Package Free Shop sells products without packaging. With a physical shop located in Brooklyn and an online shop that ships worldwide the company enables people to lead a zero-waste life.

Shaving kits, lunch boxes and stainless steel straws. As the name suggests, Package Free Shop sells products free of packaging. Located in Brooklyn, the shop sources products from environmentally sustainable brands that allow consumers to reduce their waste, and ship them worldwide – completely free of packaging, of course. The store has a strict no returns policy, in order to address ‘impulse buy’ culture, and encourage consumers to only buy what they need.

Since their establishment in 2017, the stores have sold a variety of waste free alternatives. For instance, consumers can bring their own reusable containers to purchase chemical free laundry detergent, rather than consuming single-use plastic containers. In addition to using no plastic packaging in store, the company uses solely post-consumer packing materials to ship products to customers. Package Free Shop ships goods in boxes donated from neighbouring stores, recovered from recycling bins, or repurposed from their own warehouses. Therefore, customers might receive a toothbrush in a dental floss box – sealed with a non-reinforced paper tape that is activated by water using a plant based glue.

Package Free was founded by Lauren Singer, made famous by her alias Trash Is For Tossers, who has been living a zero-waste life since 2012. She built the stores with the aim of enabling others to join the zero-waste movement. Singer estimates that the stores have prevented more than four million plastic straws, three million plastic bags and close to 1.5 million non-recyclable bottles and cups from being landfilled.

Plastic containers and packaging account for just over 5% of all municipal solid waste generated in the US, and only 15% of it is recycled. Package Free Shop is helping to tackle packaging waste by making it easier for consumers to access goods that come in reusable or recyclable packaging. In addition, their no-returns policy, aimed at addressing ‘impulse buy’ culture, can cut demand for return logistics services that generate 2.3 million tonnes of landfill in the US annually.