World Refill Day 2025 -Refill Inspiration from the High Street
This World Refill Day 2025, let’s make refills the new normal, not just in refill shops but on every high street.
At Green Street, we’ve been working closely with 40 businesses in the East End of Newcastle, helping them become more sustainable in ways that are better for businesses. This week we’re sharing how simple and impactful refills can be. From pubs and butchers to pet shops and cafes, they’re all finding ways to cut waste, save money, and make life easier for their customers with introducing refill options.
Why refill?
Refills aren’t just for eco refill shops. They can be for every business and there is often always something you can refill instead of throwing away. But why bother?
Refilling instead of throwing away or recycling:
- Cuts waste and reduces your costs
- Saves you money on single-use packaging
- Makes things easier for your customers (and your team)
- Helps you respond to customer demand to cut single-use plastic
This all adds up to cleaner streets, lower bills for businesses and happier customers. Implementing refills may need a little extra work and a bit of explanation, but there are ways to minimise this and you’ll see the benefits.
Refills done right is smart, simple, and better for business.
So, here are ten of our favourite ways to refill in your business which are easy to try, proven to work, and an inspiration for others.
10 ways to make refills work for your business
1. Use dilutable and refillable cleaning products
Jo is the landlady at The Cumberland Arms. She’s a pioneer in reducing waste. Even the pub’s key kegs are turned into garden benches. She volunteered for Green Street’s trial using refillable cleaning products. These products are concentrated and diluted into reusable containers. Jo has now ditched her old cleaning supplies and is on track to save money and cut down on plastic waste.
2. Refill customers’ water bottles for free
Over half the businesses in our Newcastle project have joined the Refill scheme so customers or visitors (customers of the future) can top up their water bottles at their venues. It’s free and takes 5 minutes to join: sign up and get a free listing on the Refill app map.
3. Install a refillable milk machine in your kitchen or shop
The Cookhouse uses bag-in-box milk to refill jugs in their plastic-free kitchen. 109 General Store offers milk and oat milk refills for customers and also supplies its next-door cafe with refill milk bottles. Buying milk in bulk is cheaper and you don’t pay for all those empty milk containers to be taken away. Refillable milk for café customers to take home could also be a potential new source of revenue.
4. Refill gin bottles behind the bar
At The Old Coal Yard, the local supplier provides gin in large containers which are used to refill gin bottles behind the bar. It’s not a new concept – it’s the gin equivalent of the beer keg. For The Old Coal Yard, it’s cheaper to buy the gin this way and cuts down on glass waste. Suppliers are often happy to help by supplying products in bulk quantities so just ask!
5. Make refill a fun and educational part of visitor activities
Ouseburn Farm was getting through thousands of paper bags a year, used for its visitor animal feeding experience. Visitors now pay a small, refundable deposit for a reusable tin, refilled from scoop bins of animal feed. The farm uses this to teach the benefits of reusing over recycling and how to continue reusing at home. It’s a win-win: it’s cheaper, saves trees, and educates tens of thousands of visitors each year.
6. Introduce refill into one part of your product offering
Every refill option you add to your business will get noticed by customers. It can reduce your packaging costs, especially when customers bring their own or buy it from you. Unpackaged products are usually cheaper to buy. This can help improve your profit margins.
The Grocery offers refillable home and personal cleaning products in its food emporium which is attached to the local post office.
Block & Bottle butcher has virtually eliminated plastic from its operations and wraps meat in brown paper. However it recognises that no packaging is even better – customers can bring in their own clean containers to take away their burgers and other purchases.
Ernie is a local food heaven and a real shopping adventure. All loose spices and seasonings are refillable (buy a container or bring your own). They are also exploring selling reusable takeaway containers for its lunch-on-the-go salads.
7. Let customers refill a bespoke tin for a set price – making it easier for them to shop
The Dog Grocer has taken refilling to a whole new level. It lets customers bring their own tubs and jars to refill with dog treats, food toppers, or shampoo. It has also recently introduced a returnable dog training treat tin. The tin can be refilled for a set price from a pick and mix of tasty training treats, and handily fits in a customer’s pocket on walks. Selling customers something that’s useful and can be refilled for a set price makes it easier for them to shop and gets them buying into your brand. It’s a real win-win.
8. Provide returnable tote bags
At Flea Circus, customers will soon be able to borrow a stylish returnable tote bag for a small deposit and get their money back when they return it. Smart and circular, and not adding to the mountain of bags for life collected in most households.
9. Refill customers’ own reusable cups
Many cafés we meet say they are already doing this and many even offer customers a discount if they do. However we couldn’t see anything in some venues which told customers this. If customers ask you and you do it for them why not do a simple sign and advertise it to other customers. You will save money on packaging, reducing litter outside the shop, and do your bit to reduce the 3 billion coffee cups thrown away every year in the UK.
10. Introduce returnable takeaway cups and try Borro
When customers forget or don’t have their own reusable cup, let them borrow a cup instead. Returnable cup schemes are becoming more common and we should know, as we’ve launched our own, Borro, running with cafés in Manchester’s Northern Quarter, Ancoats and in Bradford. We are looking for more businesses who want to save money on packaging and give customers an alternative to single-use cups to start stocking Borro cups. Want to give it a go? Learn more about our Borro returnable cup scheme and how local businesses in Manchester is cutting waste and saving money.
Time to give it a go
Refills aren’t just for specialist shops – they’re something every business can try. And they’re already working. These real examples show that refilling is achievable, practical, and good for business.
Want to see refill in action? Check out our latest YouTube video to see how they’re doing it.
If you’d like help getting started with your own refill idea or want to chat about what could work for your business, get in touch with the team at Green Street. We’re here to help make it easy: hello@greenstreet.org.uk
