What a great concept. BERLIN – Shopping at this new grocery store means bringing your own containers — and not just bags to schlep everything home. To buy shampoo, customers fill reusable bottles from giant vats that line the walls. Chewable white toothpaste pills are sold out of a large glass jar. Instead of grabbing a box of tissues, people pick from a woven basket filled with colorful handkerchiefs. This supermarket — Original Unverpackt (Original Unpackaged) — is the first of its kind in Germany, where paper, plastic and polystyrene are strictly verboten. Its all about cutting down on waste. The idea was born two years ago, when my business partner and I had a couple bottles of organic wine and decided that we wanted to change the world, said founder Sara Wolf, 31, who opened the store in September with co-founder Milena Glimbovski. They financed the business by raising more than $145,000 on a German crowd-funding site. After that, it was a couple of years with a lot of hard work, Wolf said. Unlike most supermarkets where almost everything is prepackaged and ready to take off the shelf, shoppers at Original Unverpackt bring their own tins, jars, Tupperware and cloth bags, dispensing what they want from the various containers and paying based on weight. At the pasta table, customers grab linguine out of glass boxes with tongs. Huge containers hold vegetable oils, dish soap and laundry detergent, so people can pour however much they want. Milk is sold in vintage recyclable bottles. A few items do come in biodegradable packages, such as toothbrushes. The stores Spartan look may turn off people used to sprawling supermarkets that have hundreds of brands in bright-colored packages lining the aisles. This store carries only one brand of each product, and most items are locally produced. Cashier Ivan Carcano, 37, said shoppers seem eager to change their shopping habits to lead a healthier and more environmentally conscious lifestyle. People can shop here like they did 30 years ago, he said. It may take longer, but our customers gladly make the time. Carcano points out that he has become more environmentally aware because of the store. My trash can is emptier since I started working here, he said. For instance, instead of buying a new bottle of dish soap, I have one container that I refill. Selling unpackaged groceries presents issues of food hygiene problems, but Wolf said the supermarket created a system that complies with health and safety standards. We consulted with food experts before opening the store to make sure that we didnt reduce packaging at the cost of sanitation, Wolf said. Our hygiene manual is 60 pages long. Recycling is well-established in this country, and shoppers have long been encouraged to bring reusable bags – or cough up change to use a plastic one. Instruments already in place to reduce waste from plastic bags are helping, said Christiane Schnepel of the German Federal Environment Agency. But whats important is to continue to reduce the amount of bags that are only used for a short period of time and then thrown away. Original Unverpackt is part of a growing trend of reducing, reusing and recycling to attract customers and save the planet. Luxury denim retailer G-Star Raw teamed up with singer Pharrell Williams to launch a collection of pants made from ocean plastic. Method, the organic cleaning product line, started using the salvaged trash to make its bottles. Green businesses need more than an environmentally friendly idea to stay afloat. Stores have to have good public relations, attractive selections and a convincing concept, Schnepel said. A marketable business concept is crucial for the survival of environmentally conscious companies, as well as any company. For economist Estifanos Samuel, 34, the non-packaging concept of Original Unverpackt is a lure. This supermarket brings me closer to food, Samuel said while doing his evening grocery shopping. There are no bags between me and the food. ....Every little bit helps.
Posted on: Sun, 05 Oct 2014 22:58:19 +0000
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