Yesterday I came across an article and it seemed interesting as it was about Waitrose launches packaging-free trial.
Waitrose has unveiled its vision of environmentally conscious shopping, offering customers the chance to buy food and drink that is completely free of packaging as part of a ground-breaking trial for a large retailer.
In a new drive to try to eliminate unnecessary plastic and packaging, shoppers will be able to fill their own containers with a range of products from a series of dispensers, using the first dedicated refill station installed by a major UK supermarket.
In a trial starting this week at a Waitrose supermarket in Oxford, customers are being given refillable options for products including wine and beer, rice and cleaning materials, with prices typically 15% cheaper than the packaged alternatives. source
This is great news as plastic waste has become a real problem worldwide and we have to do something if we want to leave something asap. It will be interesting to see how people are going to react to this initiative. I truly hope it's going to be a success.
It's somehow funny because we have this (kind of) in my country but for the wrong reasons. These containers were set up years ago in most of the hypermarkets, supermarkets and even small grocery stores but not to eliminate plastic packaging but to give customers cheaper products. Basically you get a plastic bag and fill it with whatever you choose, go home and throw the plastic bag away. This is how it works at the moment.
Bringing your own container is a good idea but people need to learn how to use the scale right. First you have to weigh the empty container and then to weigh it full. Unfortunately we are not there yet, some people are very limited in learning new things. I hope one day it will be implemented though.
What do you think about it? Do you have it in your country? If not, do you think it would work?
