STOCK THE FRIDGE MINDFULLY

LE BOCAL LOCAL

GENEVA’S FIRST ZERO WASTE GROCERY STORE

by Kelly Marcisz

Want to shop more mindfully and reduce your eco-footprint? We test Geneva’s very first zero-waste grocery store where you can buy non-packed, healthy and local staples, including mind-blowing home-made chocolate spread!

Le Bocal Local is an inspiring non-profit organisation co-founded two years ago by Annie Benjamin and Deborah Rouault. The partners, both passionate about encouraging eco-responsible citizenship, proudly opened their zero-waste grocery story and workshop space in Saint Gervais on 20th April 2018. They hope to encourage others to follow in their eco-friendly footsteps.

THE CONCEPT

The concept behind Le Bocal Local (the Local Jar in English) is to promote eco-friendly habits and a healthier lifestyle whilst helping to look after the environment. The store offers a variety of food and household items with the benefit of little to zero waste. For a small store they really do cater for most of your grocery needs. Some of their products include:

Dry Groceries: pasta, nuts, cereal, cookies, grains, tea, herbs, salt, sugar, flour
Drinks: wine and beer
Fresh products: yoghurt, butter, cheese, pesto, olive oil and vinegar
Condiments, sauces and spices
Honey, jams and spreads
Eco-friendly cleaning agents
They even have dog and cat food!

ALL of their products can be bought using your own containers from home or they conveniently sell a variety of glass bottles and jars, as well as disposable plastic bottles or cotton bags to keep and reuse.

This way of shopping reduces food waste as you only buy what you need, whilst also eliminating the packaging, which is harmful to you as well as the environment.

MINDFUL EXPERIENCE

Shopping at Le Bocal Local allows customers to have a more ‘mindful’ experience when it comes to stocking their fridge. The store allows you to be more conscious of where your food or products come from as each product is labelled with the name of the producer and how far it has travelled to arrive on their shelves. There is a real emphasis on having only local products from Geneva and the surrounding areas,so the eco-footprint is reduced, while also being able to support local businesses.

THE VERDICT

I enjoyed being able to pour my own wine and stock up on as much home-made (mind-blowing) chocolate spread I wanted! The store hopes to start hosting workshops on zero-waste and eco-responsible citizenship from September this year. Their website also provides a lot of information on their association and the grocery store. It’s definitely a store worth visiting, as these days it has become very hard to ignore the environmental crisis we find ourselves in and it’s important to find ways in which we can all contribute to making our planet better. This does feel like a huge task, so often it’s easiest to start small. If you visit Le Bocal Local you’ll find very easy and effective ways of making important choices for your own health as well as for the health of our city.