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This is Nada, Vancouver’s zero waste grocery store

Nada-supermarket-zero-waste

*six-two 35 under 35 changemaker of 2018 – zero waste category

Brianne Miller may be trained as a marine biologist, but she’s now pioneering a whole new no-waste way of grocery shopping. So how did she do it?

It’s estimated that since 1950, roughly 9.1 billion tons of plastic have been produced – with about half of that not being recycled. After 10 years of working in the field as a marine biologist, Brianne Miller was all too familiar with these numbers.

Having witnessed first-hand the environmental impact of excessive packaging, Brianne’s eyes were opened to just how much the packaging, consumption and transportation of food is contributing to our global conservation crisis, pollution and climate change. She knew that something had to be done – and that ‘thing’ was disrupting the grocery store system. 

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From their sourcing with an emphasis on local and organic foods, to their emphasis on giving back to the Vancouver community, to their revolutionary package-free store, Nada Grocery serves as a model for a new kind of grocery: one where consumers build a better world, not a worse one, with every purchase.

Nada works with the local community to provide people with high quality and responsibly sourced package-free foods as an alternative option to normal grocery shopping. Their aim is to make waste-free shopping as accessible and as simple as possible for people who want to live a waste-free lifestyle but aren’t sure how to quite go about it. Even their surplus food goes to people in need, ensuring every aspect of the business is sustainable and gives back as much as possible.

Given these credentials, it’s little wonder why Brianne Miller is taking her place on our 35 under 35 list, nominated by our zero waste judge Celia Ristow.

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Brianne and her team, who are all-female under 30’s, have made serious waves when it comes to showing the world that sustainable living doesn’t have to be a massive faff. Their passion shines through in everything that they do – from their pop-ups, to their ethos. Based in Vancouver? Time to dust off the jars…

To learn more about the six-two 35 under 35 initiative, and to see the individuals who made the list, head here.