Excerpt from Retaildive.com – It wasn’t too hard to make the Package Free store in Brooklyn, New York, an environmentally friendly space. Lauren Singer, Package Free’s CEO, opened the store in 2017, which sells various health, beauty and lifestyle products aimed at reducing waste.
To shape the store with the environment in mind, she worked with a friend to find the materials needed, including woodwork from sustainable wood, milk paint and energy-efficient light bulbs with fixtures from a vintage lighting store.
The store tests vendor’s products before selling them to shoppers and seeks out products that replace single-use items and don’t have plastic packaging. The store has partnered with recycling firm TerraCycle to introduce recycling bins into the store where shoppers can recycle electronics, personal care, oral care and other waste, per the company’s website. While up-and-coming retailers like Package Free can be nimble in their sustainability efforts, research from U.S. Green Building Council suggests larger retailers are creating environmentally-responsible brick-and-mortar stores, too.
