Podcast
During the quiet months of the spring 2020 lockdown, Ella Shone came up with an idea. Packaging-free grocery shops are great, but it can be a hassle carting all your containers back and forth, particularly on foot or by bike. If you find it difficult to get to the shop, what if the shop came to you?
So Topup Truck was born – an old electric milk float converted into a refill shop on wheels, bringing wholesome groceries to the residents of Hackney, East London.
It took Ella just three months from idea to launch. She partnered with Re:Store – a refill shop in Hackney Downs, which meant she was able to get a good range of products from the get-go. Of course, it wouldn’t make much sense to use a petrol or diesel vehicle given the ethos of the business, so it would have to be electric. And what better for the task than ‘upcycling’ an old electric milk float. So Ella scoured the second hand milk float market and found this lovely one from 2000.
I was finding that I wasn’t actually going to the plastic-free shop as often as I should have been, particularly when I was commuting and short of time. And I had been thinking this should be much easier. Why is it if I care about this and I have the intention of doing it, that I’m still finding that I’m going to the Co-op.
We’ve got in to a position where linear supply chains that are based on make, use and discard have just become the norm, and that’s what we need to rethink.
Packaging-free grocery shops have been popping up across the country over the last few years, partly following a wave of public concern over the issue of plastic pollution in our oceans – highlighted by David Attenborough’s Blue Planet II series and campaigns by environmental groups. Where I live, in Hackney, we are especially lucky – with four within easy walking distance: Bulk Market, Re:Store, Fin And Earth and Get Loose Foods. But, I have to admit, though we’ve done a lot to reduce our plastics, particularly with cleaning product refills and other household products, we haven’t yet started to go to a refill shop for our groceries. I think a big part of that is the organisation of the containers and getting them to the shop, hence why Topup Truck is such a great idea.
The big supermarket chains have been under particular scrutiny for their plastic packaging with an estimated 800,000 tonnes of it being produced every year. An Environmental Investigation Agency (IEA) and Greenpeace report from November 2019 revealed that seven out of the top 10 UK supermarkets had increased their plastic footprint between 2017 and 2018. That said, we are seeing movement from many of the supermarkets, with Tesco announcing a target to remove one billion pieces of plastic from products for sale in UK stores by the end of 2020, Sainsbury’s committing to reduce plastic packaging across branded and own-label products by 50% by 2025 and Iceland aiming to go completely plastic-free on their own label range by 2023.
But why wait for that – if you have one near you, you can go packaging free right now, as well as support independent businesses, by shopping at a refill store or Topup Truck.
Residents of Albion Square, E8 stocking up from the Topup Truck.
It’s certainly got a lot of people trying this way of shopping for the first time when it’s one neighbour who is heavily in to it that’s booked it, and they’ve dropped a message on their neighbourly WhatsApp group, and then all of these people – the first time they come out and have a look … and the second time they’ve got all their old yoghurt pots washed up and they’re ready to fill up on quinoa!
I joined Ella on a Saturday for her stops in Stoke Newington and London Fields. The milk float is a great novelty, attracting attention and interest as we drive from stop to stop. A van driver who used to be a milkman was particularly interested – how many miles does it do and how fast does it go?
Topup Truck carries a range of goods – the ones you’ll usually find in a packaging free shop – such as dried pasta, dried fruit, rice, cereal, pulses, spices and household products. Everything is sold by weight or volume. When the truck pulls up, you bring out your containers and select what you’d like. Ella also takes requests (within reason!) for products stocked.
Another big positive from Topup Truck is how it brings people together – a chance to meet and chat with your neighbours. Although the truck takes individual bookings, some people club together. A couple of streets had a WhatsApp group so they could let everyone know when the Top Truck was booked and when it had arrived.
Nuts, pasta, dried fruit, rice, cereal, pulses, spices... all sold by weight or volume.
Future plans for Topup Truck include a crowd funder to pay for a new structure to be added to the truck with three tiers increasing the space for products. Currently operating three days a week in Hackney, Ella plans to increase that to five very soon.
If you live in E5, E8, E9 and N16 you can book a slot through the Topup Truck website. And you can find it on Instagram @topuptruck.
