I don't know how long this concept will take to really be a successful model of an alternate, greener grocery option, especially for "everyone," but it's a really interesting idea, I think!
The concept is a packaging-free grocery store, and one is actually opening soon in Austin, Texas. According to ecoprenuerist.com, the EPA estimates that a whopping 32% of household trash is solely from food packaging. That's way too much!! If you're like us and try to recycle what you can, you might also be amazed at how quickly those boxes, cans and bottles add up. It seems like we no sooner empty our recycling bins then they're overflowing again. That alone makes me believe the validity of the EPA's estimate.
All of this means that someone had a brilliant moment when they developed the idea of this store: in.gredients. (Fun name, right??) Basically, it means that you bring your own packaging, i.e. reusable containers like boxes, cartons and bags. The (HUGE) positive benefit of this is the incredible lack of waste that you would generate just by going to pick up your weekly groceries. The (unfortunate) downside is that if you're like me, you never truly know what you're going to walk out of the store with...if you don't have enough or the right kind of containers, that could really put a damper on your grocery trip. Plus, you might not be wholly comfortable shlupping around empty containers.
In.gredients is the first packaging-free grocery store in the U.S., but there is something of a precedent for this concept already. Londoners already have Unpackaged, which you can read about at http://beunpackaged.com/. Even more interesting, in.gredients is unique in that it is starting through a business plan that relies on crowd funding, raising start-up costs through public donations and incentives.
Personally, I think that the success of this business model lies solely on Americans' willingness to step outside of their comfort bubbles, their zones of tradition. In.gredients (and any other packaging-free store for that matter) will only work if we accept that we have to change how we do things because of the incredible impact that our actions currently have.
Everything that we think of as normal/traditional now was a never-before-thought-of idea at its inception. Would you be willing to try something "radical" in order to lessen your environmental impact?
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Introducing: Christ Lutheran's Care for Creation team
I know that you've heard of us--Christ Lutheran's Care for Creation team. At long last, I'm breaking the blogging silence and formally introducing ourselves to this medium of communication. The intent is not to preach, but to share what we are learning and talking about.
Truly, this doesn't just concern the members of our group (and everyone is encouraged to join us on the 2nd Thursday of each month at 7 p.m.); the more we get together and participate in a dialogue of Mother Earth, the more we realize how much these matters should concern us all. We are all affected, and we can each decide to live more consciously of the resources that God has blessed us with.
Our group has been going full-throttle for 2 years now, and it was amazing how quickly we learned from each other and found small ways to better use our church building. It may not seem like much, but for every Styrofoam cup that is no longer mindlessly discarded following the coffee break on any given Sunday morning, our Earth is that much healthier. (And for those of you who missed the "official" word about Styrofoam last week, check out this link: http://abcnews.go.com/US/styrofoam-chemical-styrene-added-possible-carcinogens-list/story?id=13815600.) Each seemingly innocent little cup that is absentmindedly used and then pitched in the trash out of habit or negligence takes 500 years to break down in a landfill (don't believe me? http://www.all-recycling-facts.com/recycling-statistics.html).
Consider this verse from Romans 1:19-20 - since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. I'm drawn to this verse in particular tonight because of the wording men are without excuse. God created our world and (allow me to ever so slightly alter the original verse) it is bursting with his invisible qualities, so much so that they are clearly seen. How can we spend our lives with our eyes selfishly, ignorantly, obstinantly, steadfastly shut to His divine creation? I wouldn't accept a handmade sweater from my Great Aunt Ruth knowing the time and care she put into the garment only to wear it out to change the oil in my car, knowing that I would ruin it with spills and stains and knowing that she was watching me ruin it with negligence. God gave us this Earth as a gift to his treasured beings. All arrogance aside, humans don't have singular control of this term; God has many treasured creatures. Let's share it with others (even squirrels).
We have good things happening in this church because we have people who care and are willing to learn. Let's continue to set ourselves apart for all of the right reasons in the greater Kokomo community!
Truly, this doesn't just concern the members of our group (and everyone is encouraged to join us on the 2nd Thursday of each month at 7 p.m.); the more we get together and participate in a dialogue of Mother Earth, the more we realize how much these matters should concern us all. We are all affected, and we can each decide to live more consciously of the resources that God has blessed us with.
Our group has been going full-throttle for 2 years now, and it was amazing how quickly we learned from each other and found small ways to better use our church building. It may not seem like much, but for every Styrofoam cup that is no longer mindlessly discarded following the coffee break on any given Sunday morning, our Earth is that much healthier. (And for those of you who missed the "official" word about Styrofoam last week, check out this link: http://abcnews.go.com/US/styrofoam-chemical-styrene-added-possible-carcinogens-list/story?id=13815600.) Each seemingly innocent little cup that is absentmindedly used and then pitched in the trash out of habit or negligence takes 500 years to break down in a landfill (don't believe me? http://www.all-recycling-facts.com/recycling-statistics.html).
Consider this verse from Romans 1:19-20 - since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. I'm drawn to this verse in particular tonight because of the wording men are without excuse. God created our world and (allow me to ever so slightly alter the original verse) it is bursting with his invisible qualities, so much so that they are clearly seen. How can we spend our lives with our eyes selfishly, ignorantly, obstinantly, steadfastly shut to His divine creation? I wouldn't accept a handmade sweater from my Great Aunt Ruth knowing the time and care she put into the garment only to wear it out to change the oil in my car, knowing that I would ruin it with spills and stains and knowing that she was watching me ruin it with negligence. God gave us this Earth as a gift to his treasured beings. All arrogance aside, humans don't have singular control of this term; God has many treasured creatures. Let's share it with others (even squirrels).
We have good things happening in this church because we have people who care and are willing to learn. Let's continue to set ourselves apart for all of the right reasons in the greater Kokomo community!
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