Basingstoke ObserverOVERTON Refill Week is a new initiative from Plastic Free Overton to help the community find out how to refill to reduce waste.
The first Overton Refill Week will run from Monday 21st to Sunday 27th March.
Lots of businesses in Overton have already been awarded Plastic Free Champion status as part of the Plastic Free Overton campaign and now Overton is continuing the drive to raise awareness of the issue of single-use plastic, and packaging waste, with many businesses onboard to help.
Overton Refill Week aims to highlight what can be bought without packaging locally, which is more than you imagine. You can purchase fresh milk from Dorset Dairy available in refillable bottles from Pueblo Pantry at Café Pueblo and olive oil available in refillable bottles from Wilson’s Greengrocers, along with packaging free fruit and vegetables. Takeaway drinks can be purchased from any of the four cafes in Overton in a reusable returnable Overton Cup for a £1 deposit. Wilson’s also sell their soup in Overton Cups.
Most shops in Overton stock reusable Overton bags which you can borrow. Other initiatives include toiletries and household cleaning products to refill into your own containers from Pueblo Pantry who are also offering pick and mix sweets in your own tubs. If you take your own containers to Turners Butchers, they will put meat purchases into those straight to offer customers a plastic free option while Claws N Paws are offering duck food in an Overton Cup.
A spokesperson shared: “Plastic is hard to recycle for lots of reasons and new plastic is cheaper than recycled plastic for manufacturers to use for their packaging. This means the only real option for consumers to reduce the impact of plastic waste on the planet is to avoid it where possible and reduce the amount we buy. But this isn’t easy at all, plastic is everywhere which is why Plastic Free Overton are trying to make it as simply as possible for people to make these simple switches.
If you haven’t yet tried using your own containers when shopping in Overton, make this week the week you do. Please tag @PlasticFreeOverton on social media and let them know what you’ve bought!”
