Local Harvest Grocery has long been a fixture in St. Louis' Tower Grove South neighborhood. The small-scale grocery store has the appeal of a farmers market with a heavy emphasis on reducing waste while supporting local businesses.
"Our goal here is to source as much as we can from within 150 miles of St. Louis," said Becca Widzer, co-manager of Local Harvest Grocery.
The store has a sizable produce section largely free of unnecessary packaging. That theme is carried throughout the store from personal hygiene products and cleaning supplies to its coveted bulk section.
It's in the bulk section that customers can purchase as much or as little as they need including pantry staples such as rice, legumes, spices, cooking oils, seeds and nuts. Typically, customers bring in their own containers to fill up on items or grab one of the many free and donated containers on the shelf.
"We get a lot of people bringing in whole grocery bags full of their empty containers," Widzer said. "It's a nice diversion from recycling or the landfill. Last week someone said they brought in a year's worth of their takeout containers."
At Local Harvest Grocery, each donated container is sanitized, weighed and stacked on a shelf. Widzer wants more St. Louisans to take advantage of the store's container reuse program in light of the city pulling the plug on its alley recycling program in August. Although the self-proclaimed environmentalist was disappointed by the news, she knew its end was imminent during the coronavirus pandemic.
"I remember seeing in my own alley that trucks were coming through and emptying all of the dumpsters all together: the recycling, yard waste, and trash," she said.
Ultimately, Widzer took her recyclables to a designated drop-off location in the city.
Shoppers make changes
At an August press conference, Chief Operating Officer Ben Jonsson cited ongoing staffing shortages, high costs, and contaminated recycling for ending the city's program.
"It was a coin flip whether or not when you put that egg carton or milk jug or whatever it was into your blue container that it actually ended up as renewed material," Jonsson said. "I think we can agree nobody is happy with that."
St. Louisans are still able to take their recyclables to drop-off locations throughout the city.
Widzer turned her frustration into a lengthy Facebook post highlighting Local Harvest Grocery and other businesses that offer convenient ways to recycle and reduce waste.
"I was just kind of like what can we do to really get everybody on board with the alternatives since that's not going to be a resource for us any longer," Widzer said.
Longtime customers including Rachael Kolumbus have already taken proactive steps to ditch excessive waste. The St. Louis resident started collecting her own stash of glass jars to bring with her to the Tower Grove South store when she shops.
"To know that I can bring those here and save money by buying in bulk and also do my part in recycling something is great," Kolumbus said.
Whether St. Louisans choose Local Harvest Grocery or another store, Widzer said there are simple environmentally friendly changes people can make, including swapping out plastic grocery bags for reusable bags, as well as buying unpackaged products.
"We all have a choice in how we're affecting the world and any positive impact we can make is the choice that we should be considering," Widzer said.
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