GO GREEN. Greener Option, a store in Calasiao town, Pangasinan offers a package-free shopping experience. Aside from being eco-friendly, its product prices are also affordable. (Photo courtesy of Greener Option Facebook page)
CALASIAO, Pangasinan – Greener Option, a retail store in this town, is advocating a package-free shopping experience that is both beneficial to the environment and its customers.
The shop offers a wide range of products to choose from such as condiments, laundry and bath soap, shampoo, conditioner, nuts, grains, pasta, among others, at affordable prices. But the catch -- customers should bring their own containers.
Joya Lim, one of the shop's owners, said together with her friends, Dr. Katherine Salayog-Jamon and Tanya Rayos, they started Greener Option last year to provide environment-conscious consumers like them a store where they could shop and not be guilty of too much plastic wastes.
"We usually carry eco-bags and containers in grocery stores but we noticed that instead of being encouraged to do the same, other consumers do not embrace it as it seems they see it as time-consuming," she said in an interview on Wednesday.
So they decided to put up a store that would somehow impact the community to turn to package-free shopping if not zero-waste.
"We were overwhelmed by the response of the people from all over the province. Even though we are not that near their place, they would take time to come to our store," she added.
Lim admitted her influence in going green or eco-friendly was due to her exposure to an open dumpsite in 2016 where she saw the end point of plastic wastes.
"If only people would see where the plastic wastes go. We went there and we saw mountains of garbage. We hope people would segregate their trash but in reality they don't, which makes the job of trash collectors more difficult," she said.
“By doing package-free shopping, we are lessening plastic wastes little by little daily, and someday this will have an impact, she added.
Lim said they also made the price of their products competitive or cheaper than grocery stores since the packaging cost was reduced.
"We are communicating with big brands if they could possibly support our advocacy for package-free retailing but right now, most of our products are generic brands and or homemade," she said.
Lawrence Perez, one of the store’s customers, said products of Greener Option are quality and the prices are affordable.
Greener Option's physical store is located at Barangay Poblacion in Calasiao. It also offers delivery services all over the province through its Facebook account. (PNA)
