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Inspirations

Concerned about your household’s single-use plastic and other packaging waste? The package-free movement has been gathering momentum: bulk food and staples stores and farmers market stands have been cropping up all over, and most groceries now have bulk sections that allow customers to fill up their own containers. But does carrying your own jars and marking tares feel like a mission impossible? Jerilee and Claire, Founders of Fair-Well in London are out to make package-free shopping much easier.

Three years ago, the two friends purchased a 1970s electric “milk float,” a milk van that they named Charlie and converted into a home delivery shop of bulk organic comestibles and staples, such as compostable cling wrap and coconut dog shampoo bars. Charlie roves London making scheduled stops and spreading the word about mindful ways to consume.

Customers, including designer Mark Lewis who tipped us off about Charlie, place orders online at Fair-Well. They then come greet the truck or leave out empties on their doorstep to be picked up and refilled. Come see.

Photography courtesy of Fair-Well.

fair well founders, claire and jerilee, polish charlie, their vintage, 100 per 9 — Above: Fair-Well founders, Claire and Jerilee, polish Charlie, their vintage, 100-percent electric delivery van—”milk floats” were so named because they float through neighborhoods soundlessly. Claire and Jerilee often take the wheel themselves—Claire had to get her driver’s license when the business was established—and have used crowd funding to keep chugging.

The business, they note, is a social enterprise “inspired by the way the previous generation food shopped: locally, without plastic, and with a much more custom approach.”

charlie is fitted with a wide range of food and household staples, including ri 10 — Above: Charlie is fitted with a wide range of food and household staples, including rice, oats, pasta, quinoa, beans, cereal, nuts, seeds, dried fruit, oils, vinegar, herbs, tea, and coffee, as well as beauty and household products (linseed floor cleaner, anyone?).

Fair-Well sources its offerings largely from food co-ops—among them: Infinity Foods, Planet Minimal, and Suma Wholefoods—and applies “strict criteria to ensure the products we offer reflect our values.” Fair-Well only works with businesses whose “supply chains are ethical and fully traceable…The day Fair-Well was born, we made a promise to always put our values before profit.”

charlie the fair well bulk food and supplies van london. 11
Above: Charlie makes stops in specific London neighborhoods—check out the Fair-Well catchment area—and welcomes orders from individuals as well as groups (you can jump in and add to your neighbor’s order). There are no minimums and the advance ordering is just so the truck is stocked—you can add or subtract on Charlie’s arrival. Delivery is included and pricing is intended to make the service as approachable as possible.

claire decants olive oil. fair well’s own olive oil containers get 12 — Above: Claire decants olive oil. Fair-Well’s own olive oil containers get collected, washed, and reused by their supplier.

“We have never claimed to be a ‘zero waste’ shop,” Claire and Jerilee write on the Fair-Well site. “As a business, we have some waste and we are always transparent about this. For example, we buy our range of muesli, oats, rice, pulses, and grains in bulk, in 15-25 kg paper bags. Similarly, our dried fruits, pasta, and nuts come in 6-20 kg liner bags and cardboard boxes, which are collected by our council recycling scheme.”