About
Hi, I’m Katie and I’m the founder of Tribe Zero-Waste.
I was motivated to start my personal zero-waste journey when I met the founders of SESI refill who opened my eyes to the amount of plastic-waste in the world.
They inspired me to help set up some SESI detergent refill dispensers at The Mix, a community space in Wantage, where I grew up. It soon became clear the local community wanted to shop for food refills too.
With help from Rina and Paul at SESI I set up a regular pop-up shop at The Mix and was soon asked to do pop-ups all over Oxfordshire.
Once the Covid-19 outbreak hit, we began offering a local delivery service, packaging all our our goods in compostable and recyclable paper packaging or reusable tubs.
After 4 years running Tribe zero-waste part-time I was lucky enough to be offered a retail space in Faringdon as part of the Meanwhile in Oxfordshire scheme.
This meant we now havd a permanent space to allow our community to come and refill. Increasing the reach and impact of Tribe zero-waste and giving me the opportunity and absolute joy of running the business full-time as well as employing a wonderful team.
We had 2 successful years in our first shop but realised we needed more space and in 2024 we moved to a larger unit across the market square where you’ll find us today.
We keep the running of Tribe zero-waste as low-impact as possible. Sourcing organic foods, circular supply chains and local producers where possible.
Buying in bulk means we can help reduce the amount of packaging per item all of which we recycle or re-use.
So much of our equipment and shop fittings have been sourced second-hand. From our self-service scales to our food tubs, dispensers and shelving. Even our shopping baskets were pre-loved!
For home deliveries we have sourced recyclable and compostable paper bags and we have an electric van to do deliveries and market trips.
This journey is really a result of the support and passion of the local community. I’m so pleased there are more and more of us joining the Tribe and looking to reduce waste make a positive change in our little bit of the world.
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