reFresh Zero Waste Initiative

The image of a zero-waste lifestyle is usually a picture perfect snapshot of an influencer with expensive reusable cotton tote grocery bags, shopping for organic foods at local farmers’ markets. This type of sustainability adds up, and can seem to be a luxury beyond the reach of many of us, who are primarily focused on trying to put food on the table. These days, there are lots of unnecessary barriers to sustainable living, capitalized by marketing and PR initiatives of expensive ‘sustainable’ brands. In the face of the climate crisis, we can’t afford to have these sorts of barriers to sustainable living. Climate change can feel like a far-away issue, something that can be tossed aside when more pressing issues are at hand – but it’s not. In fact, we’re feeling the effects of the climate crisis right in the here and now. This past year, BC experienced scorching heat domes that claimed the lives of 600 people. Wildfires ravaged much of the interior, and five months later, those same areas were completely under water amid unprecedented flooding. Incorporating sustainability and mindful consumer practices into our daily lives is something that everyone can do, and it’s often not as picture perfect not the most photogenic. These are conversations we’re constantly having at reFRESH Marketplace. Here, we give a second chance to produce and other items that have been salvaged from local grocery stores in the Cowichan Valley that would otherwise be sentenced to the dumpster. We do our best to ensure that price is not a major barrier to accessing nutritious food, offering low-cost goods and a coupon program that enables 120 individuals and families to access $25 of free groceries each week. A few months ago we launched the reTHINK Zero Waste initiative, featuring a wide range of affordable pantry staples prepackaged in mason jars. The price includes a $2 jar deposit, but to ensure this isn’t a barrier, customers are also encouraged to bring their own container instead, or use one of our free containers. Through this initiative, we are working to combat the excessive plastic packaging waste by major grocery stores. In Canada, we produce a whopping 3.25 million tonnes of plastic waste each year, with a large chunk of that being attributed to food and beverage packaging. The most unsettling part is that plastic takes up to 500 years to break down, meaning that every piece of plastic that’s ever been created is still here. Of course, this is only one part of the battle. System change is the most important thing. Effective policies need to be created at the government level and major manufacturers and retailers need to implement sustainable practices. Realistically, it’s going to take a lot more than mason jars and reusable totes to tackle climate change and the massive patches of plastic that are polluting our oceans. While the burden of living sustainably is often placed on the individual consumer, the possibility of real systemic change lies in the hands of governments, policymakers, and large corporations. Climate change is frightening, and the thought of tackling it as one individual is daunting. But through this initiative, reFRESH Marketplace is trying to show that we do all have agency in this – individual choices are important and can create ripple effects, and something as simple as opting for packaging-free goods can be an act of resistance in a world in which everything is wrapped in plastic.

as Instagram makes it out to be. Wearing the same pair of perfectly fine jeans (albeit perhaps slightly faded or with small holes) for years instead of buying new ones, or reusing empty yogurt containers instead of purchasing new plastic tupperware, are all ways in which we can reduce our impact, even if

reFresh Cowichan Marketplace 360 Duncan St, Duncan

Dorothy Settles (she/her) reFRESH Marketplace Intern, Cowichan Green Community