Burgess Hill’s zero-waste refill store offers a convenient and eco-friendly shopping experience

Thirza Legg, who owns Zero Hub at 25-27 The Martlets, said she has seen plenty of familiar faces shopping for food and products, as well as many new visitors.

Thirza, 33, said she had worked with Meg King at Scrapless during its final 18 months before it closed on July 22, 2023.

She said: “There was still quite a lot of interest from Meg’s regular customers and people who were still shopping in that sustainable retail way. So I decided that it was worth giving a go and keep it going.”

Thirza, who lives in Haywards Heath, said it has been ‘really lovely’ having people she knows coming in and saying how glad they are that there is still a refill store in town.

Thirza said people bring their own packaging to Zero Hub. She explained: “It might be something they have already bought a similar product in before or just anything: Tupperware, tubs, various bottles and things. We work on a weight basis so people will just weigh their containers as they come in.”

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Then people fill their containers with what they want and weigh it again at the end. Thirza added that she is looking for ways to make the experience more convenient too.

She said: “We’ve got lots of mostly loose products, lots of cereals and grains and pastas, beans and pulses, those sorts of things. Most things are organic.”

Zerohub also has local teas, vegan pick and mix style sweets, plus a range of eco-friendly cleaning products and hair and body products.

Eventually, Thirza said she wants to put in events for the community. She said: “I’m really keen that there’s a way for people to learn about why and how they can be more sustainable, so things like the impact on local wildlife populations and the bigger global picture of climate change and plastic waste. I hope to develop the space into somewhere that can lend itself to a bit of an information hub and have speakers and workshops and events and things that allow people to come together and develop either knowledge around that or skills and creativeness.”