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First purchases: The Re-Store
- Feb 20, 2021
- 4 min read
Updated: Jun 17, 2021
Every First Purchase takes you through our first time buying from different shops. Get an idea of what to expect before you buy.
Overview
The Re-Store is a family business located in Durbanville, Cape Town, which strives to reduce single-use plastic, plastic and waste in general. They also support recycling and composting.
As a family, they realised how much plastic they were using daily and how it had become a ‘natural’ part of their lives.
Plastic can be found in almost every item and room in our homes. We support their mission to do away with plastic packaging.
"To date, mankind has produced over 8 billion tons of plastic. Once used, most of the plastic can’t be recycled and will end up in landfills and in our oceans. It harms our environment, kills animals, disrupts ecosystems and negatively influences climate change." - The Re-Store
Like they mention on their website, plastic breaks down to microplastics when exposed to the elements and contains dangerous chemicals and toxins, These toxins then make their way into our waterways and oceans and eventually through the marine food web, ending up in our bodies.
"... we started to slowly but surely change our ways and habits and we would like to meet and motivate people who want to do the same. We believe that we don’t need to do everything perfectly from the start, but that it is important just to start. Everything is a process. Just one little thing that changes is still a change and a step towards a better future." - The Re-Store
Website & socials
The Re-Store functions solely online and you can access their shop on their website.
Their website categorises their products into:
New Goodies
Body and Beauty (Skin care, Dental care, Hair care, and Menstrual care)
Travel
Household (Kitchen, Cleaning, Braai)
Kids & Moms
Pet care
Gift vouchers (you can buy gift vouchers worth R150 - R1 000)
[UPDATE: Since publishing, The Re-Store has added the following offering to their online store: soaps and savers, shaving products, sun protection, CBD products, tinctures and remedies, laundry products, grocery shopping items and more travel size/safe items.]
Not only does their website offer an online store, they also a have a blog with very interesting articles. We would recommend that anyone trying to live a more sustainable life should give them a read. This journey might feel very intimidating at the beginning, but it becomes considerably more manageable when someone breaks it down into bite-size pieces. They inform you what certain buzz-worthy eco-friendly products contain, they also give you tips on how to live less wasteful and how to save money while living sustainably.
You can also find The Re-Store Recommendations Video Series on their website with videos recommending certain products to use in order to have a zero-waste bathroom or a natural skincare regime or an eco-friendly braai. They promise to post more videos like this.
Delivery
The Re-Store currently offers the following payment methods:
EFT
Credit Card
Masterpass
Instant EFT
The cost for deliveries varies depending on where the order is going and the weight of the parcel, if the parcel weighs over 2 kg. The delivery charge will be calculated automatically in your checkout.
Shipping costs for addresses in the Cape Town area are R59
Shipping costs for addresses outside of Cape Town are R99
[UPDATE: The Re-Store now offers FREE delivery in Cape Town for orders over R600, and for all other areas for orders over R850.]
Please be advised that there won´t be delivery for the following areas:
Remote – Areas aren’t a regular area for delivery and require a vehicle either veer off course or drive through specially for this one parcel
Township – These areas tend to be difficult to deliver to as there are often no street names or numbers
High Risk – Areas that are prone to violence and theft
The Re-Store's courier service provider is My Courier and delivers between 1 to 5 working days depending on the order’s destination and the chosen option:
Local deliveries (Cape Town area): 1-2 days
“Economy” deliveries to all main centres: 2-5 days
Their deliveries are made Monday to Friday between 09:00 and 17:00, so make sure that there is someone at the address you provided to collect your package. If there is no one to accept the delivery the courier company will contact you so a new delivery day can be arranged.
Once your order is handed over to the courier, The Re-Store will send an email with your waybill number and a link to their courier's website.
Packaging
The Re-Store has a disclaimer on their website explaining why their packages (delivered in corrugated cardboard boxes) come with a plastic sleeve on top. They say that in order to process your order and deliver it to you as soon as possible, a certain process has to be followed.
"This includes that your parcel can be clearly assigned to you by both the courier service and us as we get many orders each day. For that, your details and your waybill-number must be visible outside on the package protected from water and heat. There are currently two options to do that: thermos-stickers or plastic sleeves. As both options are not plastic-free, we decided for the sleeves because it is easier to remove from the box, which then can be reused or recycled by you. The plastic sleeve can be eco-bricked. We haven´t found a plastic-free alternative for that, but we are on it! Thank you for understanding."
Unboxing
Overall impression
We enjoyed the quick and efficient first purchase from The Re-Store, which was delivered in about two working days, and have since bought items from them for a second time. Their prices are reasonable and their service friendly and we also align ourselves with their values and goals.
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