plastic, to living without.
The store can be found at Cedar Square, in Fourways, Johannesburg.
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