La Recharge (www.la-recharge.fr) bills itself as 'la première épicerie sans emballages jetables' and would be a great site to use for the environment topic at GCSE or A level. Try setting the questions below as a homework task. For A level students, simply translate the questions into French and ask them to prepare to discuss the topic.

Teaching ideas

Give students the web address, www.la-recharge.fr, without any further clues! Ask them to browse the site and find answers to the following questions (answers provided below). They can find the answers in the order of the questions by clicking on the relevant headers at the top of the web page or by scrolling down the site.

1. What and where is La Recharge? 
2. What products will you find there and what is special about these products? 
3. How does it work in practice and what will you need to bring?
4. What is the ethos/rationale behind La Recharge?
5. Who started the company and why?
6. Make a list of useful new vocabulary in French and English which you feel is important to this topic (e.g. le suremballage).

Possible answers

1. The first grocery shop with no disposable packaging. In Bordeaux.
2. Fruit and veg; rice, pasta and cereals; eggs, dairy and cold meats; bread, cakes, biscuits and chocolate; jam and honey; wine, cold drinks, tea and coffee; spices, oil and vinegar; soap and cleaning products; utensils. They prioritise top quality, local produce.
3. To shop at La Recharge, bring your own containers (whatever they may be!), weigh them, fill them with the products you'd like and pay for them – without having to pay for the packaging.
4. To reduce the amount of packaging thrown away and the negative impact on the environment of producing and disposing of packaging. To protect our health and reduce the cost to consumers.
5. Guillaume (who has never liked taking the bins out!) and Jules (who has always loved good local food).
6. Students' own vocabulary lists.