What are Zero-Waste Grocery Stores?
Plastic packaging is on almost every shelf of the grocery store, even for products that don’t need it. Every year there are 14 million tons of plastic packaging waste just in the United States. It can be very hard to be a conscious consumer when most of your options aren’t eco-friendly. Luckily there are stores and services popping up across the U.S. and right here in Austin, Texas.
Buying In Bulk
If you’re a frequent HEB shopper, you’re familiar with the Healthy Living aisle which has a bulk bar for nuts, candies, and chocolates. Imagine that aisle but with hundreds more products and that is what a zero-waste store looks like. The idea is for customers to either come with their own refillable containers, or to purchase some at the store, and buy their groceries free of plastic packaging.
Buying in bulk doesn’t just apply to food items. Bathroom and home products such as laundry detergent, shampoo and conditioner, and body soap can be purchased in refillable containers. Additionally, zero-waste stores don’t just provide bulk buying options, they also sell products in eco-friendly, compostable packaging and feature eco-friendly kitchen, home, and beauty products.
Limitations
While being great for limiting plastic waste in our oceans, buying in bulk does have limitations. First, because zero-waste stores have package-free foods, shoppers need to do some prep work before a trip to the store. Beforehand, shoppers have to either already have or plan to purchase the containers they will keep their bulk items in and have the means to transport them back home. This can be difficult for people who don’t have cars or rely on public transportation. Second, as pointed out by Elizabeth Balkan, the food waste director at the National Resources Defense Council, no packaging means no shelf-stable food. For shoppers who can afford to replace food every week, this is no problem, but for low-income people and families, this isn’t an option.
Zero-waste stores work very well for shoppers who are privileged enough to have access to them and afford them. Currently there are just not enough zero-waste options that work for economically disadvantaged communities. Eco-friendly shopping needs to no longer be a luxury, and corporations need to dedicate time and resources to making these options available, accessible, and feasible for all shoppers.
Options In Austin
All of us in Austin are very fortunate to have a handful of options in town for zero-waste shopping. Literless, an online resource that helps shoppers locate places to shop zero-waste and compost across the country, created a guide of places to shop zero-waste in Texas. Eight options are available in Austin and we are featuring five that could be a great starting place:
Deciding to shop bulk doesn’t have to happen all at once. We encourage you to check a few places out on a day when you have some free time and see what aspects of buying bulk and shopping zero-waste work for your lifestyle. Every small step helps push us to a cleaner future.
Edited by Antonio
