South African Garden and Home – September 2019

120 SEPTEMBER 2019 | gardenandhome.co.za

TEXT

LAUREN DELARGY

PHOTOGRAPHS

HEMA PATEL

AND

SUPPLIED

1 BLEACHEDWOODFURNITURE&

DÉCORIlovetherelaxedbeachvibeof

thisonlinestore’sfurniture,whichismade

fromreclaimedwood.

2 BEESWAXFOODWRAPIalways

keeponeofthese(fromourstore)inmy

handbag.They’resousefulforwrapping

sandwichesandsnacks.

3 ANTIBES,FRANCEThisiswhereDom

andImetandstartedonourtravels,soit

hasaspecialplaceinmyheart.

4 SIMONSIGBRUTROSÉIt’sperfectfor

anyoccasionandpairssowellwithtapas,

myfavouritetypeoffood.

5 SPAZABOWLCOVERSAsIentertain

often,Ifindthesebowlcoversfromour

storesohandy,plustheylookfantastic.

6 HYPNOTICPOISONBYDIORWithits

hintsofcoconut,itremindsmeofthe

beach,whichhasalwaysbeenmy

happyplace.

7 THEWORLDACCORDINGTOGARP

byJohnIrving(BallantineBooks).

Iremembermydadgigglingwhile

readingthisnovel.It’sthereasonIlove

readingandbringsbackfondmemories.

Co-ownerofazero-wastegrocerystore,

thisformeryachtswomanandavidtraveller

sharessomeofherfavouritethings

SOURCES Ballantine Books penguinrandomhouse.com Bleached Wood Furniture & Décor bleacheddecor.co.za Dior dior.com

Simonsig simonsig.co.za The Refillery therefillery.co.za

M

yhusbandDomandImet

whilesailinginEurope,”

saysSamanthaMoleta,

co-ownerofplastic-free

grocerystoreTheRefilleryinJo’burg.

“Duringthesixyearswespentat

sea,wesawfirst-handhowpollution

isdestroyingouroceansandwere

determinedtodosomethingaboutit.”

AfterspendingsometimeinNew

Zealand,Dom’shomecountry,they

settledinSouthAfrica.“I’maborn

andbredJo’burggirl,andeventhough

we’vetravelledtomanycountries,we

alwayswantedtocomebackhere,”

saysSamantha.

Realisingthatcondemningplastic

usewasn’tenough,theydecidedtolive

Samantha

MOLETA

LAST WORD ON STYLE

plastic-free for a month. “It went so

well that we knew other people could

do it too, so we decided to open The

Refillery.” A zero-waste store, there is

no packaging. The store stocks staples

and groceries such as rice, flour and oil

in bulk containers. Customers take their

own containers (or buy glass mason jars

there), fill them up and pay by weight.

Dom and Samantha have added

other products such as wraps and

reusable produce bags so that food can

be preserved without plastic. Other

items available include ethically sourced

bamboo toothbrushes, stainless steel

straws and shampoo bars.

Although building up their company

keeps them extremely busy, the Moletas

still love to travel. “Sailing took us to so

many beautiful places and we’d love our

children, Jackson and Stevie, to have the

same experiences,” says Samantha.

However, at the moment, this is on

hold as she and Dom have plans to open

stores in Cape Town and Durban.

“We believe that being eco-friendly

needs to go from a niche pursuit to a

mainstream lifestyle.”

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