Because of COVID, shopping sustainably, especially for food, has become increasingly difficult. Many of my local grocery stores have gotten rid of their bulk bin sections out of fear of the virus. While this desire to be extra cautious is perfectly understandable, climate change and pollution aren’t going anywhere, and it’s important that we don’t throw away our commitment to sustainability as we try to get the pandemic under control. It’s become clear that this pandemic isn’t going to disappear any time soon, so we have to find ways to continue to work towards a greener future even with the added challenges COVID presents. Luckily, people are already finding creative ways to do this. I recently visited Tare, a low waste shop in LA that sells everything from dry goods to tea to nut milk to soap. They’re one of the only businesses I’ve encountered that is letting people bring their own containers*, which the employees sanitize thoroughly before filling. If you live in the LA area, I highly recommend gathering your containers and heading over to Tare for some sustainable shopping!
*If you’re still concerned about contamination, or forget to bring containers, they also have paper bags which they can fill for you.
