Kingsbridge Reducing Plastic

Updated 08/07/2019

Read our guide to the shops in Kingsbridge that are helping you to reduce plastic and recycle more. This is by no means a complete list and we are aware that we may have missed out some fabulous schemes, products and shops. We will continue to add to this post and we discover more so please check back regularly and do let us know if we've missed something. In the meantime, we hope this helps...

Kingsbridge Information Centre is part of the Borrow-a-Bag scheme - arrived in town without your reusable bags? Make the Information Centre your first stop before heading further up the High Street and "borrow" a bag for your shopping. You can also buy "Hello Kingsbridge - Goodbye Plastic" branded e-coffee cups here, ideal if you want to grab a coffee while you shop. In the Information Centre, there are a selection of gifts, greetings cards and calendars all without a plastic wrapper. There are also recycling points for Ella's Kitchen pouches and for beauty product packaging such as packet from make-up remover wipes, and the tubes that hold moisturiser etc.

The Trading Post have an extensive range of toys from Green Toys, Wooden Toys, Eugy Toys and Play Press - all without plastic. You can also recycle biros and felt tip pens here. 

Nicholson's is your one-stop shop for cleaning products, with their refill Ecover laundry liquid, washing up liquid, fabric softener, multi-surface cleaner and BioD toilet cleaner. You can also purchase soap bars, deodorant crystals, Natracare sanitary products, moon cups and unwrapped bath gift products. They stock the 'If You Care' range, 'Ecoleaf' recycled loo rolls and kitchen towel and 'Ecozoe' products. Behind the counter is a range or eighty unwrapped herbs and spices - customers can ask for a paper bag from the shop or bring your own containers. New to ther offering is refills of Faith in Nature shampoos and conditioners. If the Faith in Nature range is not to your liking then the Hair Advice Centre also do refills of their new sustainable range of hair products.

Further up Fore Street you will find Healthwise where you can purchase deodorant, natural soap bars, shampoo bars and hair conditioner bars. Also available in their self-care range are bamboo toothbrushes, toothpaste, oil mouth-pulling cream, roll on scent, and sun cream in tins. At the back of the shop there is an extensive range of herbal and fruit tea bags, flours, a gluten free range, organic products, vegetable and fruit juices, local honey and organic chocolate. All tje packaging on their seeds, nuts, rice, beans, lentils, coconut flakes, etc can be recycled by taking it to the Community Garden at the top of Fore Street. When you buy Viridian vitamins, you get 25p for returning the empty bottle. Bamboo and recycled kitchen towel plus loo rolls are also available here. 

Save a Packet in the Anchor Centre is great for all your loose ingredients be they cereals, flours, nuts, dried fruits, coffee, or bird food.  Purchase it all loose from drums in the shop, using their paper bags, or taking your own containers - remember to get them pre-weighed before filling!  

Occasional Cards stock a number of unwrapped greetings cards as well as paper straws, paper party bags and paper banners. Approximately 90% of their balloons are biodegradable and recycled wrapping paper is available. Watch this space for more products coming soon.  

Time for lunch? The most environmentally friendly way is to stop and eat in at on of the town's wonderful cafes. If this isn't possible then Coasters offer take-away sandwiches in wrapping that is compostable. They also offer a discount when a customer uses their reusable cup. They make it a rule only to accept non-laminated posters on their community board and offer free coffee grounds for customers to take away and use as garden fertilizer. 

The Pantry also do a delicious ham & cheese toasted croissant in a paper bag. Customers are welcome to bring their own containers for olives, humous and salads etc. but the containers and coffee cups they use are plant-based and can be composted. Larger paper bags for your purchase are availabel for a 5p donation to WWF and e-coffee cups are avialble to buy. They will also refill people’s water bottles - look out for the Refill stickers in lots of windows throughout the town or download the Refill App (https://bit.ly/2JajLQl).

If even the sunny courtyard at Harbour House Café can't entice you to sit down and take things slowly then rest assured that all their serveware is either paper, glass or made from sugar cane. The only drinks they sell are in cans or glass bottles plus there is always some water in a jug available. They only serve loose leaf tea and encourage their suppliers to use multi-use boxes for deliveries.

Please be aware that any products you purchase with "compostable" packaging, will require a hot composter to break down so do not put them in your food waste collection at home and wherever possible avoid using them. Eating in, using your own containers and as a last resort paper bags are the best options.

Oxfam sell bamboo toilet rolls and tissues, reusable cups and bamboo sandwich boxes. They will take your old mobile phones for recycling as well of course, as selling secondhand clothes, books, shoes and lots more. Buying from the many charity shops in town is a great way to reduce our impact on the environment, reusing items and contributing to charity at the same time. With this in mind do make the most of our local Kingsbridge Library. You can reserve and order practically any book you could ever want for the small charge of 50p if they don't already have it in stock.

The Mint Dress Agency will take your unwanted clothes and, if they're of a suitable quality, will resell them for you making you a small amount and allowing someone else to enjoy those clothes.

Alan’s Apple is aiming to be as plastic free as possible so pay them a visit for all your loose fruit and vegetables including some organic options. You can reuse your egg boxes by filling them up from a basket of eggs, buy milk in glass bottles, and even their local soft fruits can be bought in recyclable trays. Finish off that food shopping by heading up the road to Lidstone’s Butchers where all the meat is air hung rather than vacuum packed and they don't use any polystyrene, instead using butchers paper or filling the containers you bought with you.

And it you're short of time then remember that both Alan's Apple and Lloyd Maunder Butchers are open from 8am - 5.30pm weekdays so you can pop in before or after work - no excuses!

Stuck for what to do with your disposable contact lenses? Well take them in to For Your Eyes Only or Kingsbridge Eye Care where they will recycle them for you. Both places will also send used glasses to Vision Aid Overseas. The latter also sells a range of glasses made from recycled plastic, affordable and stylish you can often see me (Samantha) sporting a pair!!

Holland & Barrett stock a varity of beauty products free from micro-beads, plastic free and unwrapped in plastic. They stock the Pukka Tea range, one of the only companies whose teabags don't contain plastic and many products in glass jars. 

Out of town and you will find Noyce’s where you can recycle Brita water filters and batteries. Noyce's also stock a whole range of eco-friendly products. Like Nicholson's, you can refill your Ecover laundry liquid and washing up liquid here. You can also buy E-cloths, beeswax food wraps, reusable cups, recycled plastic food containers, Ecoegg laundry wash, reusable straws, reusable kitchen towel, and up-cycled (from single use plastic) storage boxes in range of sizes with lids. The ‘If You Care’ range made from sustainable rubber includes sandwich wraps, baking cases, parchment paper, foil and household gloves. Some greetings cards have compostable potato starch covers.

Boots also allow you to recycle batteries and sell mooncups. 

Samphire Foods, a new addition to Fore Street, sell Devonia bottle water, this local company uses glass bottles and if bottles are returned to the shop they will be collected and reused. Bring your own coffee cups and containers or utilise their cardboard take-away boxes. @The Bakery will offer similar services but also sell Bell & Loxton rapeseed oil in metal recycable bottles and Devon Honey in glass jars.

Bochinelli - The Kitchen Shop sell the Chilly's range of stainless steel bottles, beeswax and vegan food wraps, paper staws and the 'If you Care rage' of sandwich wraps. They also sell Veggio by Carrinet which are washable vegetable bags made from recycled bottles and glass spice jars with cork tops.

If it's kitchen supplies you're after then Donovan's is also worth a browse, selling lots of similar products to Noyces and Bochinnelli but lso selling beeswax polish in glass jars, the e-cloth range of cleaning cloths and wooden spoons etc.

By the time you've reached the top of Fore Street you'll be ready for a break, and Mangetout can sell or serve their entire range in your own containers or in their bio-degradable ones. Wooden cutlery and paper carrier bags are standard, drinks are in glass bottles and coffee and nuts are available to purchase loose. 

Compiled by Lindsay Ball of the Kingsbride WI and Samantha Dennis from the Kingsbridge Information Centre.