Many of us have tried to do our part in eliminating plastic bag usage, toting along a varied assortment of trusty reusable bags on shopping trips (or guiltily buying even more from their omnipresent hangout next to the checkout counter). But often every item we toss in those bags is contained within layers of packaging. Taking this into consideration and taking the leap to eliminate most food packaging, Catherine Conway opened the Unpackaged Grocery Shop in London.

The shop is essentially a thoughtful expansion of the small bulk foods sections in regular grocery stores. Most of the store’s product is sold sans-packaging, and the small amount of goods that do have packaging are easily recyclable. Customers are encouraged to bring their own selection of containers to fill as needed, and reusable containers and bags are available for purchase and/or borrowing when needed.

Nuts, grains, beans, rice, herbs, spices, and dried fruit make up many of the dry staples sold at Unpackaged. But wait, there are also refillable oils, vinegars and natural wines too. And of course, in keeping with their vision, all of their goods are certified organic or from sources known to have sustainable practices. All this is presented in an understated and inviting, old market-style setting with black & white check floors, hand-written label cards and generous silver scoopers.

The concept is a great one in many ways. It eliminates all of that pesky landfill excess, and it also saves both the manufacturer and consumer money, with one less step separating the two. But it also allows customers to customize their purchases more, both in how much of what they buy and in what they choose for packaging.

I often don’t finish off jars of spices before they are no longer fresh. With more options like Unpackaged, I can buy 1/4 the amount that usually comes in a jar, keep reusing the same jar for fresh spices, and be much more efficient. This way, I’m also more aware of what I’m using and how much, and can adjust my buying habits accordingly.

And the most fun part…being able to customize the containers you choose for your goods. Prefer to keep your rice in a shoebox? Now you can bring that special shoebox straight to the store, and have your rice ready to go. But maybe you’re not the shoebox type, and prefer to keep your grains, nuts, oils, etc in reusable glass jars (because they are just begging to be re-used, right?).

Designer Jorre van Ast wisely honed in on our natural inclination to refill those jelly, salsa, and sauce jars with new ingredients in his Jar Tops for Royal VKB (http://shop.royalvkb.com/shopexd.asp?id=411&menu=2). The polypropylene lids fit onto generic jars, transforming them into jars-with-a-purpose, as shakers, cruets and pourers. With a couple sets of the jar tops, some old jelly jars and a few reusable bags in hand, you can go from Unpackaged (if you live in London) to home and back again without creating any waste.