From Phiya Kushi’s Blog: Musings on life and macrobiotics

Below are a list of ideas that have come to me and have remained undeveloped until now. They will be removed when it is discovered that either someone has already done it or it deserves to be in the dustbin and forgotten.

1. Supermarkets With No Packaging
Here, I envision a grocery store where everything (and I mean absolutely EVERYTHING) is sold in bulk and where you bring your own containers, or you can buy recyclable ones on the premises. There would be no presence of any packaging anywhere; no brand names, no colorful designs, and no sensational words to entice you. Each food section would have their own wait staff who would take your containers and fill them up with the desired amount of product and then give you a ticket which you would then take up to the cashier. What this idea does is eliminate the excessive expense of creating, marketing and distributing all those packages that one sees the moment one enters a supermarket which is wasteful (look at what’s in your kitchen garbage) and can be deceptive. Food marketing should be based on integrity and transparency and not flash, “bling”, and other gimmicks, that are intended to mask or hide what’s really behind or in the products. (Where advertising expense could go is in future food product “descriptions” which would be online.) If successful, this idea could also eliminate the heavy environmental burden involved in repackaging and transporting goods in “throw-away” packaging (which never really go away, anyways). It also prevents customer spillage and potential fraud at bulk areas as well adds a new desirable level of customer service. If we are to truly go environmental friendly then supermarkets will have to go this way.

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