Owner of Clear to Sea in Bury St Edmunds' St John's Street celebrates four years since first opening

The owner of an eco shop in Bury St Edmunds is celebrating four years of trading and says she ‘wouldn’t choose anything else’.

Catherine Winn, of Ixworth, began Clear to Sea in 2019 having always had a passion for the environment and previously working for charities such as the National Trust and the RSPB.

She was inspired by other shops with the concept of reducing plastic waste caused by grocery shopping.

Now four years later Catherine is still behind the counter at the shop in St John’s Street and is proud of her achievement although it wasn’t without its challenges.

She said: “It’s very exciting because what with Covid and everything else I was a bit sceptical the business would survive but I remained open during the pandemic so that people could buy their food as they needed it.

“They kept me going through that really difficult period so to reach four years with a pandemic and now an economic crisis I’m proud I’m still standing.

“I enjoy every minute. I haven’t ever come to work and thought I wish I wasn’t going today. I wouldn’t choose anything else. I love my shop.”

The shop sells a range of food items such as loose flour, pasta, pulses, cereals and nuts as well as cleaning product refills, hand soap and washable sanitary products.

Catherine hopes going forward that more people will come into her shop to support local and change their shopping habits to help the environment.

“My plans for the future are to encourage more people to shop with me,” she said.

“People have this concept that zero waste shops are more expensive. There’s swings and roundabouts – some products are and some products aren’t but at least you’re saving on all the plastic waste that goes into landfill and reducing food waste because you’re only buying what you need.”

She believes that independently run businesses are vital for the future of the economy and the town.

“To keep any town going, any business going people have to shop locally,” she said.

“It brings money back into the economy and unless we go back to years gone by, independents are going to be lost and that would be very sad for our economy and our beautiful town.”

The shop is open 10am-3pm on weekdays, 10am-4pm on Saturdays and closed Sundays.

For more information visit the Clear to Sea Facebook page.