Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - December 13, 2020, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE A8 A 8 SUNDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2020 ? WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COMARTS ? LIFE ALL YOU NEED AND LESS Zero-waste lifestyle gives birth to a new breed of retailers J USTIN and Anna Marino's journey to a zero-waste lifestyle began over pork sausages in Germany. Anna, who had been looking into the health benefits of a vegan diet, told her husband that when they returned home from vacation, meat would be officially off the menu. But eschewing animal products was just the beginning. Soon after, their attention turned to trash. "It was kind of like a slow-moving coup on my part," said Anna, 32, a former seller on the website Etsy, who started researching the meat industry and the zero-waste move- ment. Even though they were only a family of four - the couple have two children, ages 6 and 3 - they knew they needed to change their lives. Paper towels and single-use napkins were the first to go. Then went the plastic. "We were generating about one or two tall kitchen trash bags full of garbage per week," said Justin. "We would take it out to the curb and, you know, out of sight, out of mind, right? You don't think about it. But then when you start thinking about it, that's when things start changing." But as they traded traditional prod- ucts for more eco-friendly items, they quickly realized that their reliance on online shopping was another problem. "It almost defeats the purpose," said Justin, 43, who previously worked in cybersecurity. "I'm ordering some- thing to save the planet, but in order for it to get here, it's creating a pretty nasty carbon footprint... And so, we were like, well, there needs to be a store around here." Enter Mason & Greens, the Wash- ington, D.C., region's first zero-waste store. The couple flung open the shop's French doors in Old Town Alexandria, Va., in March, just as the coronavirus was exploding across the country. The airy shop is equal parts or- ganic grocer and minimalist boutique, selling items such as package-free shampoo bars, organic produce and drip-irrigated olive oil. Hanging plants and shelves lined with stainless steel containers and books titled All You Need Is Less offer shoppers a glimpse into the world of low-waste living. ? ? ? Although the zero-waste movement, which looks to minimize garbage through reducing consumption, reus- ing materials and recycling residual waste, has been around for decades, it's finding new prominence as concern about the environmental impact of trash - particularly plastic pollution - continues to grow. "You know it's a movement when you don't know everything that's going on," said Gary Liss, vice-president of Zero Waste USA, a non-profit organi- zation dedicated to reducing waste, who described the growing interest in low-waste living as a sea change in the relationship between people and things. Americans throw away about five pounds of trash per person per day, ac- cording to the Environmental Protec- tion Agency - 12 per cent of which is plastics. Although plastics have greatly en- hanced daily life - extending the shelf life of food and improving medical care - they've grown ubiquitous, used to make products such as clothes as well as cars. Some plastics are recyclable, but scientists estimate that up to 91 per cent of plastic is never recycled, leav- ing the rest to burn in incinerators, clog landfills or degrade in the oceans. Scientists have even found microplas- tics in air, water and food. "If we fail to act, by 2050, there will be more plastics in our oceans than fish," said Sander Defruyt, who leads the New Plastics Economy initiative at the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, referencing a 2016 report. The coronavirus pandemic has only increased reliance on disposable plas- tics. Billions of masks and gloves made from plastics and used by health-care workers, first responders and essential workers are being discarded every month, studies show. Some retailers have been requiring customers to use plastic bags instead of reusable bags and have replaced bulk offerings with individually pack- aged goods. Multiple states rolled back bans on plastic bags to cope with heightened concerns around hygiene - all while greasy takeout containers, single-use shopping bags and pack- aging materials overflow trash bins across the country. The plastics industry maintains that plastics in respirator valves, personal protective equipment, vaccine syringes and food packaging have been critical during the pandemic. "Society has a plastic waste prob- lem, not a plastic problem," Joshua Baca, vice-president of plastics for the American Chemistry Council, said in a statement. Mason & Greens, which is based in part on the bulk model, makes a point of avoiding plastics at nearly every turn. Beans and grains come in gravity dispensers. Produce is package-free. Pomberry Kombucha and pinot noir stream from a tap. The spices are self- serve. Customers aren't required to bring their own bags or refillable containers, but the couple said many customers do. The shop employs a tare system that logs the weight of an empty container and then calculates the price of prod- ucts by the ounce. ? ? ? Pricing products this way reduces waste by allowing customers to pur- chase only what they need and in reus- able containers, the couple said. The couple welcomes newcomers into their waste-free world, but Anna routinely castigates vendors for their packaging practices - she is not above shaming suppliers who send items wrapped in plastic. "Everybody gets an email," she said. "I have to go through so much to get a product into the store that's zero-waste or low-waste." But living a waste-free life might soon become easier. As consumers demand more sustainable options, brands large and small are shifting to make sustainability central to their strategy. Major companies such as Unilever have pledged to halve the use of virgin plastics in packaging by 2025. Walmart, Target, CVS and other retailers are working to develop an environmentally friendly alternative to the plastic bag. And other companies are starting circular delivery services - an updated version of the 1950s milkman - where groceries and goods are packaged in reusable containers that are returned empty. M AX Cameron's California-based zero-waste shop, Wild Minimalist, grew exponentially in April and May as customers stockpiled eco-friendly cleaning products and reusable food storage containers. Business was brisk because the pandemic accelerated the e-commerce model, upon which Wild Minimalist depends, although Cameron also has a brick-and-mortar store in San Rafael. Millennials, who now wield hefty purchasing power, are acutely aware of the climate crisis - and that combina- tion has made them Wild Minimalist customers, Cameron said. "The change that we expected to see take place over a period of five years has happened in a period of three months," he said of the pandemic's effect on his business. "We're basically riding that wave right now." Although Cameron acknowledges that shipping products all over the na- tion has environmental costs, he said the shop uses only recyclable or com- postable packaging and tries to reuse shipping materials whenever possible. ? ? ? For customers who previously had to hopscotch among farmers markets, grocery stores and retailers to reduce their waste, Mason & Greens offers one-stop shopping. "For me, living our values frees my mind," said Daniela Ochoa Gonz�lez, 39, a D.C. resident and founder of an environmental consulting firm who is teaching her school-age children to live zero-waste lifestyles. Gonz�lez said the shop's bulk shop- ping model encourages her kids to touch, smell and explore. "It's like a little school lab," she said. "They can actually see what a grain looks like, quinoa looks like, what flour looks like." While bloggers Bea Johnson, the au- thor of Zero Waste Home, and Lauren Singer, who famously fit all the waste she produced over four years into a 16-ounce Mason jar, have attracted devotees, adhering to a trash-free life- style can feel impossible. "Basically, it's unreasonable," Cam- eron said. "It's not true, first of all. There's always upstream waste." The movement can also feel inac- cessible to those without disposable income. Gonz�lez acknowledges that zero-waste shopping can cost more, but she sees it as an investment in her children's future. Although the Marinos say a Ziploc bag or plastic toothbrush may always be cheaper than their stainless-steel or bamboo alternatives, they view the benefits of reusable products as far outweighing the cost - and in the long run, they say, reusable products may even be less expensive because customers won't have to replace items as frequently. - Washington Post JESSICA WOLFROM MATT MCCLAIN / WASHINGTON POST Mason & Greens owners Justin and Anna Marino at their store in Alexandria, Va. ANDREW MEDICHINI / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILES Single-use plastics are piling up to the point that some experts contend that without action, by 2050, there will be more plastic in the oceans than fish. A_08_Dec-13-20_FP_01.indd A8 2020-12-12 5:13 PM ;