Sustainable Muswell Hill refill shop wins award

The People’s Pantry has won a Haringey Council community carbon fund to continue its work

A Muswell Hill sustainable mobile refill shop, operating from a repurposed milk float, has won a national small business award.

The People’s Pantry (TPP) in N10 was given the small business award at The Small Awards, one of just ten businesses to receive the prize, presented to them by comedian Sue Perkins.

The business, run by husband and wife team Lisa Jones and Stephen Thomas, have also been awarded a £500 community carbon fund grant by Haringey Council which they will be using to create drawstring bags from repurposed fabric to sell their packaging-free ingredients in.

TPP was founded in August 2021 and stocks 250 household items, from food to toiletries, working to reduce plastic waste by offering multiple refill options.

TPP co-founder, Lisa Jones, said “We are so thrilled to have won the Bricks & Clicks Award. Not only is it a huge boost and validation of two years of hard work and experimentation with our service model, but a prestigious platform from which to extend our message of the critical need for a bottom-up approach to taking responsibility for reducing waste; and recognising that reuse, not recycling, is a key solution. Joining the Refill Revolution is an easy, fun route in to changing our behaviours and The People’s Pantry is about just that: ease and fun! Thank you to The Small Awards judges for honouring us.”

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