Weigh To Go

Zero waste shop on Keele campus.

Keele Students’ Union launched an ambitious venture aimed at cutting plastic pollution across the University.

The Zero Waste Shop was one of the first student-led outlets in the country selling products that have no packaging. The enterprise, which is based within the existing Keele SU shop, was open to all, offering students, staff and visitors an alternative way to shop.

The Keele Key Fund, which provides grants across the University, helped cover the majority of the shop’s set-up fees.

The concept is simple - shoppers select their purchases which are then weighed by staff and decanted into containers that customers bring with them or a recycled paper bag, meaning transactions will generate zero waste.

A wide variety of staples were stocked in the shop including cereal, dried fruits, grains and pasta, as well as herbs, spices and household essentials. Alternatives to disposable single-use coffee cups and straws are also on sale. Self-service enables shoppers to select as little or as much as they need further minimising unnecessary waste.

Keele SU and students created and distributed recipe cards, which provided consumer customers with some guidance to produce healthy, nutritious and economical meals from the raw ingredients stocked in the shop.

Sam Gibbons, Keele Students’ Union Activities and Community Officer (2017/19), said: “In the past year there has been a greater call for a move away from single-use plastics, known lovingly as the ‘Attenborough effect’ inspired by an episode of on ocean plastics. Students have lodged motions at our University General Meetings to remove plastics in the Students’ Union, and setting up the shop is a direct response to the requests of our members. By supporting this project the Keele Key Fund is helping students become more responsible consumers and creating solutions to the world-wide plastic problem. I feel this is once again showing Keele University leading the way on sustainability in the HE sector, and another step to embedding sustainability into everything that we do.”

The Weigh to Go Zero Waste Shop was open from 9am - 5pm, Monday to Friday and 10am - 4pm at the weekends.

 

2023 Weigh to Go Update

The Weigh to Go Shop (Zero Waste Shop) in the SU was a great initiative first created in 2019, however since the Pandemic lockdowns in 2020 and beyond, the popularity and interest in the shop has decreased to the point it is wasting more then it is saving, consequently defeating the purpose of the shop and the original goal to be zero waste. 

A survey of students and staff took place and it was decided to turn the location of Weigh to Go into a local craft shop where users can purchase gifts made locally, and continue to support the KeeleSU.

We encourage students and staff to use the zero-waste shops available in the local area.

 

Weigh to Go Shop

Weigh to Go Introduction

Video created by students and staff at Keele University about their student-led social enterprise called Weigh To Go.