Hello, Gabriel here. This week we heard Brianne’s presentation in-class and are doing research on locations in Vancouver to prepare for our case proposals next week.

Doing some information searching on Google, I found out about this zero waste market in Denver which has a relatively similar concept to the one in Vancouver. You can learn more about them in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqq9d7MGt98

There are a few differences between them and Brianne’s Zero Waste Market such as the idea of a fresh juice and smoothie bar, which I think is a pretty neat idea as I can see people being interested in having their own custom smoothies made with fresh, local ingredients on the spot.

There’s also another zero waste market in Germany, called Original Unverpackt, German for Original Unpackaged. Here’s the link to an article about them: http://www.theplaidzebra.com/zero-waste-grocery-store-no-packaging-plastic-big-name-brands/

And here are some pictures of their store:

Aesthetically, I love the look of the overall store; it’s very clean and crisp and is a place that I wouldn’t mind browsing around and buying some produce. The store looks much more exciting than some of the grocery stores we have here in Vancouver as places like Kin’s Farm don’t really entice me to enter them and buy fruits.

What I like about these zero waste markets is that the owners of all of these businesses really show their passion. To them, it’s not so much about making money, but making a positive impact on the environment and sharing their love of zero waste with others by educating people in events such as workshops.

Hopefully, the Zero Waste Market can have similar success to the ones in Denver and Germany, and I can envision it being really popular in Vancouver and fitting in with the overall culture and current trend for buying and eating fresh, local, and organic ingredients. I will definitely consider popping by for a visit when it opens up, and am ecstatic to try out some of these delicious dried mangoes that I keep hearing about on the Zero Waste Vancouver Facebook page.