Going Back To Our Roots

Whatever about our concerns with kids being wrapping in cotton wool these days, just as big an issue is how much packaging comes with our shopping.

Whether it’s buying that toothbrush online and finding it buried in bubble wrap and cardboard, or just grabbing some cereal sealed in plastic inside a box, pretty much everything we buy on a daily basis seemingly needs to be gift-wrapped.

All for our own health and safety, of course. And to make sure that none of it springs a leak as it travels 8,000 miles to your plate.

That people have begun revolting against such unnecessary packaging – opting for free range fruit and veg; dumping all that plastic, cardboard and styrofoam at the checkout – is not some kind of hippy-dippy fad. Jump back 50 years, and all these layers of packaging would have been laughed out of the shop. 

Today, bananas come sealed inside a plastic bag. BANANAS!

Of course, the beauty of zero waste is that not only does stripping away all that packaging help the environment, but, hey, it’s actually cheaper. If you’re smart. And know where to go.

Which is where Ann Teehan’s groovy & Keep shop on Hillside Road comes into play. Taking the good work started by Nature’s Gold 32 years ago, and forged into gold, frankincense and merchandise by the Flynnstones, Ann’s shop has pretty much everything you might need for your weekly shop, all stripped down to the bare, bollock-naked grain, and gagging to jump into the sack for you.

We’re talking pastas, rices, nuts, seeds, spices, herbs, dried fruits, teas and coffees, all au natural. Plus, shampoo, conditioner, laundry liquid, washing up liquid, cloth nappies – where this all began eight years ago – eco toys, natural deodorants, and whatever-you’re-having-yourself.

Pretty much all human needs are here. And it won’t – and doesn’t – cost the earth. 

With hubby Will busy putting up new shelves for all the latest stock arriving in, we grabbed ten minutes with Ann outside her zero waste shop today, to find out how we can all be a little less trashy…

Open 10am to 4pm, Tues-Sat, you can find out more about Ann’s Zero Waste world right here, on Facebook here, on Instagram here, and on Twitter here. You can also email [email protected] or call 0852033053.