Newly-opened shop Something Good Newcastle is the latest business to leverage Instagram’s billion-strong monthly active userbase to build their presence – online and off.

From Fat Hippo with Halloween burgers and Papa Ganoush’s ‘Instagrammable’ façades, local businesses are starting to embrace Instagram to attract customers to their bricks and mortar premises.

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We still pinch ourselves at this little slice of heaven ? Sun is shining today, autumn is here and it’s so pretty ?? It’s a happy day today ?? #jesmond #ne2 #mezze #salads #veggie #vegan

A post shared by Papa Ganoush (@papaganoush_jesmond) on Oct 8, 2019 at 1:40am PDT

Something Good Newcastle, Founded by Lauren Wedderburn, former architect at FaulknerBrowns Architects, is looking to shake up modern convenience culture.

The shop, based on Jesmond Road, provides sustainable lifestyle products that are designed to be reused and refilled, rather than buying new plastic containers for every purchase.

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THANK YOU to everyone who came to see us on our opening day ! For being so excited about our little shop, and for being patient with us while we learn how to be shopkeepers ! Meet Kim by the way, you’ll get to know her if you shop with us on Saturdays and Sundays ?? #somethinggood #jesmond #openingday #reuse #refill #newcastle

A post shared by SomethingGood (@somethinggoodco) on Oct 21, 2019 at 12:12pm PDT

Wedderburn explained to JesmondLocal that the idea for the business started as “a lifestyle thing”.

“I guess like a lot of people, [I was watching] watching David Attenborough, [BBC TV series] Blue Planet, and just started to become more aware of the problem”.

Wedderburn started Something Good Newcastle on Instagram as a blog. She raised concerns of single use plastics.

She asked herself: “How did we get to this point where you’re looking in your kitchen cupboard thinking these are the things that I use every day, and it’s also disposable like so much packaging?”

Worldwide, 13,000-15,000 pieces of plastic are dumped into the ocean every day, according to statistics collated by an environmental lobby group.

Instagram provided Something Good Newcastle with an online community that enabled them to grow offline as well.

“I think just using Instagram for me to become part of a community as well the people I was following, the hashtags I was following definitely noticing there was a lot of conversation,” said Wedderburn. ” It wasn’t necessarily just Jesmond or Newcastle, but UK-wide that conversation was going on.”

Breaking the stereotype and potential concerns over hygiene were two of the main criteria for Wedderburn when designing the shop.

Wedderburn practises what she preaches: the Scandinavian-inspired interior includes countertops made using recycled plastic bottles and yogurt pots. “I’ve always been interested in designing and making and conscious design,” she said.

Something Good Newcastle, which opened on October 21st, offers products and produce provided by independent businesses “with similar values, conscious design, well made products and trying to get as much in the UK as possible,” said Wedderburn.

She has a plan to designing and creating her own products in the future, as well as hosting workshops, whether that be cooking or baking from scratch.

Starting a shop 10 days before the UK is due to leave the European Union has proved a headache for Wedderburn. Some of the shop’s products are imported from Europe, such as the pasta from Italy.

“I think like everything with Brexit I don’t know what it’s going to be,” said Wedderburn. “We’ll just have to cross that bridge when we get to it”.

Something Good Newcastle is one of several new reuse and refill businesses in the region.

“I definitely think there should be one in every neighbourhood,” said Wedderburn. “Everyone should be close to one. The more that will open up, the better.”