Jackie Sewell -Owner of Buy the Kilo which offers zero waste, plastic free shopping with an inhouse art gallery.
After graduating in 2013 in Fine Art, I decided to give up my interior design business of over 20 years and concentrate on an art career.
My practice had been developing over the previous six years which it took me to complete my part time degree. Working with and researching about the devastation of plastic in the world, my environmental journey began.
My youngest daughter was studying in Cornwall and already living a plastic free life which included shopping locally at the butchers, bakers and fishmongers, as well as getting her vegetables and milk delivered to her door. She was also shopping at a zero waste shop in Truro and that’s where I was introduced to it all. This is about buying what you need, rather than what you are forced to buy at the supermarket. However reusing your one-use plastic container to refill became more necessary as research became more intense.
My oldest daughter Rachael was also enthusiastic about the concept and together we started to research to see if there were any shops in the North East. We found there was nothing between Darlington and Berwick and so our journey began. We spent a lot of time visiting the new shops that were opening around the country, to see what we wanted to do. We also got a lot of help from Hannah in Cornwall who had The Little Refill Store. Buy The Kilo was born and the enthusiasm for our shop was immense within our first year. Many people asked us to open Buy the Kilo’s all over the NE but our story was unique and couldn’t be diluted into other stores, so we started to help and advise other people who wanted to open a zero waste shop.
Sharing our experiences of setting up, created a fantastic community of zero waste shops, working together to promote the concept of getting people involved in environmental issues.
Our first year was incredible but Covid hit and the ethos of the shop got lost in the pandemic, we are still recovering now and sadly all but one of the shops, that we helped open, have now closed. The climate hit the zero waste community hard and there are still many shops closing every day.
Rachael and I worked extremely hard to create a wonderful community around our shop and that is still working now. We have a great support network and we have always called it a safe space for a lot of people. Rachael left a couple of years ago to look after her two young children and pursue her own career path as an artist. Through Covid and over the last few years, we have been privileged to become custodians of customers personal information. We have laughed and cried with many of our customers and friends, I feel very proud at what we have created.
We can’t compete with the supermarkets but its great when someone comes into our shop and connects, making a life choice to shop with us and start their journey however small to make a positive change for the environment and the future. I am making a huge decision to take out another lease, continuing our journeys together and I know my customers will support me. I know and they know, that the alternative of closing would be devasting for everyone. I often talk to people who ask questions about starting a business and about being in business and I try and help as much as I can.
Having a business brings lots of different issues and in this climate, I admire anyone who considers starting up. Our family motto has always been, “treat people how you would like to be treat yourself”. I always think, if you take this through your life, you will reap what you sow.
Buy the Kilo has been a wonderful experience over the last six years. There have been many highs and many lows but what we have achieved has been amazing. I look forward to the next few years and hope many more people engage with the concept and help the environment!
www.buy-the-kilo.com