Well, Package Free Shop
literally exists to solve that problem
and today we're gonna get a tour with the founder
and zero waste queen herself, Lauren Singer.
This is a One Small Step Spotlight.
Let's do it.
Lauren Singer has been zero waste since 2012
and gained viral fame
for keeping years of her trash in a mason jar.
In 2017 Lauren saw a need for a store
that catered to low waste living
and Package Free Shop was born.
The company has grown to over 30 people
and just raised 4.5 million dollars in a round of funding.
Package Free carries products that are reusable,
recyclable, and compostable alternatives
to single use products.
I was here when it opened
so I'm excited to see what you've built
and really show our audience the, like the simple switches
that they can make to be more sustainable.
Awesome, let's do it.
So this is the shop.
We opened in 2017 as a pop-up for three months,
had kind of no idea what was gonna happen,
opened day one and luckily
there was like a line out the door
and it made us realize that people really were looking
for a space and a place
that was a community center around sustainability.
It's really hard for a lot of people living in a world
that doesn't align with their values.
So to come to Package Free and see the products that we sell
and talk to the team that works here
about things like sustainability,
zero waste, menstrual cups,
everything, is a really special thing for people.
[Lucy] So I'm curious to know,
when you're picking products
to go into the store, what are the requirements?
So we have a very, very long list of vendor terms.
Everything from, does your product have any packaging
or plastic, to what type of labor do you use
in the production of your products.
We have a really long list and
and really raise and elevate the benchmark for,
not just sustainable products, but for all products,
and hopefully inspire other companies to
It is my core belief that first the burden of waste
should always fall on the manufacturer,
second on the reseller
and then third, and hopefully never, on the individual.
- I would love to just go through some of the products
and how these are alternatives of stuff.
- [Lauren] This is an alternative
to like any plastic food containers.
- Right. - These are amazing.
They're airtight so you can put everything
from soup to things you put into your freezer,
salads for lunch, you can reheat them in a toaster oven
and we all use them in our office.
Also one of the most wasteful types of food
that you can buy, or the most wasteful food that you buy
and the most expensive food
that you can buy is the food you throw away.
So we have a lot of solutions
for how to store food and keep it fresh longer.
Reusable insulated cups and water bottles,
alternative to single use disposable cups,
single use of disposable water bottles,
which are entirely overpriced,
incredibly wasteful petroleum products,
We have alternatives to dental floss.
We have tongue scrapers, period products,
which are really amazing.
This saves thousands of dollars.
This is our straw bar.
We have options that are accessible
for lots of different price points,
as well as different types of applications.
Stainless steel ice trays instead of plastic,
then we have water filters, get rid of plastic bags,
especially when you're grocery shopping,
but you can use them for a million different things
like food storage in your house or for packing.
- They're also just so cute.
They're so cute.
- And you can, like, embroider them
and make them really special.
Cleaning is the place where you can have
so much plastic packaging and waste,
so getting something like a compostable dish brush,
a bar of dish soap.
I'm trying really, really hard not to have anything
that would be something that you wouldn't need
or alternatives to things that you would buy
that are less than ideal from a sustainability lens.
So trying to curate
just like the typical household, but better.
- That's, I actually did not realize that until you said it.
It makes a lot of sense.
Everything you are selling I might get
at CVS or Duane Reade every few months and you're like,
"Next time just come here or order online."
- This is our oral care section.
We have everything from dental floss, toothbrushes,
toothpaste, in different forms as well,
because I think there's two ways
to start reducing your waste.
One it's like what is a direct swap for swap
for a conventional product, so it's not like,
okay I'm gonna, you know, use my regular,
whatever brand toothpaste and then go and use a stick.
It comes in a metal recyclable tube,
but then we also have a tooth powder.
So it's like if you want to try the next phase
of reducing waste using less packaging,
we have different stuff.
So it's not like you have to change the way you consume
or the types of products you consume,
but we're helping you get there in a more,
I guess in a simpler way, in a lower hanging fruit way.
- One small step.
Deodorant, body, I love natural deodorant.
Most of the time I'll use either baking soda
or one of these vegan deodorant sticks
and they're totally compostable.
- [Lucy] Cool.
- I also make my own deodorant as well.
So there's so many different ways.
We really want to provide a full circle,
like 360 view of how you can start reducing your waste.
And you know, right now when we started,
there were around 40 vendors that we were working with.
- [Lucy] Right.
But now the sustainability consumer product landscape
is growing and evolving so much
to now we're having the ability to give people
more choice in the products that they use, you know?
- [Lucy] Right.
- That's why when you walk into CVS
there's like a thousand different types of deodorant,
because everybody's body is different.
- Got it.
- [Lauren] This is our razor section and shaving so we have,
again, way more attractive than your plastic razor.
- It's so pretty.
It reminds me of my grandfather.
It's just like, I never saw my grandfather's razor
but I feel like it would look like this.
Why is stainless steel better
than like the plastic we're getting at the store?
- Well, most stainless steel contains recycled material,
which is amazing.
It doesn't have a petroleum origin story.
And so these are totally recyclable.
Stainless steel is high value
so there's an incredibly large likelihood
that it'll get recycled.
And then instead of buying those super expensive
plastic heads. - That are like $15.
- They're just so expensive, I don't even know.
These are so cheap and it's just blades
and you replace them and again you can recycle them.
They're just made from stainless steel
and then a little teeny cardboard box and some paper.
And then getting into the hair care.
Haircare is super important for me.
We have this that comes in a container
that you can actually send back to the manufacturer
and it will be refilled.
And then if you want to take it a step further,
we have shampoo and conditioner bars
that don't have any packaging at all.
- [Lucy] Love it.
You're cutting out the packaging all together.
- And they smell so good and they work, I think better.
Something that I'm most focused on right now,
we just raised a big fund raising round
and the whole reason for that was
because a lot of people would walk into the store
and not necessarily take the long-term value
of buying a product into consideration,
so they'd be like, "Oh, this water bottle is, you know,
"10 times what buying a plastic water bottle would be."
But if used over time,
you would save exponentially more money.
And so the conversation of accessibility came into play
and I'm a huge believer that like no matter who you are,
where you come from,
products that are safe for our homes
and our bodies and the environment.
And one of the reasons that that's happened is
because sustainable consumer products are so new
and manufactured at such small scales,
so the price per unit is much higher
than something like a Proctor and Gamble
or Unilever product, where they make,
you know, 100,000 a second.
Our goal now is to start to bring products into the market,
manufacture products at economies of scale
that make them price point competitive
with the products that you would be buying
in your typical pharmacy, because my goal, really,
and our goal at Package Free is to
- So are you just now planning all that expansion?
- We're growing. - 2020 baby!
I just love that you guys are thinking about the path,
the entire lifecycle of a product,
which is so different than the way
that we're trying to think.
It's like, I'm going for the cheapest thing,
never thinking about anything again
and so it's really like a new way of doing business
that I think is really exciting and inspiring.
I want our viewers to know,
what would be the one small step
that you would suggest that they take?
- Every person is different.
Every lifestyle where you live is different.
So there's not like one size fits all solution
to reducing your waste.
I always suggest that people look in their garbage can,
see what they're already throwing away
an see if there's one little thing
that they can start finding an alternative for.
Incorporate it into your routine
and then move on to the next thing.
Also looking at the cadence of how you use,
like your bath and beauty and cleaning products.
If you have one that you're about to run out of,
instead of buying a new one,
is there a more sustainable alternative
or can you make it yourself.
So really using the cadence that you're using products
dictate what comes next.
- Lauren, you're always an inspiration to me.
Everyone check out Package Free Shop.
Rose, what's your one small step?