Doncaster town centre now has a large zero waste station to encourage shoppers to use less single-use plastic

Rachel Whittaker, owner of The Jam Horse has always incorporated eco-friendly ideas into her business.

She has a bring back your jar scheme for her jams and preserves and shops locally for most of her produce.

But recently she decided to open a refill station in her shop to make zero waste accessible for her customers.

Rachel said: “It’s in order to try and reduce the amount of plastic that we use and to help the wildlife in the sea’s who are having real problems thanks to our plastic usage.

The zero-waste station stocks salt, peppers, spices, herbs, dried fruits, dried nuts, pasta, rice, pulses, cereals, and many more dry products.

“We’ve got muesli and granola for the new breakfast club,” Rachel continued.

“We’re going to start opening a little bit earlier and people can have their choice of cereal with milk or Greek yogurt.”

Customers are encouraged to bring their own bowls from home to save on waste.

Rachel said: “For me, this is a more normal way of doing it - when I was growing up, not many things were continually packaged in plastic.

Rachel used to shop at the Doncaster market with her mum and grandma for herbs and spices but noticed a growing trend in plastic use.

She said: “As I’ve got older I’ve seen more and more products wrapped in multiple layers of plastic.

“I’ve been trying to move away from that in my personal life so it seemed like a normal progression to open the zero waste station in the shop.”

The shop has glass jars you can purchase and also compostable containers if you can’t bring in your own.

Rachel said: “Everyone who has come in so far has been surprised that it’s been cheaper than they thought it would be.

“It’s been brilliant - people have been so excited about it.

“I knew it was something people wanted to see in the center but I didn’t expect it to go as crazy as it has done.”