Paula and Nairn started their zero waste journey 5 years ago after watching the ‘Trashed’ documentary. They immediately started reducing their waste by swapping items like plastic toothbrushes for bamboo ones. They admit that it can be challenging, especially with kids and pets, but they’re determined to continue reducing their waste and making it easier for others to do the same.
source/image(PrtSc): Exploring Alternatives
They started off by sharing resources online, progressed to selling zero waste items at local markets, and finally opened a brick-and-mortar zero waste store in Victoria, BC nearly 3 years ago.Wanting to make zero waste options more accessible to people, Paula and Nairn price check their products to match the mainstream grocery store prices so that buying package-free food isn’t more expensive.
They also have a ‘take a jar leave a jar’ system that makes it easier for people to show up at the store unprepared and still get everything they need. To make it happen, they accept recycling from customers, clean and sanitize it, and then make these containers available for free to any customer who walks in the door.
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We love that their work isn’t only on the consumer side of things. They couple has spent a lot of time creating a circular economy with their local suppliers to reuse buckets, jugs, and other containers so that they’re reducing waste all the way through the supply chain./Exploring Alternatives
