Over in Levenshulme, there’s a person who’s set up a popular zero-waste store in their garden shed. – and we’re in love with how quirky it all is
Known to locals as The Sustainable Shed, the shop encourages residents to minimise their plastic use and impact on the planet, by creating a place where old bottles and containers can be refilled with eco-friendly products.
According to its owner, only a third of plastic packaging used in consumer products currently gets recycled every year.
But with a little neighbourly goodwill (and some help from his trusty shed), they are hoping to help change that.
Image: The Sustainable Shed
Accessed via a back alley, or ginnel, the shed’s address is simply listed as ‘The Alley’ – and when you pull it up on Google Street View, it can barely be seen.
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It really is a place designed to be discovered, adding a bit of adventure to your sustainable shopping trip.
Making sure to practice what they preach, at The Sustainable Shed all products are bought in bulk and then returned to distributors to be recycled.
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Venture inside, and you’ll discover walls full of refillable cleaning products, ethical shampoo, conditioner, and bathing products – including a large selection of the popular Faith in Nature vegan haircare range.
You’ll also find recyclable kitchen towels, laundry detergent sheets, and EcoZone soap nuts, the shells of which contain a natural soap, called Saponi, which creates a soaping effect when mixed with water.
Image: The Sustainable Shed
Elsewhere, you’ll find all sorts of eco-friendly personal hygiene products like shaving bars, exfoliating sheets, facial cleansing bars, and innumerable styles of soap.
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Bamboo toothbrushes, jars of body butter, and various other lotions and potions can also be found in plentiful supply.
Surprisingly full for such a small space, but not to the extent where you have to watch your step as you move around, you really can find everything you need here to help you live a more sustainable and eco-friendly life.
Open on the weekends only, pop down between 11am-2pm on Fridays, 11am-4pm Saturdays and 11am-3pm Sundays to get your eco fix at what must be the most unusual and quirky zero waste shop in Manchester.
Feature image – The Sustainable Shed
Shopping
Popular night-time indie shopping market returns to Manchester tomorrow
Emily Sergeant
A unique indie shopping market is returning to Manchester, and you’ll be able to shop from 50 local small businesses all under one roof.
In case you hadn’t heard, the hugely-popular Night Market UK is back by popular demand, and it will be stopping off in our city centre for one night only tomorrow as part of the current leg of its tour across the country.
Returning to Manchester, but this time at a new location down at Fairfield Social Club in the Green Quarter, the unique night-time shopping experience will be showcasing more than 50 local small businesses – with everything from bespoke fashion items and beautifully-crafted homeware, to candles, artwork, silverware, and more on offer.
Brutal Fashion, Lost in Music, Urban Botany, and Dapper Alice are just a handful of the indie traders you’ll be able to shop from.
With event organisers promising there’ll be “a stall for everyone” to browse on the night, some of the other traders in attendance, include artisan producers, artists and bakers, as well as Fairfield Social Club’s resident street food purveyors Isit Kitchen, and pizza pros Killa Carbs.
DJ Clara B will also be taking over the club’s sound system too, and will be blasting tunes to set the scene all night long.
From bespoke fashion items and silverware courtesy of Brutal Fashion, to dazzling musical art prints from Lost in Music, and sculptural candles from Urban Botany to beautifully crafted homeware by Dapper Alice, there will be a stall for everyone on the night.
A popular night-time indie shopping market is returning to Manchester tomorrow / Credit: The Night Market UK | Kunal Mahesh Tewari (via The Night Market UK on Facebook)
The Night Market UK will open at Fairfield Social Club from 6pm tomorrow (Friday 26 July), and will run right through until 11pm.
Tickets are now on sale from just £4 each, and can be purchased in hourly entry timeslots – which organisers say “keeps the atmosphere just right” and ensures there’s enough space for everyone to be able to stay as little or as long as they’d like.
You can buy on the door or grab your tickets in advance here.
Featured Image – Supplied
Shopping
Stockport’s popular pre-worn school uniform shop is reopening for the summer
Emily Sergeant
A popular pre-worn school uniform shop is reopening in Stockport for the summer, and you can grab items for less than £1.
As the rising cost of living crisis sadly still continues to make its impact felt nationwide, Stockport‘s popular pre-worn uniform shop will throw open its doors following huge success last year and an “overwhelming demand from cash-strapped families“.
It’s popping up inside the town’s Merseyway Shopping Centre for the summer holidays to provide locals with massive savings on next year’s school clothes.
Shoppers can get their hands on pre-worn uniform pieces from as little as 50p each.
Stockport’s popular pre-worn school uniform shop is reopening for the summer / Credit: Matthew Nichol Photography (via supplied)
The shopping centre says The Pop-Up Uniform Shop is all about providing Stopfordians with “good quality, secondhand school uniform” – with items from schools all across the Stockport borough set to be available when it opens next month.
The pop-up shop will be selling uniform items from all schools across the Stockport borough when it opens next month.
Expected to be a widely-popular addition the Greater Manchester town once again once it returns from 10-17 August, all funds raised from the shop will be going back into the community – with donations set to be made to local food bank, Chelwood Food Bank Plus, as well as one of the UK’s leading arts and mental health organisations, Arc Centre Stockport.
Families will be able to grab items from as little as 50p / Credit: Merseyway (via Facebook)
Ahead of the shop’s opening next month, donations are currently being accepted
Uniform donations can be branded or unbranded but must be “clean and wearable”, and some of the items being accepted include sweatshirts, cardigans, blazers, skirts, pinafores, trousers, shorts, polo shirts, shirts, shoes, plimsolls, PE kits, and school bags.
Donations will be accepted until Monday 5 August, and can be dropped off at the dedicated collection bin in the undercover mall outside Specsavers.
“Many families in our community face financial challenges, making it difficult to provide their children with necessary school uniform items,” explained Victoria Nichol, who is the Centre Manager at Merseyway Shopping Centre, ahead of the shop’s opening.
“The Pop-Up Uniform Shop aims to alleviate this burden by offering affordable uniform options for those in need while offering a sustainable alternative to buying new.”