Shoppers in one Scandinavian city will soon be able to buy their groceries without packaging — and Vancouverites are next.
Copenhagen’s first zero-packaging supermarket, LØS Market, is scheduled to open this summer, according to Food Tank. Customers will be able to choose from a selection of over 400 organically-grown products, taking their groceries home in their own containers or compostable paper bags.
Wine, oil, and soap can be poured into empty bottles, to be returned and used again.
A Vancouver marine biologist wants to open Canada's first package-free grocery store by the end of 2016. (Amanda Palmer/Courtesy of Zero Waste Market)
The packaging-free markets have been slowly catching on. In.gredients became the first in America, opening in Austin in 2011. Germany’s trendy-looking Original Unverpackt launched in 2014, and it looks like Canada won’t be far behind.
A Vancouver marine biologist has been testing the idea with monthly pop-ups and plans to open a permanent shop by the end of the year. The idea was born out of her work in habitat degradation that’s caused by pollution and climate change, Brianne Miller said.
“I was seeing these issues first hand and wanted to actually do something about it.”
— Brianne Miller
“I started to realize that a lot of those problems are either directly or indirectly linked to our food system,” she told The Huffington Post Canada. “I was seeing these issues first hand and wanted to actually do something about it.”
Her store, Zero Waste Market, will “kill a lot of birds with one stone” by eliminating packaging and sourcing mostly local, organically-grown products. Even her suppliers will send shipments to the store in reusable containers, Miller said.
Shoppers at Zero Waste Market — set to open a permanent store this year in Vancouver — can take groceries home in their own containers. (Courtesy of Zero Waste Market)
Curious shoppers can try getting their groceries garbage-free at Zero Waste Market’s next pop-up, on March 22 at the Patagonia store on West 4th Avenue.
“The feedback we’re getting so far has been really wonderful so we’re excited to bring this to life,” Miller said. “We think it’s about time.”
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