Pupils of Marland Hill Community Primary School have launched an Eco Mart to help encourage local parents and teachers to reduce buying single-use plastics.
The shop, which opened on Tuesday, 28 January 2025, sells many everyday household essentials, including shampoo, body wash and laundry liquid.
The only difference is that shoppers are asked to bring along their empty containers and pay for them to be refilled.
From aloe vera hand gel to apple orchid washing up liquid, all products are sold at competitive prices, with pupils keen for customers to avoid buying additional plastic elsewhere when shopping for similar products.
Afsheen Ashraf, link teacher for the school’s council, said:
“Our pupils are incredibly passionate about protecting the environment and they are really keen for our Eco Shop to have a big impact in the local area.
“Not only have they learned more about the importance of reducing single use plastics and the impact this has on our planet, they’ve learned how to make and develop their own business plans.
“We’ve guided them on how to market and design their products, and they also understand how to take stock checks and calculate their profit margins so the project has been really beneficial.”
The Eco Shop will open monthly and is supported and funded by Pupils Profit, following a successful application made by the school. Pupils Profit is an organisation which aims to give young people the skills and tools to play a part in tackling the climate and ecological emergency.
Councillor Tricia Ayrton (right) buys refillable goods from Marland Hill's Eco Mart.
Councillor Tricia Ayrton, Rochdale Borough Council’s deputy leader and portfolio holder for climate change and environment, added:
“It was wonderful to join pupils of Marland Hill for the opening of their new Eco Shop.
“It was great to see how passionate the pupils are in wanting to take care of our environment because small steps like this that can really help us to make a big difference.
“I wish them all the very best of success and I hope local parents and the teachers really get behind this project.”
The UK generates more than 2.5 million tonnes of plastic waste each year and if it isn’t reused or recycled, dumped plastic can be very damaging to our climate. This is due to greenhouse gasses which are released into the atmosphere when plastic slowly breaks down over time.
- Bins and recycling – more on recycling your plastic waste at home