My trip to Tesco, Waitrose grocery and Lush stores..yay!!

Gathering information and research my topic, Design for Elegant Frugality, sustainable graphic design

After getting a bit of advice from my instructor I thought I would do a bit of investigating a certain direction in my research. I went to a few shops and begin to ask questions about what they do to recycle in their stores. I kept an open mind and hoped to come up with some direction in my research.

21/10/2008, It was early morning and I walked into the Waitrose store on Marylebone Street near Paddington Park, London UK. There were many men in suites and ties unpacking groceries to stock the shelves for the day (what is with the suit and ties?..). I asked one of the men what the store did with the boxes after stalking the shelves each day. He told me they break them all down and take them to the recycling bin in back of the store to be recycled. I asked if I could take pictures of the process of them breaking down the boxes, etcetera and he told me I had to ask the main headquarters for permission. I left it at that and thanked him for the information.

I then went down the block to the Tesco Grocery Store. I looked around and found an employee stocking the shelves. He was not in a fancy suite, but busy stocking shelves for the day nonetheless. I asked him what the store did with the boxes after stocking the shelves. He told me the boxes were taken back to the company that delivers the food and they are reused. I thanked him for his time and left.

Overall, most stores reused or recycled their boxes.


I then went to Lush Fresh handmade Cosmetics to purchase a few items. Whilst I was there I thought I might do a bit of investigating there as well. Lush makes their products from all natural ingredients. They reduce waste by selling items in chunks, like solid shampoos and perfumes and massage bars with simple wrapped paper, rather than put everything in containers. Lush also uses metal tins that can be reused again and again to put your products in.
The interview with my mom came back into thought. She talked about the butcher paper as well as reusable tins.

When Lush sends their products in the post, they keep packaging to a minimum by using popcorn to cushion the contents rather than plastic Styrofoam. I love that idea!