Find sustainable speciality coffee in Melton Mowbray

Say a big hello to A Little Less Waste – Melton’s first zero-waste store!

Owned and managed by Lucy Stone, A Little Less Waste is bringing sustainable shopping to Melton Mowbray. Find shelves brimming with plastic-free pantry staples, plus a whole spectrum of refillable toiletries, personal hygiene items and household products.

…And Two Chimps Coffee! Because you lucky lot can now buy freshly roasted Two Chimps Coffee straight from Lucy’s shop shelves.

Lucy opened the shop on Burton Street, Melton Mowbray, in November 2021 with the mission of helping locals make eco-friendly choices:

I hope that the shop will help people reflect on their own lifestyles, all whilst making change feel easy!

Opening Melton’s first eco shop

Lucy grew up in the Vale of Belvoir and has spent the past few years working as an NHS nurse. Plastic packaging is entirely necessary in healthcare to ensure cleanliness, but the hefty amount of medical waste prompted Lucy to take another look at her own carbon footprint. This, combined with a moment of ‘slight madness,’ sparked Lucy’s idea for a waste-free shop in Melton. Madness? Ingenuity, we say!

‘We can all do something about the climate crisis,’ Lucy says, and A Little Less Waste aims to make green living easy and adaptable – it’s all about doing zero waste your way!

What is zero waste?

Zero waste shopping is all about reducing the amount of waste materials that come piggy-backed to our daily purchases. It’s about reusing products, materials and packaging (hello, Kilner jars) and supporting local, sustainable suppliers.

Scaling down on all those plastic sleeves and packets can seem a challenge. Lucy will be the first to admit this. When almost everything on supermarket shelves comes bundled up in the non-biodegradable stuff, reducing waste can seem impossible.

That’s where A Little Less Waste comes in! Brimming with everyday essentials and beautiful, planet-kind gifts, Lucy’s shop makes plastic-free living friendly and fun.

What can you find at A Little Less Waste?

Lots of goodies for each room in your house! Clean up your kitchen waste with Lucy’s extensive range of dry goods. You’ll find everything from muesli and mixed nuts to crisps and (the best ever) coffee – all displayed in pretty glass jars. The shop also sells a wide range of glass-bottled oils, honeys and vinegars, plus some quirky foodie favourites like millet flakes and red split lentils. The shop even has an oat milk dispenser – how awesome is that?!

As well as every sort of edible and drinkable your kitchen needs, Lucy’s shop also sells all the bathroom essentials. Find everything from personal hygiene products like eco deodorant and refill shampoo to cleaning items such as antibacterial refills and washing up liquid.

To buy a product, simply bring a container from home or use one of the shop’s donated bottles and fill it with your favourite product. Buy just what you need – don’t pay for a whole supermarket bag of Brazil nuts if a recipe only calls for 70g!

An eco shop filled with like-minded suppliers

Lucy wanted to bring a community feel to A Little Less Waste. Green living isn’t about the odd few living the perfect zero waste life. It’s about ‘everyone doing their bit to live sustainably in their way, whichever way that may be,’ Lucy says.

Lucy kept things local when selecting her suppliers. The shop is home to a lovely array of quality sustainable produce from farms and businesses across the East Midlands. Find oil from Muston in The Vale of Belvoir, vegan soap made in Leicestershire… and speciality coffee hand-roasted in Rutland!

Packaging-free coffee from Two Chimps

As a committed coffee fan, Lucy only wanted the best beans to serve to her customers. Cue Two Chimps! We roast the best speciality beans in our Oakham roastery, just a short distance from Lucy’s shop. And we’re climate positive, too, so sit perfectly with the shop’s core values. The perfect match!

At any one time, A Little Less Waste stocks two caffeinated coffees and one decaf. Lucy keeps the coffee range ever-changing, ensuring her coffeeholic customers always have a new brew to enjoy.

You’ll find freshly roasted wholebeans sitting happily in Lucy’s plastic-free jars, but don’t worry if it’s ground coffee you’re after – Lucy grinds fresh, so you can pick up coffee ground any way you like!

Fancy a new, it’ll-last-you-forever brew device? Or a stylish bag made from upcycled coffee sacks. Find them all at A Little Less Waste!

Don’t Poke the Bear is Lucy’s favourite coffee. Which will be yours? Head to our coffee carousel to view the full range!

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