Hi,
I am trying to do some research about what I might call more sustainable shopping. Sure, we have all heard about banning plastic bags and re-usable shopping bags. I'd like to know if anyone's gone a step further, and by this I mean they would have in-store available refills for many products. This could apply to anything: toothpaste, shampoo, liquid soap, milk, juice, laundry detergent, flour, etc., basically any product where a re-usable bottle could be substituted for a one-time use one. What I'm looking for refers to a store where you can bring a standard sized issued bottle or container to the store and then purchase whatever product in liquid form, and take it home in the same bottle that you brought to the store empty. This you could repeat seemingly endlessly, meaning that manufacturers would send their products en-masse to distribution outlets without having to bottle or package them. In a distribution system like this, packaging materials would be substantially reduced or almost eliminated altogether. An example would be milk going to the store in those big milk trucks, unloaded into a tank at the store, where customers or employees would then refill customers' bottles.
Thanks for any help,
-David ([email protected])
Environmentally Friendly Distribution via Re-Usable Bottles/Containers
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I remember several years ago those of us in the NYC waste prevention coalition had thought of this idea, but places like the Body Shop (I think it was that one) said they couldn't do this, even though they wanted to because of liability issues. If someone brings back a bottle that is not perfectly sterile, and the store refills it and the product is not perfect, they could be sued. Are there any lawyers that can help us get around this? There are plenty of places that sell in bulk, but they supply the bag or container, not the customer. Since this is my first post here, I should introduce myself. I've been at the forefront of pushing and researching waste prevention in NYC since about 1990. My websites on this topic with lots of testimony, research, legislation, etc are: www.maggieclarkeenvironmental.com and http://geography.hunter.cuny.edu/~mclarke/WPComm.htm (Why Waste NYC?)
Maggie Clarke, Ph.D.
www.MaggieClarke
Environmental.com
Environmental Scientist, Educator, Photographer
www.MaggieClarke.com
[email protected]
Hi David,
I lived in New Zealand for awhile and they had an amazing chain of stores called Bin Inns that do something very similar to what you are looking for. They offer the bulk service of food for everything from dry goods to jams, peanut butters and honey. They also do a wide range of cleaning products too. Everything is bulked in reusable containers that you can bring in yourself. Check out their website... http://www.bininn.co.nz
Leah
A company in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, CANADA, called Enviroway Detergent Manufacturing, sells all manner of household soaps & detergents in refillable containers that you bring back in once empty for refill.
Mr. Kelly G. Goyer
Waste Prevention Coordinator
University of Saskatchewan -
Facilities Mgmt. Division
110 Maintenance Road
Saskatoon, Sk. S7N 5C5 CANADA
Ph. (306) 966-1282
I'm not actively practicing law at the moment; but my gut reaction is that the outlets in certain states (NY, e.g.) are properly concerned and that the way around it is for customers to waive claims at the time of purchase (one possibility is to program the waiver statement into the ATM machine so that the customer would click a claim waiver at the time of check-out w/ verbal reinforcement by the cashier). Just 10 cents w/o detailed research.
Dear David and Colleagues--
Our local coop is the largest super-market like coop in Upstate New York (GreenStar). They have scores of bulk products from food items (honey, vinegar, soy sauce, all possible dry goods, etc.) to cleaning products. Most patrons bring their own containers (bottles, jars, bags) for the bulk materials although the store provides some containers for those that don't have their own or who left theirs at home. This is a very standard food coop procedure. For example, see: http://www.greenstarcoop.com/ http://www.mwnaturalfoods.coop/advantage/ http://www.cooperativegrocer.coop/articles/index.php?id=369
Have a wonderful day.
Tom
Tom Shelley
118 E. Court St.
Ithaca, NY 14850
607 342-0864
[email protected]
http://www.myspace.com/99319958
Both Patti and Maggie raised very real and interesting issues in their response to David's question about selling products in bulk, like shampoo, soap, etc. Maggie touched upon the The Body Shop. I too was told, after years of using the same shampoo bottle that I would no longer be allowed to get a refill. Interesting to me, is that this change in Body Shop practice seemed to occur in roughly the same period that TBS went from being a private to public company. Going from private to public can dramatically increase bureaucracy in corporate culture. I responded at the time, by asking how many people actually died or were even injured by using contaminated shampoo bottles? And not ironically, at the time TBS suspended refill programs, they began to use more and more controversial ingredients that are conventional to big industry. Cheap, sodium laureth sulphate, is one example. Common sense compels me in the end, to ask what is the bigger risk to our well being? Is it in churning out and disposing tons of plastic packaging, or in the possible, but unlikely risk of infection from non-sterile containers? I'm guessing, but keeping personal containers clean seems more manageable, and more sustainable. My point is that risk management is a powerful trend in both business and public policy. This is important because sustainable behaviour options typically start out small, despite having big consequences in the end. And when a sustainable behaviour looks "small" up front, it is relatively easy for risk managers to kill that option when put beside potential "safety" concerns. The challenge may be in our perceptions. Is concern for safety becoming an impediment to sustainability? Are the two mutually exclusive? Is there a practical middle-ground between protecting public health and safety and "doing the right thing"? How could this actually work in facilitating bulk "refillable" shopping? What's the best approach to get buy-in from risk managers and lawyers? Perhaps some of you can assist me by breaking these questions into ones that are more actionable within our group of practitioners.
Cheers,
Neil
I have refilled items from bulk containers for decades at my local Food Co-op. This is not just dry items like flour and granola, but it includes liquids like vanilla, honey and syrup and non-food items like laundry soap, etc. We even have a peanut grinder so you can bring in your own container for fresh peanut butter. We haven't had any issues that I am aware of.
Thanks & Adios,
CJD ----
Carol J. Dollard, P.E., LEED AP
Utility Engineer
[email protected]
(970) 491-0151
Mailing Address: Facilities Management
Colorado State University
6030 Campus Delivery
Fort Collins, CO 80523-6030
All
I don't know about bulk cleaning agents and the like, but the question is different when it comes to food, particularly "potentially hazardous food". I have attached references to Colorado retail food regulations that pretty specifically and emphatically address bulk foods and bulk single service items. These stem back to the Colorado Revised Statutes and the U.S. Public Health Service Food Code 2005, so changing the way we deal with bulk foods would be a long and tedious uphill battle (what did you say about bureaucracy?) . Nevertheless, it may be opportune to examine the issue. How do we calculate the risks and balance one against another?
T
I can second that Carol,
Ours in the Blue Mountains has been running 27 years and the range of bulk items has and is growing. Seems food co-ops are the usual outlets that operate in this fashion and this is a model quite widespread across the world I suggest. I have heard about it from The Co-operative College in UK and can recommend it as a source of all things co-operative, i.e. what works and what doesn't, where they operate and how, standard set of rules and conditions to base new co-ops on for many and varies reasons. Check www.co-op.ac.uk for more. A terrific and time honoured form of sustainable business, if you ask me. Refillable food and other containers included.
Kind regards,
Paul Payten
GEENI - Global Ecology & Educational Networking Interface
Associate of EcoSTEPS Pty Ltd
- Sustainability Partner -
www.ecosteps.com.au
Our food co-op has a washing machine on site and rewashes all glass containers that people drop off for others to reuse, so at least this is one step that means the co-op can rely on the refillable containers they offer, which amounts to hundreds over a month. Could such outlets have a sterilizer and/or dishwasher and offer this as a service for customers to make certain those containers brought to be refilled there and then can be made 'safe' before refilling? Could be seen as a marketing edge and foster more people refilling, safely. Not only at co-ops either.
David,
I can make a couple of comments. The organic grocery store I go to has been selling in bulk for years and years. You can bring in your bags and bottles, they weigh them, you fill them, and they weigh them again. It works great for dry goods, liquids of any sort (including non food items such as dish soap), peanut butter, etc. They don't seem to have a problem keeping things clean. Most grocery stores around me have at least limited capabilities for bulk buying. The important thing is for demand to be high enough to keep bulk supplies fresh. On the other hand, some years ago the place that cut my hair tried to sell refills of bulk products. The problem they ran into was that people did not clean out their bottles between fills, and so the supplier felt the product quality was being compromised. The supplier refused to continue providing the bulk product to the salon. I could see this being a problem with the more general public, especially with consumables. Quality control would be a big issue, perhaps even a health issue, so you might want to focus on that.
Good luck!
Patti Mason
[email protected]