Think Outside the Box: Package Free Shop Aims To Make Zero Waste Living Easy

published Apr 30, 2017
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(Image credit: Vixon John)

Lauren Singer has a pretty famous jar. The jar itself is nothing special—just a regular pint-sized glass one—but if you’re an average American, what’s in it is mindblowing. The jar holds all of Singer’s trash from the past four years—yes, every last bit of it.

Singer began living a zero waste life nearly half a decade ago, and started the blog Trash is for Tossers to help others do so as well. Now, she’s teamed up with another waste free rockstar, fashion designer Daniel Silverstein (AKA Zero Waste Daniel) to start Package Free, a first of its kind store that offers sustainable products sans packaging, and also functions as a space to educate people on how to make less trash.

The shop—which the pair worked with interior designer Laura Baross and architect Tomas Janka to create—will stock reusable and more sustainable alternatives to most landfill-bound products you can think of, including reusable tote bags, compostable toothbrushes, refillable dental floss, bulk natural beauty products, and even skateboards made from ocean plastic. On the shelves, you’ll also spot laundry powder from The Simply Co., Singer’s sustainable cleaning product company.

“What Daniel and I have realized through trying to live a zero-waste lifestyle is that the lifestyle itself is really easy. But finding all of the tools you need requires effort, time, and a bunch of different websites,” Singer told Mindbodygreen. “We wanted to create a one-stop shop for sustainable living to make it as convenient as possible.”

To that end, the pair are also big on education: Throughout the space, there are iPads with info about where every product comes from, how it’s made, and how it can be incorporated into your routine. During its tenure, the shop will also host classes on how to make stuff that often comes wrapped in unnecessary packaging, like pasta and soap.

Package Free pop-up shop opens tomorrow, May 1 in Williamsburg and will run until July. If the pop up proves successful, a permanent storefront could follow. For those not in Brooklyn, the store will have an online shop.

Package Free is located at 137 Grand Street, Brooklyn, NY.