OUR MISSION
We are a family owned, community-oriented company in Victoria, BC and Victoria's FIRST Zero Waste grocery store. We aim to reduce the number of single-use products that end up in the landfill, or worse yet, in the ocean. We are promoting ecological awareness by offering customers reliable, sustainably sourced products that will help you reduce your environmental footprint and empower your Zero Waste lifestyle. And now we offer local food completely package-free!
- ABOUT US -
Two Fish In A Pond.
Paula and I (Nairn) are both educated in marine environmental fields. Her a Marine Biologist and I an Aquaculture Technician. Our love for the sea and all its overwhelming beauty prompted us to make changes in our consumerist consumption and waste production. When we learned that by 2050 plastic items in the oceans are estimated to outnumber fish, it was time to make a positive change! Our away from plastics was initiated with trying to find a better way of buying really good quality coffee beans while avoiding all the wasteful packaging. Perhaps we were high on caffeine when we threw the idea of not just living a minimalist/zero waste lifestyle, but starting a business to aid and encourage others to follow suit.
We are passionate about finding better, healthier alternatives to our everyday lifestyle. This developed into a project and labour of love as we started experimenting with homemade soaps, deodorants, toothpaste and face creams. So far so good, we figured. But this Zero Waste lifestyle, despite its very strong and passionate movement, was challenging to navigate in todays' grocery stores and markets. We developed kits with products and resources from Victoria, BC and the surrounding areas to help us succeed. But wanted to share these resources with the rest of the world. We have bought into the movement and we want to start a relationship with all of you! Feel free to jump into this head first, we are here to help.
What's In A Name?
After, over a year of exciting adventures as a company (as The Burlap Shoe), meeting new people and sharing ideas of Zero Waste, we have evolved into Zero Waste Emporium. This new identity reflects the new direction and mission of our company. We are working hard to bring the first Zero Waste grocery store to Vancouver Island. We will ensure the majority of the products we carry here at ZWE are made with bio-friendly materials, and that those materials in the items you purchase can be Reused, Recycled, or Rot (Composted) at the end of each products' life cycle. We didn't come up with it, but we are certainly trying to stick with the philosophy of the Zero Waste 6 Rs - Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Repair, Recycle, and Rot.
