Unpackaged - Shop without packaging in London

It's great being able to buy organic groceries so easily these days but when I get home and decant my organic rice, pasta and oats into glass jars and then read that their plastic packaging is not recyclable, I descend into a green shame spiral. I momentarily hang onto the bag, grasping for some creative thoughts on how to reuse the plastic packaging but never seem to conjure up any innovative ways to transform a rice packet into a cute new coin purse.

Thankfully, Londoners have Unpackaged, a store that allows you to bring your own containers from home and then purchase loose items of your favourite organic and fair trade products. Unpackaged stock grocery essentials, from staples such as rice, pasta, oils, tea, coffee, dried fruits, seeds and nuts through to eco friendly household cleaners and toiletries.

From cacao nibs to candles, Unpackaged are sure to have what you are looking for. Just bring in your storage jars or containers (whatever they may be) and fill them up with your desired product. Yes, this way of shopping is another step closer to becoming the ultimate eco warrior woman. Okay, so maybe the 'ultimate' eco warrior woman would be living off the land somewhere up in the highlands solely eating from her own organic vegetable patch and crafting Stella McCartney-esque outfits from vintage clothing. But because I live in London  and won't be moving anytime soon, learning how to sew or getting ambitious with a window box in my garden-less flat, shopping at Unpackaged is the next best way for me to gain more greenie points. It's also great to learn that Unpackaged do not sell any air freighted products and try to support local suppliers where possible.

Need some more reasons to shun excess packaging when grocery shopping? Here are some facts from website, Waste Online.

The UK 'produces more than 434 million tonnes of waste every year. This rate of rubbish generation would fill the Albert Hall in London in less than 2 hours'.

'Every year UK households throw away the equivalent of 3 ½ million double-decker buses' (almost 30 million tonnes), a queue of which would stretch from London to Sydney and back'.

'In 2001 UK households produced the equivalent weight of 245 jumbo jets per week in packaging waste.'

Okay, after reading those stats you will probably be wanting the address for Unpackaged. Here it is:

Address
42 Amwell St, London, EC1R 1XT
Open Monday - Saturday. Visit Unpackaged online for more info and opening hour times.

See inside Unpackaged!
For those that won't be visiting London anytime soon (such as the ultimate eco warrior woman living in the highlands) you can take a look inside Unpackaged, courtesy of Reuters.
 
Watch Reuters video about Unpackaged.


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