5 Stores That Make It Easy to Go Plastic-Free
Breaking a plastic habit is hard. Trust us, we've tried. Going low-waste means saying goodbye to countless tools in our kitchen arsenal, from zip-top plastic bags and paper towels to yogurt containers and clamshell produce containers. (Cherry tomatoes, we just can't quit you.) Luckily, these stores are dedicated to easing the transition.
The Take-out Option
GreenToGo, Durham, NC
That mountain of are-these-actually-recyclable take-out containers cluttering your cabinets? Not an issue with GreenToGo, which partner with Durham restaurants like BA fave Rose's Noodles, Dumplings & Sweets. For a fee, you can use its app to order from participating restaurants, then get carryout or delivery in one of the program’s reusable boxes. When you’re done, return the box to a drop-off point and GreenToGo will clean it to health department standards and get it back in circulation.
The Coffee Shop
The Tare Shop, Halifax, Nova Scotia
A zero-waste grocery store attached to a zero-waste coffee shop, the Tare Shop offers goods like bulk tamari, olive oil, and sprouts sans packaging. The café, too, has ditched disposable cups: It’s BYOMug here, though if you forget, you can always grab one from the community “library”of donated mugs—bring it back next time, or consider it a zero-waste souvenir.
The Grocery Delivery Service
The Wally Shop, Brooklyn
The convenience of grocery delivery with none of the packaging. Produce, grains, and spices from local farmers’ markets and bulk stores come packed in mason jars and cotton bags, delivered to your door in reusable totes. At your next delivery, the Wally Shop collects that packaging, clean its, and reuses it— leaving your pantry stocked and your garbage empty.
The Bar
Henley, Nashville, TN
At the Henley, ditching plastic is a creative opportunity. Reusable straws, for example, are not so much an obligation as an expression of taste: aromatic cocktails get bamboo straws, to enhance the experience, while classics — your G&Ts, your mint juleps — come with metal straws, all the better for stirring. As for the drinks themselves? Instead of buying pre-packaged ingredients for the cocktail program, the team makes their own — using leftover fruits and vegetables from the restaurant to make syrups, vinegars, and oils.
The Home Goods Store
Public Goods and Services, Seattle
This is where you go to get reusable cotton bags for storing vegetables, stainless- steel tiffin containers, beeswax wrap, and refillable cleaning supplies like laundry detergent (you’ve got to wash those bags somehow).
