Inanna Tribukait
Deputy Investigations Editor
The Glasgow University Food Co-Op is preparing to open a zero-waste store on campus for students seeking to shop ethically and waste-free.
The shop will be located in the basement of the Macmillan Reading Room and will offer a selection of dry goods such as pasta, pulses, and oats.
Leonie Muehlbauer, president of Food Co-Op, said she hopes to expand the range of goods once the shop is open.
The Food Co-Op has offered a “veg bag” scheme in the past, distributing unpackaged fruits and vegetables from the local enterprise Locavore, a scheme which is likely to be incorporated with the new shop. Shopping at the store will work according to a bring-your-own-container scheme where shoppers fill up reusable containers and pay for the weight of the purchased good.
Muehlbauer said the shop will be entirely student-led and, as a non-profit, will depend entirely on the support of its members.
“The more students volunteer, for example by staffing the shop for an hour per week, the more we can extend our operating hours,” Muehlbauer said.
Currently the Food Co-Op is waiting for the necessary equipment to be installed to open the shop but are hoping to open as quickly as possible.
For students who are interested in waste-free shopping before the non-profit opens, Glasgow already offers some options for low-waste shopping, such as Roots and Fruits in the West End, which sells a wide array of unpackaged fresh produce, the Zero Waste Market in the East End and Locavore in the Southside.
