How Hemel Hempstead business The Eco Hub is helping to cut plastic use and save the planet

The business is supporting the #justonebottle campaign
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A small business owner from Hemel Hempstead is urging residents to do their bit to help reduce single use plastic and clean up the planet by refilling one bottle every month.

Owner of online refill shop, The Eco Hub, and mum-of-one Kelly Campbell is supporting the #justonebottle campaign.

She said: "We all have busy lives and sometimes the idea of making changes can be so overwhelming, the key is to be realistic and start small, the focus should be on progress not perfection.

Kelly is supporting the #justonebottle campaignKelly is supporting the #justonebottle campaign
Kelly is supporting the #justonebottle campaign

"While being plastic free would be amazing, it is a massive task. In the face of such a big challenge people often shut down and simply do nothing but if we all commit to just doing something then things will improve.

"If every household in Hemel Hempstead refilled #justonebottle every month it would save more than *35,000 bottles a month from being discarded, that's more than *420,000 a year in Hemel Hempstead alone."

Kelly's online refill shop, The Eco Hub Hemel Hempstead offers refillables for all household, hair and body liquid essentials such as washing up liquid, laundry liquids, shampoos and conditioners along with many plastic free alternatives to some everyday items and has been helping homes and businesses to reduce the level of single use plastic and chemicals for the last six to 12 months.

After spending a year trying to reduce the level of single use plastic in her own home she became frustrated with how hard it was to find easily accessible and cost effective alternatives so decided to find a way to make it easier and more cost effective to make change.

Kelly said: "After I had my son I became more aware of the impact I as an individual was having on the planet and this led me to look at ways I could reduce my impact, it wasn't easy.

"Refillable products were not easily accessible and often much more costly than products readily available in the supermarkets, I started looking at ways I could make refilling easier and after speaking with anyone who would listen I discovered just how many people felt the same and The Eco Hub idea was born."

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Currently people can order their products online at theecohub.co or come along to Hemel Old Town Market on the first Sunday of each month and Kings Langley Village Market on the third Saturday of each month.

When ordering online customers can either drop off their own containers to be refilled and return a few days later to collect them or opt for The Eco Hub to refill a pre-loved container for them which they can then collect in a few days. There is also a delivery option as well as Click & Collect.

Kelly added: "Over the last six to 12 months I have been thinking about how I can make the service even more accessible and after some research I decided that rather than taking on a shop I would buy a van, kit it out and launch a mobile Refill Shop servicing Kings Langley, Redbourn, Abbots Langley, Bovindon and Hemel Hempstead.

"In August 2021 I took out a loan and sold my car to buy a Van but unfortunately it has turned out to be a bit of a dud and is now off the road completely.

"I am now having to go through the small claims court to get my money back before I am able to take the business to the next level which is very frustrating but I am determined to carry on so in the meantime, I am continuing to offer the service online and also will be attending Hemel Old Town Market on the first Sunday of every month, Kings Langley Village Market on the third Saturday of each month with Redbourn and others to follow as they reopen."

Kelly set up a GoFundMe Campaign in an attempt to raise the money she needs to get the mobile refill shop up and running as soon as possible, to make a donation visit: www.gofundme.com/f/help-the-eco-hub-get-mobile.

For more information on The Eco Hub head to www.theecohub.co or follow on Instagram and Facebook.

*Figures are based on the number of households registered in Hemel Hempstead by the 2011 census.

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