Meet bulk food store Perth owner Jeannie

Meet the famous Jeannie 🏑

Hi I’m Jeannie, I’ve been working at Wasteless Pantry with Amanda for 7 years, over 8 if you count the time we spent planning & developing the business. Before WP I was a Paramedic, although my three kids grew up with WP & I don’t think they remember me as anything else😆 I’m grateful to work with such an awesome team at the bulk food store Perth, we all laugh & work hard together, which makes the day fly by.

I love playing & coaching hockey, running in the bush & visiting the beach. My beautiful native garden is designed to be a habitat, and I grow some veggies & lots of herbs. I love cooking & eating equally, so I’m spoilt with access to all the yummy ingredients at WP.

Favourite zero waste swap from Wasteless Pantry bulk food store Perth?

My original favourite product at WP is the Onya produce bags – I’ve had mine since before WP. When I shop for fresh produce I use them in place of plastic, once I get home the produce gets dunked in a bucket of water to wash, then sits on the dish rack drying, while still in the bag & the water goes to the garden. They double as a wash bag for delicates as well! A Perth-owned company makes them from recycled plastic, by a Perth-owned company. I also love our cleaners from Envirocare. Made in Perth & safe for grey water systems, they eliminate the need for single-use plastic! Oh & the shampoo & conditioner bars… I have too many favourites! you’ll have to come in so I can show you them all 😁

My top tips for cutting down waste

Identify what part of your household generates the most waste & start there. For most families, it’s the kitchen, laundry & bathroom. Start with one or two items at a time before moving on to the next.

Find an outlet for your food waste & keep it out of your landfill bin – organic waste is a precious resource. I’m lucky to have the space for chickens, but a compost, Bokashi bucket, worm farm or even someone else’s chickens will do, & if you are lucky enough to have a FOGO bin, give your local council a big clap!

Be kind to yourself and celebrate your progress! None of us are perfect, & you are fabulous for making this a priority in life!

Meet the Team: Katie from Mundaring & Bassendean

Meet our newest member of the Mundaring team, Katie🌻

Hi! My name is Katie, I started shopping at the Wasteless Pantry in March 2020 and joined the lovely WP family in December 2021.

I love going for walks and camping in nature. I play the violin and am looking forward to training as a Veterinary Nurse in the future. I was born and raised in London, UK. Living in a big, busy city, I was concerned with the amount of waste I was contributing to but didn’t find much support around waste-free living. When I came to Perth, I heard about the Wasteless Pantry, where the team showed me how easy and possible it is to go waste-free!

My favourite WP product is the bokashi one bucket and bran. It helped make my journey of composting so much easier! I was amazed to find out the majority of my waste at home was compostable! Advice: if you’re wanting to reduce your waste, a little bit goes a long way. E.g. recycling, composting, choosing the plastic-free veg in supermarkets. Even just doing one thing that reduces your waste makes a difference and remember to congratulate yourself every time you make a change!

Our team at Wasteless Pantry are always happy to have a chat and answer any questions or concerns you have 🙂

Meet the Team: Victoria at Bassendean

Heya, I’m Victoria and I started working at the Wasteless Pantry Bassendean in February this year. I love our team here and am incredibly lucky to work for a business that aligns with my personal values – I see individual actions such as reducing waste as another small way we can attempt to deal with the bigger issues of climate change and environmental degradation.⠀
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I’m currently studying Botany at university. When I’m not studying or working, I’m usually going for a walk along the river, playing guitar in my room, playing drums alongside other environmentalists, or looking around OpShops and local libraries.⠀
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My favourite things in our store (other than all our lovely customers!) are probably the nut butter machines. I love showing children the machines for the first time and seeing their faces light up as the nuts seemingly magically become peanut butter, almond butter, or chocolate hazelnut spread.⠀
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My biggest tip for anyone wanting to reduce their own waste, or carbon footprint in general, is to not be too harsh on themselves. It can be a little tricky to get used to doing things differently than you’re used to, but I promise all the little things will add up. Be proud of yourself for wanting to do your part!

Meet the Team: Evie at Bassendean

Hello, I’m Evie and I’ve been working at the Wasteless Pantry in Bassendean for about 1 ½ years. I was very excited to join the team after shopping here for a long time.⠀
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I am very interested in sustainability and spend most of my time in my garden, growing fruit and veggies, flowers, native plants and anything else exciting I can lay my hands on. I have ducks, chickens and quails which are very entertaining to watch and great for eggs. I also have two beehives. I bake sourdough bread, cakes, make preserves, ferments, pickles and cheese. I am also currently studying Environmental Science and Sustainability.⠀
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My favourite product that we sell is reusable baking sheets. I love that I no longer need to use disposable baking paper when I am making my bread and cakes. I find them really easy to use and wash. My favourite food we sell is definitely peanut butter. I absolutely love it with honey on sourdough bread.⠀
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I feel like a lot of waste is produced while storing food, especially left-over food. A great tip I learnt was to cover bowls of food with a plate before placing them in the fridge. There are other alternatives these days such as reusable wraps but I find covering food with bowls or plates to be the simplest and easy to clean. I feel that if we all make small, individual changes, collectively we can greatly reduce plastic waste.

Meet the Team: Lizzy at Bassendean

My name is Lizzy, I started working at Wasteless Pantry Mundaring when it first opened in 2015 and then I decided to come down the hill and manage the Bassendean store when it opened in 2018.⠀
I’m a keen gardener and am working on making my jungle of a garden a bit more useful with lots of fruit trees and vegetables. I have an aquaponics system which provides me with trout each year, and a beehive for honey and wax. I also run the Perth Green Events website, am a keen birdwatcher and am a drummer in a blues band.⠀
My favourite WP product is the Onya mesh produce bags. My produce bags are always in my handbag and I use them every time I go to the shops. If they get dirty they just go in the wash and then straight back into my bag. I bought a pack about 6 years ago and still use them today. My favourite snack is the chocolate honeycomb.⠀
My advice for going waste free is to make the most of your freezer! Pretty much anything can go in the freezer – leftover meals for lunches later on, overripe fruit for pies or smoothies, meat drippings or gravy for when you can’t be bothered making gravy another time, excess raw chopped vegetables for soups or stews, meat bones and vegetable peelings for making stock. Even grated cheese, egg whites, fresh chillies, ginger and dough pizza bases can go straight into the freezer. Just remember to label everything clearly!

Meet the Team: Belinda from Mundaring & Bassendean

Hi, I’m Belinda and I mostly work at the Mundaring store, but you’ll occasionally find me at the Bassendean store. I’ve been here a bit over 3 years now and still loving it – it’s so nice to work for a place with such a good vibe.

I love to cook, and will often take home new or interesting products in the store just to try them out and see what I think. I’m also big on cooking from scratch, stock, bread, tomato paste, I’ll give anything a shot once. I’m also a birdwatcher and come Summer you’ll find me snorkelling at any given opportunity.

I’m a fan of the detergent bar for washing dishes. It lathers so well and smells great, I reckon it does a better cleaning job than the liquid too. My favourite nibble is the apricot logs – they always seem to hit the spot.

I think the biggest key to heading towards zero waste is the mindset – just stopping and thinking where things come from and where they will go to, and knowing that any little thing you do is better than nothing.