Jul 11 - Package-Free Stores Becoming More Popular
The typical grocery store aisle is lined with food packaged in plastic boxes, bottles, and film wrap with visually appealing labels to catch a consumer's attention. Too often this packaging goes straight to the landfills after being used once. In package-free grocers, these single-use containers are absent. As more and more people become aware of our society’s increasingly wasteful behaviors (inherent in such things as the over-packaging of products), grocery stores like the Simply Bulk Market in Colorado are springing up around the country, according to an article in Waste & Recycling News.
These stores instead feature their products in bins, barrels, and other large containers which hold their items for sale in bulk, usually by weight. There are obvious environmental benefits to packaging reduction, but there are also economic benefits as well.
According to the same article, Phil Bratty, co-owner of Simply Bulk Market, "estimates that customers at his store will see a 30% to 40% savings when they’re not paying for the packaging."
CAW supports the notion of zero waste, source reduction, and sustainability, and believes these can be achieved while simultaneously stimulating our economy.
We're working on several bills in the state legislature to encourage zero waste and green job growth, including the following:
AB 341 (Chesbro)- Jobs and Recycling
SB 567 (DeSaulnier)- Truthful Environmental Advertising in Plastics