In the world of sustainable food, Austin, Texas is known best as the home of Whole Foods, the natural foods giant that first opened there in 1980. But it’s another Austin-based retailer of local and organic food that has people talking these days. The store, called In.gredients, is looking to lay claim to the title of America’s first ever “package-free, zero waste grocery store.”
The idea is simple. In the same fashion that shoppers bring tote bags to the grocery store, In.gredients shoppers are encouraged to bring their own containers to the store to pack up items like grains and oils. Customers that don’t have containers will be provided with compostable ones. In a country that sends 570 million pounds of food packaging to landfills each and every day, this is a welcome announcement.
“Truth be told, what’s normal in the grocery business isn’t healthy for consumers or the environment,” said In.gredients co-founder Christian Lane in a press release. “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 re- usable or recyclable.”
The company’s founders are trying to raise $15,000 to fund the startup, with the aim of opening in Austin this fall. Here’s some info about investment.
(via GOOD)