Zero waste shopping has come to Cambridge, brought to us by Full Circle Shop, the brainchild of Johanna, Emma and Paul, three friends who bonded over their mutual love of our planet. When they couldn’t find an eco shop in the city, the ecologist, the bioinformatician and the engineer put their heads together and decided to start one themselves. Product ranges include items that are plastic free, reusable, sustainable, ethical and free from animal products.
They’ve been selling from their stall on Cambridge Market since the end of last year and you’ll find them there on Monday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Full Circle Shop also pops up at repair cafes and community markets around Cambridge and they’re looking forward to being part of local summer events like Strawberry Fair and Arbury Carnival, where they’ll be helping with eco friendly activities in the Kids Zone.
So what will you find at Full Circle Shop? Several brands of soap, deodorant and solid shampoos, including a range from Cambridge’s own Zero Waste Path Shop, toothpaste, Dent tabs, bamboo toothbrushes and shaving kits.
Laundry needs are well catered for with soapnut shells and I love the Guppyfriend Washing Bag, a clever invention that prevents plastic fibres from getting into the water via your washing machine. Add in soy wax reusable wraps, bamboo straws and cutlery, insulated reusable drinks cups and the prettiest upcycled fabric wrap and it’s easy to see how making a few simple changes can help us move to a lower impact lifestyle and tread a little more lightly on our planet.
Full Circle Shop is also a member of Terracycle so you can drop off your empty crisp and biscuit packets, toothpaste tubes and used plastic toothbrushes for recycling.
Emma, Paul and Johanna have big plans for the future. They’d like to supply wholefoods such as lentils, pulses, beans, nuts, dried fruit, flour, grains, oils and vinegars so customers can refill their own containers. Full Circle Shop is currently crowdfunding with a target of £13,000 so they can invest in food stock, dispensers and a food storage facility as well as developing their website for online sales. Achieving a stretch target of £21,000 would enable the team to be mobile across Cambridgeshire, bringing their shop out in an electric van so customers can buy and collect orders without coming in to the city.
Emma tells me, “We’ve received such positive feedback for Full Circle Shop. People really want to make a change.” For more on Full Circle Shop’s ethos and product lines as well as their future plans and their crowdfunder, which runs until 17 April, take a look at the website.
Today, English Spirit Distillery’s range includes gins, for which they make their own vodka base from sugar beet, to be assured of quality and provenance. There’s a Cucumber Spirit which contains no juniper and a digestif Sambuca, which is distilled three times. John tells me it’s too fine to do the coffee bean/flame thing! Rum is distilled from sugar cane molasses while 1.2 tonnes of apples from the Sandringham Estate make just 90 bottles of apple brandy. A single malt spirit is flavoured in the still and distilled five times, making it super smooth with layers of flavour. Gin based fruit liqueurs are distilled and also macerated with fruit while their top seller, Toffee Vodka liqueur, is best enjoyed over ice or ice cream.
At the heart of Kettle’s Yard is the house, once home to Jim and Helen Ede who created it from four derelict eighteenth century cottages in the late 1950’s. With a lifelong passion for art and having worked as a Curator at The Tate during the 1920’s, Jim became close friends with many artists including Ben and Winifred Nicholson, Christopher Wood and David Jones. Over the years, Jim acquired a significant collection of art and sculpture which he brought to Kettle’s Yard along with furniture, glass and ceramics. But the Edes equally valued natural found objects and artwork by their grandchildren. More than anything, they wanted their art to be enjoyed in an informal domestic setting, holding open house every afternoon of the university term and welcoming undergraduates to their home.
Natural light was crucial to the Edes. The day I visited, the streets were carpeted in snow and the light had a very special ethereal quality to it. I was struck by the tranquillity of the house and by its colour palette with exposed brick, varying tones of wood, natural linens, pebbles, feathers and shells, all harmonising with the Ede’s art collection to create a wonderful serenity. Jim and Helen handed over the building and their collection to the University of Cambridge in 1966 so they knew it was in safe hands but it must have been a wrench for them to leave this peaceful haven when they moved to Edinburgh in 1973.
Camilla Carter set up Knitting Needle Lane last autumn, a decision sparked by the closure of her favourite local wool supplier and a family holiday in Cyprus, where she browsed happily in Nicosia’s many yarn shops and then had a light bulb moment. Returning home, Camilla built her website and started selling online. She now also has a regular Sunday market stall where she is enjoying dealing directly with customers as well as being part of the friendly and welcoming market community.
If you’d rather go slightly off more off piste, you can custom blend your own gin, creating a bespoke spirit from a selection of botanical distillates offering flavours such as rose petal, orange with grapefruit or cardamon.
New in Cambridge 