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About us
WHO we are
SHRUB was started in 2008 as a response to the throwaway culture that had developed at Edinburgh University with so many students having to buy new things at the start of the academic year, and then being unable to take these things home with them when the year was over. A group of students and EUAS staff felt this to be a regrettable waste of valuable resource and so decided to set up a 'freeshop', where incoming students could take things during Freshers' Week, that were discarded by students who had left the university earlier that year.
2008
People & Planet students formed a partnership with the University of Edinburgh Accommodation Services and Transition Edinburgh to set up the End-of-Term Collections and the “Freshers’ Freeshop”.
SHRUB was established as a not for profit company limited by guarantee in March 2013.
2013
2018
As of November 2018, we are registered as a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation (SCIO), meaning we have charitable status. In July 2018, we secured our new Zero Waste Hub premises at 22 Bread Street.
2025
Following seven successful years at our Zero Waste Hub on Bread Street, we sadly had to close this premises due to funding limitations. The Wee Spoke Hub continues to operate at 13 Guthrie Street, our Food Sharing project continues at The Pavilion Cafe, and our sewing and mending sessions continue around the city.
HOW we work
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Historically, SHRUB members were primarily students, however, our membership has become increasingly diverse, incorporating individuals from a range of ages and backgrounds in the local community.
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As a cooperative, SHRUB operates an open membership policy - anybody above the age of 16 can become a member. You can join as a paying member or by volunteering with us.
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SHRUB is organised non-hierarchically and governed through consensus-based decision making. Members are encouraged to join in decision making and to stand for a position as a Trustee. Trustees are elected at the AGM and are legally liable for the Coop.
WHY we work
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We value inclusivity and work with others to provide a welcoming community for all.
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We act with integrity and strive to be sustainable in everything we do.
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We live by co-operative values of self-help, self-responsibility, democracy, equality, equity,
and solidarity.
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We provide a welcoming space for rethinking our relationship to waste, reducing consumption and developing effective use of resources.
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We support community empowerment in Edinburgh, learning and sharing skills to make a practical difference to the world we share.
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We deliver innovative waste prevention, creative reuse and repair practices in a living laboratory of
Circular Economy.
