Here at The Full Pantry we are committed to reducing the amount of plastic waste that happens in our world today. Below are a number of ways in which we aim to achieve this:

1. Bulk Food Store!!! Being a bulk food store, we select products and suppliers based on how the produce can be delivered to our store. For many off the 700+ products that we have in store, plastic is the best way to keep food fresh and travel well, but we order the stock in amounts that require the least amount of plastic packaging. From there, the produce is sold in food grade containers that are consistently cleaned with chemical free detergent.

2. B.Y.O. containers: We strongly encourage customers to bring their own containers for any type of re-fill, be it honey (of which we have multiple varieties on tap), peanut butter, any-other-nut butters, cleaning products, herbs & spices, and our general in-store products. If you have various-sized containers, we teach you how to use our weighing station so that you can efficiently gather the whole foods of your choice and then calculate the price of your purchase before coming to the counter to pay. It is very easy to do and once you get the hang of it, you will have done your shopping in no time and placing the containers straight into your pantry without emptying individual bags.

3. Paper produce bags: Since our store began nearly 14 years ago, we have only used paper bags for our whole foods to be purchased. It is only for the super sticky or difficult items, such as glace fruit, that we provide plastic bags.

4. No plastic carry-bags: Despite there being the added step to remember bringing your own bags when shopping (which we all forget to do from time to time!), please note that we do not provide plastic shopping bags at all. So please bring your own shopping bags or, alternatively, we can supply a paper carry-bag at the cost of 30 cents or a free box that suits the size of your purchase.

5. BOXES, BOXES, BOXES: We have a continuous turn around of extremely sturdy boxes in a huge variety of shapes and sizes, so if you are in any need of boxes for moving house, building cubby houses, storage, etc, we have plenty for you!!! Spread the word too!!! Re-use is even better than recycle!

6. Products promoting plastic-free living: We are excited to sell products such as Bees-Wax Wraps and Agreena 3 in 1 Wraps. These are great products to promote limiting or even eliminating plastic waste in general kitchen practices. These products also eliminate other wastes such as aluminium foil and baking paper, and makes for a much healthier storing/cooking surface with no exposure to chemicals.

7. Keep Cups! Lastly, our cafe is also implementing these strategies in many ways. We strongly encourage customers to buy a coffee in their own keep cups. In doing so, you will also save yourself 50 cents per coffee. The cafe is ultimately moving towards eliminating takeaway cups all together.

So if you’re keen on reducing or eliminating waste, and love incorporating good recycling/re-using practices, come and visit our store and cafe at The Full Pantry. You won’t be disappointed.