zero waste
Our online store is unique in the sense that we do not wish to burden the consumer with any form of packaging. We realise despite people wanting to be environmentally conscious, it is often a struggle when it comes to food shopping as mainstream stores tend to over package basic essentials in single use plastic. This is terrible for the planet as 91% of plastic is not recycled and the vast majority 79% is accumulating in landfills or much of it ending up in the ocean.
Although some supermarkets claim to have a plastic free aisle, despite a lot of us wanting to do our bit and help the planet most people are on a budget and simply cannot afford to purchase the loose option. In order to tackle this plastic problem, we only provide a loose option which has been priced the same on average as a plastic wrapped one.
After researching and analysing supermarket’s efforts to reduce their plastic and carbon footprint, I quickly realised that quite a few measures that have been put in place over the last couple of years have proved counterproductive. For example, the bags for life that have been introduced by all supermarkets have actually made the plastic problem worse. This is because due to their low price point and the 5p plastic bag charge that came into effect in 2015, they have simply become a single-use option. For example, in 2019, bags for life sales rose by 26% on the previous year this was over 1.5 billion in total which means now on average there are 54 bags for life per household. This is a massive problem that is contributing majorly to plastic pollution, as these bags contain 3 times as much plastic as a ‘single use’ bag.
.jpg)
I wanted this online delivery food service to help end this culture of disposability. This would be achieved through disallowing a opportunity for the customer to throw away or discard the reusable bags that would be used to transport the foodstuffs. Minimum sign up to this delivery service is one month so the totes that are used to carry the bulk of the order and the individual draw string bags that have been used to carry pasta/ tea leaves/ vegetables would be picked up by the driver the following week to be reused again and again. Not only is this system beneficial in terms of reducing plastic waste, but it means that consumers can purchase foodstuffs via the gram which can save on money and food waste. Additionally, I chose to use clam-shell recycled cardboard containers for delicate fruits such as berries. The service is designed take care of this waste as the following week will pick the cardboard punnets to be recycled.
Additionally, among plastic offenders, liquids such as juices and milk are also high on the list. As only 50% of plastic bottles are actually recycled due to a mixture of consumer negligence, government negligence and the complicated process of recycling plastic. This is why the online store has implemented a re-use and refill system for all liquids including juice, squash and milks. This is because it is far better for the planet to reuse as much as possible before recycling. This system would work in the sense that a deliverer would deliver the liquids in glass bottles. Minimum sign up for our delivery service is one month, so the consumer would be made to keep the glass bottles for their delivery the following week where they are picked up to be cleaned and refilled again as they are easy to sterilise with boiling water, and can be infinitely recycled- thus make the ideal vehicle for reusing.
.jpg)
