New eco-friendly pop-up in Parkway Newbury

Anyone looking to increase their eco credentials and use more environmentally products can now visit Thatcham Refillable in Newbury.

The eco-friendly products supplier will be parked outside the old Debenhams store in Parkway on the first Monday and third Thursday of each month, between 9.30am and 5pm.

Whether you want refills for your household products or eco-produced cleaning items or simply to find out more about how you can live a more sustainable lifestyle, Jenny and Tom Kirby are on hand to help.

The couple started up Thatcham Refillable four years ago, in 2018, when Mrs Kirby had been researching more eco-friendly products and started to use them in her home.

"My sister came for a visit and asked me to get her some and then neighbours started doing the same, so we thought why not?

"I'd set up a Facebook page Thatcham & Newbury plastic free, recycling & zero waste uk to see what was out there and to share ideas about recycling and it really took off."

The page now has about 4,500 members.

The couple attend markets on a regular basis in Thatcham, Wash Common, Kingsclere and Woolton Hill, but they also 'pop up' once a month further afield.

Mr Kirby said: "We offered a delivery service, which we've now expanded to a 12-mile radius because there used to be a similar operation in Tilehurst, but they have now closed down.

"So once a month we go to Burghfield and Purley-on-Thames and people can come along and stock up on their items."

Mr Kirby also makes deliveries from their home in Thatcham every Friday and they have applied for an eco-grant to invest in a Cango bike – an electric bike – for more local deliveries.

Mr Kirby said: "A Cango bike would mean I could cycle around Newbury while the pop-up is here and deliver to people locally."

Most of the products are from SESI, a social enterprise based in Oxfordshire which supplies sustainable detergents to shops, farmers markets, cooperatives and charity organisations.

When Mr and Mrs Kirby started Thatcham Refillable they had about 30 regular customers and four years later, despite the last two years of Covid restrictions, they now have around 400 customers on their books, as well as the passers-by who turn up at the markets.

Mr Kirby still works as a wall and floor tiler and the couple try to avoid too much weekend work in order to spend time with their children.

Mrs Kirby said: "We have to balance family and work life, so these new pop-up days in Parkway are perfect.

"We hope people will come and see us and we can advise them on sustainable and refillable products."