Zero-waste grocery store will eliminate food packaging

Today’s grocery stores may feature more items with recyclable packaging than they used to, but the fact remains that there’s still enormous waste involved in the way individual goods are typically packaged and sold. So argues Brothers Lane, an Austin, Texas, company that’s gearing up to launch in.gredients — the first package-free, zero-waste grocery store in the United States. The new store aims to be “a different kind of grocery store – one that is responsible to the environment and community and one that facilitates a healthy lifestyle,” in the company’s own words. Toward that end, shoppers at the store will bring their own reusable containers to fill with local and organic groceries ranging from dry bulk and dairy to wine and household cleaners. “Truth be told, what’s normal in the grocery business isn’t healthy for consumers or the environment,” in.gredients co-founder Christian Lane explains. “In addition to the unhealthiness associated with common food processing, nearly all the food we buy in the grocery store is packaged, leaving us no choice but to continue buying packaged food that’s not always reusable or recyclable.” Due to launch before year’s end, the store will exclude packaged and overly processed foods altogether as well as offering cooking classes, on-site gardening activities and a variety of community events. A video on YouTube explains the premise further:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYkw7Jx6Xnw

Of the 1.4 billion pounds of waste that go into U.S. landfills each day, 40 percent is packaging that was used just once, in.gredients’ founders point out. The company is now seeking investors, in part through a crowdfunding campaign. One to get involved in? Spotted by: Florent Lesauvage