Coronavirus Update

These are some crazy times, aren’t they?!

We thought we should let you know that Wasteless Pantry’s three stores (Mundaring, Bassendean and Greenwood) are doing our bit to help manage the Coronavirus and its impact on our community.

You may have already noticed that we have provided hand sanitizer at the entry of our stores for your use and are encouraging those that would like to use this to do so freely throughout your time in the store. If you would prefer not to use the hand sanitizer, you are welcome to ask our team for assistance with hand washing facilities available.

We would also like to remind you about our ‘Shop for You’ service. This is a free service where you drop off your list or containers and we will refill them for you. If you are not feeling well or want to minimise your exposure to public places then this service means you can stick with your waste-free values without compromising your health.

We are lucky to have so many locally sourced goods available, which helps us to be able to maintain adequate stock levels. There will be some products that may take longer to arrive as things progress, however, we will do our best to have everything we can on hand. This has been more tricky lately with stockpiling and some limits (such as for the toilet paper currently) may need to be put in place, however, we will keep you informed.

Store cleanliness and food hygiene have always been a priority for us. We will be ramping things up by disinfecting surfaces and handles throughout the store across the day as well.

It is tricky that the symptoms of Coronavirus overlap with those of just a regular cold and flu which will be popping up more as we come into winter. Our team will be monitoring any risk that they have been infected and will get testing as well as self-isolating where needed. We have quite a bit of flexibility within the team so should be able to manage absences without it impacting on service greatly.

We hope that together we can all get through this in good health!

New Year resolutions – goals or habits?

With every New Year comes the temptation to set some resolutions and, for many years, I diligently made a list of outcomes I was striving to achieve over the next 12 months. However, I would usually find myself at the beginning of the next year dusting off the previous list before writing a new version (can you relate?) with variable degrees of success.

In the past few years, I noticed that I achieved my goals when I managed to establish new habits. When I focus on changing one habit at at time I make changes which in turn deliver the end goal and become embedded in my daily life and therefore last a lifetime. This has been true in terms of health, money, career and relationships!

In respect of waste reduction, it has been tempting to set goals like “I will generate less than 1kg of landfill each month” but this does not always translate to specific actions or help with decision making in the heat of the moment. I have found that habits that make everyday decisions easier to reduce waste have more impact.

What has worked for our family is to change habits which, in turn, have a positive impact the outcome. For example, we have been working on:

Habit	Achievement
Always keeping a set of resusable containers and bags in each car	99%
Keeping a small foldable bag in our handbag (me), workbag (hubby) or backpacks (kids)	95%
Menu planning every week	85%
Using leftovers for lunches and/or having a leftover night	90%
Taking our reusable water bottle (everywhere!)	100%
Composting any food scraps that our dog can’t/won’t eat	95%
Not buying a coffee if we can’t use a ceramic cup or keep cup	100%
Using our sodastream and only buying soft drinks in aluminium cans	95%
Giving experiences as gifts rather than ‘stuff’ or wrapping ‘stuff’ in fabric squares, tea towels or reuseable gift bag	85%
Taking resusable drink cup to the cinema for frozen soft drink (really proud of my kids for this one!)	100%
Buy secondhand items wherever possible	80%
Taking home-made, unpackaged food for school lunches.	75%

The habit we are working on at the moment is to limit our food purchases to products that can be bought:

in our own reusable containers at the bulk store, greengrocer, butcher, bakery and deli counter
in cans or in glass
in paper or cardboard

It IS sometimes cheaper or more convenient to buy something close to hand, wrapped in plastic but that is where changing your habits makes the difference. Instead of calling into the supermarket on the way home from work at the last minute, we now do a menu plan for the week ahead and schedule in time for shopping trips to buy low-waste alternatives. Once we had done this a few times and got into a rhythm with the new habit, the prepackaged items were no longer a temptation! We still struggle to find alternatives to a few everyday items such as milk and yoghurt as well as some treats such as chips/cheezles (I know, right!) but, overall, I am pleased with our progress.

By changing our habits rather than focussing on the outcomes, our family has seen dramatic reductions in what goes into both our landfill and recycling bins and, once a habit becomes ‘normal’, we can avoid slipping back to the old behaviours that used to created waste.

Can you relate? What habits have worked for your household?

Amelia

Plastic Free July: Should You Bother?

Absolutely, YES!

I hear the same thing over and over. “What I do doesn’t make a difference, there are so many people/government bodies/businesses/others that waste more than me, so why bother?”

And then I hear the reply, “Be the change you wish to see in the world”.

It’s not enough to want a better planet if that isn’t going to inspire you to not only think differently but also to ACT differently.

That is why Plastic Free July works. It gets you to do something different. It’s as small or as big a challenge as you think you can manage. Many go into it thinking it will be easy. I love these people. I was one of them. The ones that think it will be easy are usually the ones most profoundly changed by it. We find out that once you are truly aware of the issue on a personal level there is no going back. You come face to face with the reality of just how much plastic waste is embedded in our everyday lives. The blindfold of the daily routine is removed and you get to start seeing the world clearly via the multitude of decisions that we have to remake to succeed at the challenge.

You do it as a community. At this stage, it is a global community with individuals in more than 130 countries participating last year. If you have questions, there will be answers. If you have struggles, there will be support. If you succeed, we will all cheer you on and delight in what you have achieved. It is no small feat.

You’re family or housemates don’t have to be on board for you to join the challenge. This is about the choices you make. Encourage, support and share your experiences; be a role model of the change. You never know who you will inspire!

With the media sharing more and more about the problems in the world around waste and unnecessary plastics, this is an actual solution. It is a guide to get you started on a meaningful journey to solving the problem. When enough people are involved, aware and conscious of just what is going on with our disposable culture and how to address it, the effect will be amazing. But in the meantime, the changes you are making are leading to a real quality of life that is missing with a disposable lifestyle. You can try telling me that you love drinking out of a disposable plastic straw, and I will smile at you whilst I savour sipping from the glass without a straw knowing that tomorrow someone else will be able to enjoy the same experience. Whilst 50 plus years from now someone else will still be trying to figure out why you thought that straw was so instrumental to your happiness.

Alone we still make a difference.

It’s only one day, one week, one month… how hard could it be?

Find out more about the challenge and join us by registering via http://www.plasticfreejuly.org/

If you have done the challenge before, share your experiences with us at Wasteless Pantry!

5 Easy Tips to Motivate Eco-Friendly Change in Others

Living a more sustainable and less wasteful life is a personal journey, but it’s natural to want to share that experience and encourage others to do the same. The truth is, you can’t make someone change their ways, but you can certainly inspire and motivate them to start thinking differently about their habits toward eco-friendly change.

We all bring our unique perspectives, beliefs, and experiences into how we live, and that includes how we approach sustainability. Some people may already be on their eco-journey, while others may be just starting to contemplate change. It’s important to respect where people are in their process, but there are effective ways to encourage them.

5 Easy Tips to Motivate Sustainable Change:

Be a Good Role Model
People are more likely to adopt eco-friendly habits when they see someone else doing it with ease. If you live a low-waste lifestyle and visibly enjoy it, others may become curious. Lead by example, and let your actions speak louder than words.
Keep it Simple
You don’t need to give long explanations about why you’re reducing waste. A quick comment like, “I’m trying to cut back on waste,” is enough to get someone thinking. If they’re genuinely interested, they’ll ask for more information later.
Make Eco-Friendly Choices Easy
Help others by setting up opportunities for them to make sustainable choices. Have reusable shopping bags or containers readily available, or let them try refilling containers at a store. By removing barriers, you’re making the transition feel less daunting.
Focus on One Change at a Time
Too much change at once can be overwhelming. Start with small, manageable habits like switching to reusable water bottles or packing lunches in containers instead of cling wrap. Once that habit becomes second nature, introduce another small change.
Offer Positive Reinforcement
Celebrate any small steps towards reducing waste, even if it’s not perfect. Positive reinforcement encourages continued efforts, while criticism can demotivate someone who is trying. Focus on what’s going well and be supportive in their journey.

The Benefits of a Positive Approach

Inspiring others to reduce waste is about empowering them to make choices that align with their own values. By being a supportive role model, simplifying the process, and celebrating each small win, you can help create a ripple effect of sustainable living in your community.

By shopping at Wasteless Pantry, you’re also helping others make the change by showing how easy it is to shop without creating waste. Our range of bulk, package-free products makes reducing waste simple and accessible for everyone.

Plastic Free July challenge is here!!

I love this time of year! I get to feel great about doing something for the planet and challenge myself to learn new things.

Have you joined the Plastic Free July challenge yet?

It really is very simple. Just pledge to give up disposable plastic bags, water bottles, straws and take away coffee cups. You can do it for a day, a week or the whole month. If your a bit more along the plastic free journey you might consider giving up disposable plastic packaging too.

You probably don’t need to go out and buy anything as most of us have all the tools we need right now. Just say no to straws when you order out, remember to take your reusable shopping and produce bags with you, and keep your BYO coffee cup nearby if you like a take away cuppa.

I’ve been doing Plastic Free July since 2013 and every year I stretch myself to reduce one more thing. My family aren’t as wasteless as me but that doesn’t mean I can’t still give it a go. I can make decisions that are good for me and encourage them to make changes but I never want them to feel pressured into something. Plastic Free July isn’t just about waste, it’s also about enjoying life. I love that because of this challenge I now know how to make my own yoghurt, bread, soft cheese, pasta, granola and a bunch of other things. I love that I have found a community of others who are doing good things for the environment (rather than just talking about how bad things are getting). I love that I can shop quickly and easily, just buy what I need and spend more time enjoying life rather than dealing with stuff. I love all that I have gained by getting rid of the rubbish in my life.

Over the month of July Wasteless Pantry will be giving you lots of suggestions via Instagram and Facebook on simple changes that you can make, but we would love to hear from you. What are your disposable plastic dilemmas? What are your disposable plastic solutions?

To make it just a bit easier and give you a little incentive to try reducing your plastic packaging – how about a 5% discount on any items bought during July where you have refilled your own container! As always you can drop off your containers and we will do your shopping for you if you prefer. It doesn’t get much easier to do the right thing!!

I dream of a day when no one’s green bin is full to the brim on rubbish collection day!

Sustainable Food Business Wins Big at Local Awards

Wasteless Pantry: Saving the world, one pantry at a time

Perth Hills sustainable food business, Wasteless Pantry, won two awards including top honours at the Mundaring Chamber of Commerce Business Excellence Awards on Saturday, capping off an incredibly successful first six months of operation in which the innovative company has challenged conventional thinking around food retailing and consumption.

Winners of the New Business of the Year and Overall Business of the Year awards at the weekend, owners Jeannie Richardson and Amanda Welschbillig were ecstatic saying: “It is a credit to our customers who have supported the big ideas behind the business of promoting zero waste, sustainability and local food choices.”

Wasteless Pantry has tapped into the growing sustainable food movement and seeks to educate its consumers about how to shop smarter and waste less. The store promotes the zero waste ideals of “Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Rot” by providing quality, unpackaged bulk groceries with reuseable containers and other sustainable products.

Frustrated by the lack of alternatives to conventional shopping where the consumer must purchase a prescribed amount of a product in packaging designed to be used once and thrown away, Amanda and Jeannie decided to open their own store in Mundaring, where things are done a bit differently.

Wasteless Pantry is actively involved in the community delivering educational presentations to Councils and schools on food waste, sustainability and transitioning to a less wasteful lifestyle in an increasingly disposable first world culture. The company’s website is full of tips, ideas, stories and inspiration.

The standalone store opened on 1 June 2015 and was designed from the ground up by Amanda and Jeannie. The support and enthusiasm from the local community and further afield has been overwhelming.

The Seeds We Sow – Switch to Zero-Waste

I don’t remember my parents talking about the switch to zero-waste or issues of climate change. But I do remember planting trees with Men of the Trees. Or going camping, always taking home more rubbish than we created, and feeding the chooks our scraps.

I remember eating straight from our garden. Mum bartering lifts to school for vegetables from the Market Gardening family up the road.

I remember the teapot and its cozy at my grandmother’s house. It smelt so good and the pleasure of watching it being poured through a strainer into each cup.

I remember learning about the live chicken behind the roast. And how sultanas are dried out in the field on drying racks.

I remember learning to cook with both my parents at home at a young age and the freshness of homebaked cakes that would go stale if not finished in a couple of days.

Other things I remember…

Mum packing containers of fresh food into the esky for summer picnics and BBQs. As well as having to reuse your cup, plate, and cutlery – not a disposable in sight.

Or having to wear jumpers and extra blankets in winter and picking the sunniest days to do the washing.

I remember Mum mending and sewing and knitting and teaching me when the mood struck me to learn.

I remember helping Dad fix engines and doing odd jobs around the home. Because just throwing things away wasn’t considered the automatic first option.

This is not a nostalgic “things were better in the good old days” reflection. Simply memories of all the little actions that were taken for granted and led me to accept the switch to Zero-Waste Lifestyle I’m aiming for now. Without awareness of the environmental issues or doom and gloom that is often the focus, we were doing good things. Without the sense of need as a child, I still accepted that this was what we do because it brought joy and simplicity to our lives and that was good enough a reason.

Yes, explain the reason if the question “why?” is raised but otherwise just go about your business doing good things.

You never know who will be watching, learning and believing that this is just the way things should be done.

Come into Wasteless Pantry and tell me – what do you remember or what do you want those learning from you to remember?

Wasteless Pantry Store Vision

We’ve been dreaming of this store for so long now and thought you might like to join us…

It starts with the clean and homely style of the signage and store layout.

As you walk through the front doors you will see smiling and enthusiastic staff ready to say hello to you by name and ask about your day. Inside the door you will put your reusable bags and jars on the bench space provided, settle children into the play area and then peruse the goods on offer. You will weigh the containers you’ve brought with you, refill your staples and ask for samples of new product lines.

At the checkout your name will be your loyalty card and you will probably talk about the lastest Facebook post or upcoming event that is of interest to you. Our staff will be clean, wearing their branded apron and always helpful. Today you ask for a gift voucher or a starter pack to give to a friend you think will love coming in too. You noticed that one of your favourite luxury lines is going to be rotated and our staff let you know that we will keep you informed of its return.

You comment that the store is always presented well, our staff are like friends and the quality and pricing of our products makes it enjoyable to shop for the sustainable goods you love having access to locally.

I wish we were open already!!

How about you? Let us know what you think on the Facebook page or comment below.

Sustainable Package Free Food: It all starts somewhere

Have you ever woken up one day and thought to yourself, “Wow, how did I get here? I love it!”
I have.
One day I woke up and sat down to a breakfast of homemade bread using flour from a local mill, yeast I brought package free, topped with WA butter and my own marmalade made from oranges grown just down the road that were offered for free.
And that was just breakfast.

I should explain why that was such a big deal to me…

For years I have wanted to be someone who lives sustainably, healthily and also got to enjoy life. I recycled most of the time, I brought and ate lots of vegetables, we have a rain water tank. But I was forever dreading taking out our overflowing smelly bin. We cooked using packet mixes and jars of sauces, lots of canned foods and frozen vegetables. I had a garden of sorts but didn’t really spend much time there. I drank diet soft drinks and went to the gym but struggled with my weight anyway. We used a lot of disposable stuff and our house was full of things that took up space but rarely got used. I was considering getting more storage. I assumed that the food I was eating was good for me, because that is what the advertising said. I assumed that you had to buy everything in plastic, because that’s all I saw on offer. I assumed that doing what everyone else was doing was the right thing, because if I recycled then that made up for all the other things that I did that weren’t such a good idea. I assumed that living this way would make me happy, otherwise why would everyone be doing it?

And then I saw something.

It was just a little thing really.

My cousin posted on Facebook that her family were going to eat local for a month.

Just a month.

I thought myself, that’s an interesting thing to do. And then I read a little on local eating. And I read a little more on how some of our food is produced. And I read a little more on what it takes to get my processed dinner from imported ingredients all the way to my plate. And I thought to myself, well that doesn’t seem quite right. So I started looking at the food I was eating and slowly started researching what options I had. I made small changes until those small changes seemed to gain their own momentum. I took the challenge for a month, enjoyed my food, got excited about gathering my groceries, and got healthier in the meantime because it is easier and cheaper to make your own from local than to try and find locally processed and packaged food.

Once you get started, it is hard to go back.

I was learning more and more about my food, out of curiosity and excitement at my finds, creations and the skills I was developing. And then I stumbled across Plastic Free July. Wow, that really dealt me a blow! Becoming aware of how disposable our lives have become was a shocker! To be honest, it was daunting and a bit depressing. I learnt things that whilst I don’t want to forget, I sometimes wished I didn’t know. Mainly though I was thinking “How the heck am I going to do anything about this one!” But I took the challenge, I didn’t go for everything, just the big four – disposable cups, water bottles, straws and bags. I remembered my reusable shopping bags, I said ‘No’ to straws, I took my own travel mug and reused my stainless steel water bottle. I watched documentaries, I read blogs and I found ‘Zero Waste Home’. I would encourage every single person to read this blog or book. In the beginning, I’ll admit I thought to myself “Is this chick for real!!” They said ‘No’ to so many things and her house is really, really, really sparse. I mean, seriously people, not even a photo frame. But you start getting to the crux of the story behind it and I could see myself finding a better way of doing things. What if I did stop with the disposables and just had reusables? What if I did stop buying things that I don’t really need? What if I only had one set of dinnerware? Did having more really make my life better?

And so I started living in a way that actually was authentic. Those things that I valued – sustainability, health and enjoyment of life – were now more possible. Less stuff meant easier cleaning, more space and less feeling overwhelmed in my own home. Reusable containers, produce bags and shopping bags meant that I could feel better about my contribution to the next generation, created less waste, saved time and got me supporting local and independent businesses. I get to live hands-on.

Fortunately, I have the support of friends and family who might not live this way themselves but are open to the idea. They try to use less disposables when I’m around, tell me how they cooked something from scratch or get excited about a new local option that would be right up my alley. Whether they want to believe it or not I’ve seen the seed of change in them too, but we all find our own path and pace with these things. Sometimes we get lucky and find someone who gets what we are on about almost completely – and that’s when ideas like opening Wasteless Pantry are born. My dear friend Jeannie read the ‘Zero Waste Home’ book I leant her and was struck by the idea of living waste free too. We tried using the bulk stores available, however local options that met the mark seem to be lacking. So here we are!

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