A refill shop is set to open in East Belfast as the city's first zero-waste store.
The Refill Quarter will see products sold without any disposable plastic packaging and will be situated on the Belmont Road in former post office building.
It is hoped it will open at the end of August or beginning of September.
The shop is the creation of the group behind the Yoga Quarter in Ballyhackmore - Alice Wilkinson, Phil Rankin and Susan McEwen - who said they have been blown away by the support so far.
Alice told Belfast Live: "We opened the yoga studio nearly two years ago and when we opened it we tried to make it as eco-friendly as possible.
"We did see a lot of stuff coming in, coffee cups for example, and we would do social media posts saying these things can not be recycled. We always had the ethos to be as eco-friendly as possible.
"There is so much being done around plastic reduction and we kept seeing refill shops popping up across England and Scotland but nothing here, we thought Belfast is ready for a zero-waste shop."
Taking inspiration from other refill shops, including Zero Green in Bristol which the team visited, they hope to get residents in through the doors exploring more ways they can reduce their plastic use by bringing their own containers to take home produce - that can even include pillow cases.
The shop will stock a range of products including dried produce such as pasta, rice, flour, lentils, coffee, tea and cereal , as well as oils, vinegars and washing up products on top of locally made products such as soap.
Alice said they put a shout-out on social media for local makers to get involved and were inundated with requests.
Following in the fashion of grocers shops of years ago, the shop will have containers called gravity feeds on the walls which will operate by opening a tap.
Customers will be able to bring their own container, which will be weighed first, and pay for as much as they want, a more cost-effective way of shopping as well.
Alice added: "I read somewhere someone said, 'Why buy something you will use for a minute that lasts for 100 years'."
To find out more about the Refill Quarter and opening dates, follow them on Facebook and Instagram .
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