One couple on a mission for zero-waste shopping
Los Angeles is home to a unique zero-waste grocery store that is a plastic-free and package free alternative to a traditional grocery store. The owners of Tare, Joseph and Lauren Macrino, wanted to create a store to provide easy access to shop package-free options.
Tare refers to the empty containers customers bring or purchase at the store that are weighed before and after shopping so customers simply pay for products by weight. Buying products by the weight also helps to reduce waste and buying an excess product that will spoil or be wasted.
Tare offers a variety of over 400 organic products including herbs, spices, nuts, grains, sugars, flours, dehydrated vegetables, tea, tons of healthy snacks, package free pasta, rice, oils, vinegars, and more. This package-free grocery store also offers Kombucha on tap along with superfood, adaptogens, and mushroom powders that can be added to smoothies or dishes.
Tare isn’t just for food with a variety of package-free beauty products including a body scrub, shampoo, conditioner, lotion, and more. The Tare store also features a retail section of reusable zero-waste products including bath essentials, reusable tote bags, kitchen tools, cleaning tools, and more.
This zero-waste grocery store should be everywhere! pic.twitter.com/EGGc2qszkL
— BuzzFeed (@BuzzFeed) January 28, 2021
The owners Lauren and Jason met in the Bay Area and started visiting local zero-waste stores together becoming accustomed to that form of shopping. The couple noticed that there were hardly any zero-waste resources in Los Angeles with nowhere to shop so they decided to build their own store.
Lauren is an Australian native and she noticed all the plastic waste in the ocean when she would visit the local beaches. The couple explains that they strive to live by this lifestyle but that doesn’t mean they’re perfect and don’t want people to feel pressured but rather inspired by the zero-waste lifestyle.
The Tare owners recommend newbies to start by taking little steps in reducing buying package-free products. Tare’s inventory contains 95% organic and non-GMO products that locally sourced if possible.
Tare also offers an EBT program to give more accessibility to customers who need financial assistance. After setting up the store, the Tare owners were shocked to see the little amount of waste after stocking a whole store.
Lauren and Jason buy shipped products in large quantities that are stored in a double-layer paper bag to prevent as little waste possible through this process. Tare offers reusable and recyclable packaging including 100% post-consumer recycled paper bags and glass jars for customers to use for the products.
Tare will also be utilizing the scale weighing system for products where customers can weigh their products that will appear on the screen, after weighing customers take a microchip that is activated on a ‘tap’ pad to place around the packaging, and customers simply fill their package to be weighed at checkout. Tare maintains a sanitized store for all customers and want to provide a zero-waste plastic-free alternative to all.
