Back at the beginning of the pandemic I (obviously) had a lot on my mind. One of the things that I noticed that became suddenly very apparent in my own mind was the extreme abundance of waste that industry has created. With the barrier we had to create with germs, we were going through enormous amounts of unnecessary waste.
From the amount of extra packaging used due to storefronts being closed and everything being purchased online down to not being able to use a personal coffee mug. Having to purchase all prepared food in To-Go packaging and most painfully, the amount of disposable masks I wound up walking by on the sidewalk along with the excess of other single use PPE.
It was becoming overwhelming in my own mind, so being the inquisitive problem solver that I am, I started constantly thinking about ideas for systems that would work better and I wrote a blog about "Ideas for a post-covid sustainable world."
One of the most important parts of that article in my mind was the idea of transforming our grocery stores away from single use containers and unnecessary plastic and into places that sell essential raw materials where you can refill your own containers and pay by weight/volume as opposed to our current system of having to purchase the container in order to be able to purchase the product.
Fast forward to the beginning of last week: the weather was glorious, so I was doing some errands on my bike and brought my camera for some street photography. As I was cruising down Broadway I was making some stops to check out some places I had never been to before.
That’s when I came upon the Realm Refillery; a brand new grocery store built exactly the way I had envisioned years ago. A market where instead of purchasing the container you simply only purchase the product and the container is taken care of by the retailer. The profit margin takes care of it and the world begins to have largely less containers in it.
A market where instead of purchasing the container you simply only purchase the product and the container is taken care of by the retailer. The profit margin takes care of it and the world begins to have largely less containers in it.
There are so many products here. just about everything you’d see at a neighborhood market. Fresh vegetables and vegan cheeses, grains, nuts, seeds, syrups, sugars, spices, bread, etc., but also non edible items like laundry detergent, bath products, essential oils, the list goes on.
There is really no reason at all that we, as consumers, should have to buy a new container every time we need a refill of a product we continuously purchase and this is exactly the way we can create and support a better future for everyone.
I am really hoping to see explosive growth with this concept and am super excited to see patronize a properly sustainable company.
Cheers Realm Refillery & I hope to see one around every other corner some day!
