Over a year and a half ago, my partner Kevin and I began working towards a zero waste lifestyle when we realized we were producing too much trash. In Waterloo Region, the average person produces 675 lbs of waste a year. That’s the weight of approximately 1,800 bananas plus 14,000 disposable coffee cups. Much of our waste consists of food packaging, food waste, and single-use disposables. Plastics are also a huge problem as they cannot truly be recycled, only downcycled into inferior quality products, and are left to contaminate the environment once they can no longer be recycled.
Now, we have been able to drastically reduce the amount of waste we produce by making small changes to our habits. However, trying to source products free of packaging and plastic had us travelling to numerous outlets just to complete our groceries. Wanting a one-stop shop to help us reduce our waste, we founded Zero Waste Bulk, Waterloo’s first zero waste grocery store.
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Introducing Zero Waste Bulk
Our mission at Zero Waste Bulk is to make it easier to live more sustainably by offering package-free goods, sourcing locally & organically, and offering plastic free alternatives whenever we can. Our products will be free of palm oil and primarily plant-based to further reduce our ecological footprint.
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At Zero Waste Bulk, you can expect to find…
- Bulk foods (e.g. nuts, grains, beans, candy)
- Bulk liquids on tap (e.g. cooking oils, vinegars, maple syrup)
- Bulk soaps (e.g. shampoo, cleaners, detergents)
- Freshly baked bread
- Local produce
- Package-free frozen foods
- Sustainable alternatives to everyday items (e.g. safety razors)
- A container return program for milk, yogurt, and ready-to-eat foods packaged in glass containers
We’ll even have bulk toothpaste that you can pump into your own reusable containers!
Our BYOC Program
BYOC = Bring Your Own Container!
At Zero Waste Bulk, customers will be encouraged to bring their own reusable containers to fill up on bulk goods. Forgot your own containers? We’ll have sanitized reusable containers for you to grab and fill available for a deposit and paper bags that you can purchase at a small cost.
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Location & Next Steps
As many of you know, we have been looking for a location for Zero Waste Bulk for quite some time now, and you have been waiting patiently with us as we searched for the right place. We’re excited to share that we have recently secured a location for our storefront at 110 King St S in Uptown Waterloo, but we need some help to cover our startup costs as we get ready to open our doors.
What We Need
While we have secured the funds to cover most of our startup costs, the money raised by this campaign will help us equip, renovate, and stock our store while minimizing our reliance on interest heavy loans. We are aiming to raise at least $15,000 with this crowdfunding campaign. While our hope is to exceed this goal, your contributions will still be put towards required equipment and initial inventory, even if we don’t meet our campaign goal.
Examples of equipment we will need:
- Fridges x 3 (just one produce fridge will cost over $7,000!)
- Freezer
- Bulk product containers
- Shelving
- Product tables
- Electronic scales
- Kitchen equipment (e.g. Vitamix, food processor, prep table)
What You Get
To get you excited and help you with your own zero waste journey, we’ve put together some sweet rewards packages for our backers.
We are offering everything from stainless steel straws to tickets to DIY workshops, but there are a few rewards we want to highlight. These include Earth Points and invitations to Zero Waste Bulk’s pre-launch store party. By registering an account with us (which you can do now to set up paperless receipts in advance), you will be able to collect Earth Points with every purchase. As you accumulate Earth Points, you will be able to spend your Earth Points on items featured in our Rewards Catalogue. Secondly, some of our rewards packages will include two invitations to our pre-launch store party where you can enjoy delicious plant-based foods provided by us and be amongst the first to shop at Zero Waste Bulk!
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For more information on what each rewards package includes, click on the package of interest.
Some packages will have an in-store pickup option. If you choose this option, the shipping costs will be returned to you when you pick up your items in store.
If you simply want to make a contribution without getting something in return, click the “BACK IT” button. This option will allow us to put more of the funds towards the store.
Online Store
In addition to our brick and mortar storefront, we'll be launching an online store where you can purchase sustainable alternatives to everyday items such as safety razors, floss refills, and package-free stainless steel straws. Eventually we want to expand to have have online purchasing of bulk foods in compostable packaging with shipping available across Canada and potentially the states.
Other Ways You Can Help
Spread the word about us and our crowdfunding campaign! Share our campaign link on social media, and tell everyone you know that we're coming to Uptown Waterloo (and tell them to start saving their jars)!
Our Impact
By supporting us, you will help support the many local businesses we will be partnering up with, reduce environmental pollution, and reduce food waste by being able to buy only what you need (even if that means buying only one tablespoon of an ingredient)! We also go further and work with our manufacturers and suppliers to reduce waste up the supply chain, encouraging our partners to switch to more sustainable packaging practises and setting up container reuse systems when we can.
At Zero Waste Bulk, we also want to give back. One initiative we have recently launched is The KW Straw Project. The aim of the project is to reduce the number of single use straws served at local eateries in Kitchener-Waterloo. For every reusable straw purchased at our in-store location when we open, we will put a stainless steel straw towards our reusable straw fund for local eateries to use. We have already kicked off The KW Straw Project by supplying two local cafes (both Settlement Co. locations) with our reusable straws.
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Risks & Challenges
The main challenge we are expecting to face regarding our store launch is when we will be able to open our doors. Our building is currently being renovated from the inside out, but we will be doing our best to open this fall.
THANK YOU
Thank you, thank you, thank you! Whether you are helping to fund us or just cheering us on, we couldn’t do this without your support. We can’t wait to welcome you to our store!
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