A CHANCE for people to “reduce, reuse and refill” is being offered through a community group.

Not-for-profit group Lil opened its doors on Haddington High Street on Wednesday after spending more than a year searching for premises in the town.

The opening took place on World Refill Day, which highlights the simple ways people can reduce their waste, particularly single-use packaging.

When it comes to groceries alone, the average Scottish household spends £250 a year on single-use packaging, according to Zero Waste Scotland.

Louise Hastie and Sarah Bronsdon, Lil directors, felt it was “easy” to help reduce the amount of single-use plastic being used.

Speaking ahead of the opening, Louise said: “When we tally up all of our supermarket plastic, it creates an estimated 650,000 tonnes in global production emissions per year; the equivalent to emissions from around four million car journeys from Aberdeen to London.

“It’s so easy to cut that out.

“We’re encouraging all of East Lothian to try to avoid single-use packaging – take your water bottle, reusable coffee cup, your own cutlery, whatever you can do.

“We’re especially excited that people passing by Haddington can drop in and refill their toiletries, cleaning products, pantry staples and plenty more at the newly opened Lil Hub.

“You can bring your own containers or use ones we have here.”

Visitors to the premises can pick up everything, from pantry staples such as coffee, rice and pasta to toiletries.

Lil has also struck a partnership with several local businesses, including Black & Gold Oil, Mungoswells Malt and Milling, and the Chocolate Tree.

A formal opening of the hub is planned for Thursday (June 24).

Lil, which was formed in 2018, has been looking to find physical premises for more than a year, after initially being delayed by the coronavirus pandemic lockdown.

A crowdfunding campaign was launched towards the end of last year, with extra support from East Linton-based 4J Design Studios.

Louise said: “We are thrilled. It is so lovely to be out here and as a community interest company it means the community are already starting to feel ownership of it.

“We have got volunteers coming in and we have always been set up as a community organisation and it makes a lot more sense to be based among the community rather than just online.”

Already this month, Lil has partnered with Caledonian Horticulture for a ‘BIG Beach Clean’, which saw more than 60 groups, families and individuals head out to pick up litter from Edinburgh to Berwick.

Louise added: “The feedback we received was amazing from everyone involved.

“It really highlighted how much litter we just don’t need to have in the first place, from drinks bottles to wet wipes. There are alternatives that don’t blow out of bins or find their way to our waterways.

“To make a big difference, we really need to turn off our litter at the tap. That’s about finding reusable, refill or other solutions.”

The Lil Hub is open Tuesdays 9am-4pm, Fridays 9am-12.30pm, and the last Saturday of the month.

An appeal has also been launched for volunteers; to find out more, email hello@dolilthings.org