A zero waste business from Burntisland is looking to grow and is actively looking for a shop unit in Edinburgh.
Grain and Sustain is a refillery store run by Louise Humpington on what is described as an ‘independent’ high street in Burntisland.
The store opened in 2019 and started with around 40 products that have now morphed into over 500 two years later.
They say that they welcome regular shoppers from the capital who often combine a family visit or day at the beach with their weekly shop at the groundbreaking store.
Grain and Sustain mostly sell household and food items that are ethically sourced and can be transported through reusable containers.
But the store is also home to the weird and wonderful with products like frankincense and mistletoe that is often bought by clients who follow a Pagan lifestyle.
As well as all things Pagan - the shop also sells sustainable local produce such as seaweed that has been transformed into a delicious treat after being collected on the beaches of Fife.
Louise, along with her husband Will, is a keen environmentalist and has worked all over the world with third sector agencies who are assisting developing economies with establishing sustainable agriculture industries.
On the shop, her background and the shops future, she said: “We have people coming from Edinburgh to visit our shop and it is something on the horizon for us to expand to the capital at some point. But what you find is that we have people coming through to visit family and they will do their weekly shop with us but use smaller more local refilleries in Edinburgh for their day to day needs. Some see it as an opportunity to shop and spend the day at the beach as some of the feedback we have had is that we have a broader range here than can be found in the capital.
“We are surrounded by independent multi award shops - with bakeries, butchers amongst others that are running a sustainable business. For a lot of people Burntisland high street is the perfect place to shop and support sustainable businesses.
“We actually work with a bakery across the road as they come to us for their ingredients so that they can reduce their carbon footprint - it really is a collaborative approach to seeing what we can all do together and this is something that I would love to bring to Edinburgh.”
Louise says that part of the reason she and her husband became married was down to the fact that they shared the same moral interests.
Before opening the store in Fife, Louise worked with organisations like Oxfam to travel to countries that were situated within the ring of fire.
And according to Louise, the ring of fire region has been adversely impacted by the neoliberal decision making of the so-called ‘developed nations.’
She said: “I had been working as a consultant for a charity in Gambia before moving to Papua New Guinea where I worked on sustainable livelihood projects with Oxfam. I could see first hand that communities were being negatively impacted by climate change as we found that agricultural land was being reclaimed by the sea and the crop yields were being impacted as a result.
“Rising temperatures also meant fires and the changing of the seasons that farmers relied upon for their living and nutrition. At some points we were speaking to farmers whose crop yields were much lower than in the past and he was having to decide whether to feed his family or pay for health and education amongst many other things.
“I think that there is a huge amount of responsibility that corporations have to take for the situation that we are in. They have created an on demand society that squeezes suppliers to the point that they have to cut corners on treatment of their workers and the products they use.
“It is a race to the bottom on price and in the west we have become so sanitised to the damage that this is doing to the environment. We do not see the communities that are disproportionately impacted by the bad decisions of those who live in wealthy countries.
“They are profit driven and that is their main consideration. What we do is focus more so on the environment and the people. Of course we accept a business has to be profitable in order for it to be sustainable but we ensure that all of our products align with Fair Trade principles.
“As a society we need more shops like ours that focus on a zero waste future and the future of the people producing our most beloved products.”
To check out the store you can visit their website here: https://www.grainandsustain.co.uk/
