Uncle Sid's Zero Waste Store Is Open!

'Warmth' sums up Uncle Sid's Zero Waste Store. You get a warm welcome. It's somehow cosy and on a human scale. And you get a warm feeling because what you buy helps the community and helps the planet.

For many years my visits to the High Street were mainly driven by beer. Late nights in the infamous Crown Rotundra (sic), strange Country and Western bands in The Falcon, and endless important conversations in the back bar of the Triangle. Happy days.

I've seen many efforts to revitalise this culturally, architecturally and historically important street and they have worked. For a while. But each time something has knocked it off its stumbling strides to health. Recessions. Funding. The Pandemic.

But now, there's a bit of a resurgence going on. New businesses opening. An Art gallery. Bookshop. Cafe. Convenience stores. A fish restaurant coming...

And Uncle Sid's Zero Waste Store.

It's been closed having a refit. Thankfully, it's re-opened.

Lorraine le Grice was painting and David le Grice was noisily drilling holes when I popped in this week to find out what Uncle Sid's was all about.

“We opened in October 2019, and six months later we were in Lockdown One”, said Lorraine.

When Uncle Sid's opened, it was a self-service store, but with a twist. You chose your goods, you put them in your container, you weighed them, you paid. Some might remember 'Weigh & Save' in Station Square. It was a bit like that.

Paradoxically, the pandemic helped Uncle Sid's. First of all they had flour and yeast, two of the suddenly most sought-after food staples. They adapted quickly, subtly re-arranging the shop layout, providing a friendly and safe shopping place. And the very ethos of the shop seemed to fit the emotional atmosphere. Local store. People. Service. Necessary products. Reducing waste to a minimum by asking customers to bring their own containers.

“People got to know about us through our Facebook and Instagram pages, but mainly, I think, by word of mouth. A lot of people who hadn't been in before found us. They'd say 'I didn't know you were here'. A good proportion kept on coming, even during the summer when the restrictions relaxed a bit.” said David.

“It's the beauty of the High Street,” smiled Lorraine.  

“Family and community got us through. If we'd been in the town centre, it would have been much harder,” said Lorraine. “Why?”, said I. “Because people stopped going there. Most of it was closed. People were a bit frightened, maybe. We adapted very quickly, we were clear about numbers in the shop, and took all the precautions. We were safe as you can be. And people liked the service, I think.”

Lorraine had been manager of Footprints Community Cafe, just up the street. “Footprints didn't directly give us the idea for Uncle Sid's, but it did open our eyes to community, the needs of the community.”

So where did Uncle Sid's come from? “Shampoo bars”, said David with relish. Lots of people want to reduce the amount of plastic they use, and shampoo and conditoners use a lot of plastic. According to a 2017 Government report, Brits throw away about 13 billion plastic bottles a year. Over half of these are water bottles, but many of the rest are for shampoo, conditioner, and other bathroom products.  “Shampoo Bars have minimal packaging, are pure, and they can be a first step. We talked about just changing one thing at a time.”

Warming to the theme, Lorraine said “For some of things we sell, we're just an introduction. That's why we've got single toilet rolls. Try it, we say, and if you like it, buy them direct.”

“We think that the more normal this sort of shopping becomes, the more it will be embraced.”

What is this 'sort' of shopping? The clue is in the name 'Zero Waste'. Be prepared. Bring your own containers – ie your own packaging and bag. They don't have to be the lovely shiny kitchen stuff – you can always use them when you get home. So if there is packaging, it's recyclable, or compostable. Or, if it's an object, it's made from the right materials and it's high quality, made to last. And if they haven't got the brand you want, they'll often have something similar.

Uncle Sid's have new lines when they re-open. And a new layout allowing at least two people to be in the shop safely.

“We're trying to make it work better for our customers and for ourselves. It's always been about the community. And we see the community as wider than one usually thinks. Like Fair Trade – a worker here in Lowestoft can help a worker three thousand miles away just by buying a Fair Trade product”. They like to stock local products as much as they can, though.

So what can you get in this marvellous example of responsible entrepreneurship.

Cooking oils. Flours. Muesli. Coffee beans. Dried fruits and beans. Drinking bottles. Loo brushes. Local widllife booklets. Tahini. Ecover. Local honey. Think 'Wholefoods Plus'. Fresh bread every Wednesdays and Saturdays. You can pick up your Clinks Farm vegetable bags on Saturdays (order direct from Clinks Farm).

Check out Uncle Sid's Zero Waste Store on fb page. Instagram. Website. It's 45 High Street, Lowestoft, Suffolk NR32 1HZ

And for a bit of the building's history, try here