This zero-waste grocery store has no packaging, plastic or big-name brands
Forget Whole Foods. The Germans have created a store with eco-conscious customers in mind. Well, at least in Berlin—the newest home of Original Unverpackt (Original Unpackaged). You won’t find any paper or plastic bags here—or any kind of bags for that matter. This new grocery store creates zero waste by allowing customers to purchase exactly how much they need, reducing waste in their homes.
Original Unverpackt doesn’t carry any products under popular brand names; instead, they carry mostly organic products. Original Unverpackt stocks their shelves using a bulk bin system with an assortment of fruits, vegetables and grains. Even shampoo and milk are dispensed from refillable containers according to Salon.
The Original Unverpackt is the first Zero Waste Grocery store in the World.
The idea came to be when founders Sara Wolf and Milena Glimbovski were determined to create “something impossible.” They used crowd funding to back the store and decided to challenge the traditional shopping experience. The store’s mission is to stop contributing to waste that’s caused by food packaging by selling groceries in a sustainable manner (16 million tonnes per year in Germany alone).
Three studies conducted in 2013 found that 12 million tonnes of food waste is accumulated annually amounting to a price tag of £19 billion a year. This figure isn’t only swelling landfills, but also contributes to 20 million tonnes of the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions annually.
Sara Wolf and Milena Glimbovski are the creators of Original Unverpackt
The same study states that 75% of this waste could have been easily sidestepped with more efficient infrastructure.
In terms of pricing, some of the products offered at Original Unverpackt are more expensive, mainly because they’re organic. But other items are comparable, if not cheaper than standard supermarkets. The “fill-your-own-container” idea can save customers money by preventing them from overspending on food. Customers can bring their own containers, such as tubs and recycled bags—which are also sold at the store—and pay based on the weight of the products.
Although many believe that the sustainable supermarket model is unlikely to reach North America anytime soon, awareness and demand for low-waste alternatives will undoubtedly speed up the process.
BY:
Khadjia Khan for the Plaid Zebra
The experience of awakening and the process of evolving and ascending to our true divine selves can be a painful and exhausting experience, especially for those of us who consider ourselves empathic and/or highly sensitive. People who tell you otherwise are either very lucky, or perhaps have not gone through the often brutal, yet necessary changes that can occur. For us, and those like us, realizing the truth about the world is not an easy task.
Empaths, and those who share our traits, are highly sensitive and finely tuned mixing boards. We feel absolutely everything that comes near us, almost absorbing emotion like radio waves. We tend to be very good listeners and because of our giving nature, can become “the one” that those in our lives turn to for guidance and support. We not only take on the experiences of those close to us, we tend to take on the experiences of the collective as well. Like so many traits, this can be both a gift and a curse.
Many who are going through spiritual awakenings right now have spent much of their lives feeling different from others. We go through the motions of life and participate in rituals that are deemed “normal” by society, but deep down we feel that we are not like everyone else. We navigate our lives feeling a deep sense that there is something wrong with the world, that there are so many questions that need to be answered in order for all of this to make sense to us, and we search.. for as long as it takes to find those answers.
Many of us begin our spiritual path by researching, reading everything we can get our hands on, writing, painting, making music, participating in yoga and meditation and other forms of expression and connection. We realize that our minds have been trained to behave erratically since we were old enough to develop an ego. This relationship of ego death and rebuilding is tested time and time again throughout our awakening. This death and rebirth process can lead to feelings of loneliness, depression, lack of purpose and isolation. Often everything that had once brought us joy, now offers us nothing in return. People who we used to share our company with either disappear or they no longer connect with us on a soul level. We may even leave our jobs in pursuit of ways to offer our services to the world, even if it means we don’t have regular income anymore.
We are faced with the harsh reality that in order to become happy, we must face ourselves again and again, continually letting go of the thoughts, emotions, people and circumstances that no longer serve us. We are broken down to the foundation and have to rebuild from the ground up, over and over until our souls are impenetrable. This cycle of shedding and re-growing feels raw and painful and can be both emotionally and physically exhausting.
Sometimes we want to give up, but deep down we know that we chose this path. That we are meant to feel the depths of darkness for all of humanity. That the burden we feel, the physical pain in our shoulders and emotional pain in our spirit from carrying the weight of the world, will lead the way to a new world, a new truth.
So we endure.
We become hermits, healers, seekers, artists, heros and heroines, depending on the day. We survive because we know we were chosen to be strong for the sake of humanity. We are special and know that all our hard work and struggle will contribute to collective awakening in due time.
We are all divine, immortal, infinite, and eternal. We all deserve to follow our heart’s longing, to find everlasting love, and to serve our life mission in peace. Our ancestral past makes this process long and challenging. But as challenging as it may be, the path is always worth it. No matter where we are individually, we must all come together and collectively seek the truth that is greater than us. The door to God/The Universe is always open and we must walk through that door time and time again until we fill up the room with light and love. The light at the end of the tunnel is awaiting your return and only you can walk through and bask in its glory.
If this is your idea of refreshing, you’re not alone! But there are lots of reasons why this isn’t the best thing for your body. What happens when we drink cold water is that it causes blood vessels in the stomach to shrink as it passes through our system slowing digesting and making it harder to digest. According to Ayurvedic medicine, drinking very warm water, especially first thing in the morning, provides a huge benefit to our digestion, reduces metabolic waste which can help heal our bodies by boosting our immune system as well as benefiting digestion by tightening our intestines, aiding in elimination. Even if warm water is an affront to your taste buds, here are more reasons from Medical Daily on why it can make a huge difference in your life: Read more!
If you’re like me, you have come to an uncomfortable realization, on more than one occasion: life is stressful.
It is stressful. And it is hectic. Sure, you have times throughout your life where everything feels like it is going well. You have energy, you have tons of creativity, you have periods of high productivity. But you also have cycles of irritability, of moodiness. Low energy. Depression. Read more!