We’ve been working with Ullapool Unpacked CIC behind the scenes for the past 6 months or so to bring this project to fruition and we’re so excited about it. As far as we’re aware, it’s the only project of its kind in the UK… certainly we haven’t managed to find anyone else doing this, but we’d love to hear about anyone else doing something similar.
We love being able to supply locally grown and butchered meat to you, but the amount of single use plastic we have to use is frustrating. Up until now, we simply haven’t been able to find an alternative. Thanks to Ullapool Unpacked CIC, we now have the option to pack meat in stainless steel tins which you can return once you’ve emptied them. We’ll then sterilise them and re-use them again… and again and again.
Obviously we can’t offer large joints or awkward shaped cuts in these containers so at this stage we’re sticking to 500g portions of mince and diced meat that suit the containers we’ve chosen. To start off, we’ve filled over 50 containers with a range of pork, mutton and venison, mince and diced.
We have decided to run the project as a membership scheme. This is due to the returnable nature of the containers and the set up costs and ongoing administration that goes into the project. Membership is open to those living within The Green Bowl delivery area, between Elphin and Leckmelm and costs £10 to join. By becoming a member you will be able to purchase meat in stainless steel containers and you also agree to take part in the project as instructed and return all containers to be reused.
Once you are a member, you’ll be able to purchase the meat in reusuable containers through our online shop or through Ullapool Unpacked’s bricks and mortar shop on Argyle St, Ullapool. To start with, you can purchase a membership this week on our online shop. The meat will be available on our next order cycle (22nd March), and from Ullapool Unpacked shortly too.
After you’ve used the meat and washed the containers, you can return them to Ullapool Unpacked, to The Elphin Tearooms, or you can just leave them out for us to pick up the next time that you place an order. (Don’t worry about trying to get the label off – we’ll deal with that rather than risk scratching the lids) We do request that you return the containers promptly after you’ve used them (and please don’t leave one in the bottom of the freezer for a year!) as we have a limited number of containers and we want to make sure we can refill them with more local meat to continue reducing our single-use plastic consumption.
As I’ve said, we’re really excited about this. We’re feeling our way at the moment to find the best way to make it work, but we’ve made the first step, and it’s a big one! We hope you’ll come on this journey with us, and if you have any feedback or suggestions, please do get in touch!
We’re also working on a reusable option for the plastic bags that we pack your meat orders in… stay tuned for more information on that soon.
