Galina Ivanova
Anna Zemlyanukhina
Daria Petrova
Ekaterina Gaydash
Anastasiya Kupriyanova
National Research University Higher School of Economics
Ekaterina Ivanova
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The main innovation of Zero Waste Shop is a complete ban on plastic packaging. Instead, the store uses reusable bags made from natural cloth. The store sells a wide variety of products that serve as alternatives to unsustainable disposable goods.
The store promotes responsible consumption. Customers can buy as much cereals, spices or household chemicals as they need at the moment. This approach makes shopping reduces the amount of expired product that ends up in landfills. The purpose of this innovation is to reduce damage to environment caused by each and every person.
Zero Waste Shop shows people that life without harmful plastic packaging and wrapping can be simple and convenient. According to statistics, a family of four people throws away around 150 kg of various plastic items per year. There are more than a thousand landfills and about 15 thousand sanctioned dumps in Russia. Moreover, there are about 17 thousand illegal dumps, according to MIR24. These are terrifying numbers!
The main innovation of the store is to eliminate packaging and replace it with more environmentally friendly alternatives, such as reusable cotton bags, and glass and metal bottles for household chemicals, drinks and personal hygiene products, baby diapers shoe covers, face sponges, etc.
Larisa Petrakova told us: "Instead of thinking about waste utilization we should stop producing it!...” This idea inspired Larisa Petrakova to create a store aimed at reducing the volume of plastic and other waste. Her Zero Waste Shop became the first package-free store in Moscow. That simple idea, don't produce garbage, was only recently implemented in Moscow. Unfortunately, it is not very popular yet. There are only 6 such stores in Russia at the moment, located in Petrozavodsk, Tyumen, Biysk, St. Petersburg, Perm and now in Moscow.
Larisa never thought about creating her own business… until she did. The idea of opening a store like Zero Waste came from a desire to make life easier and base it on the principles of zero waste.
The much discussed ongoing global garbage crisis, became Larisa's starting point for reflection. "I was very impressed and I began to think, what is the problem, why is it so?” she says. “I started to look for the separate waste collection facilities within my family and realized how difficult it is.”
Larisa began living according to zero waste principles, which she, but it was difficult. The greatest challenge was the unavailability of some goods. "I didn't have enough different bags, pipe cleaners, brushes, reusable pads... It was difficult to find them offline. Such things could be ordered only on Internet, but it is very expensive…” she said.
That is how Larisa come up with idea to sell all the goods necessary to make zero waste living accessible in one store. Larisa observed, "for this all to go to the masses, it should be convenient for people.” When she planned to open the store, she was inspired primarily by the experience of her European colleagues, but she was also interested in the learning from the experience of her compatriots. So, from the idea to minimize the impact on the environment, Larisa came to the open a unique store.
In the short-term, Larisa’s innovation has created a store that makes zero waste goods available, which supports the cultural idea of zero waste. Making these goods easily available has a positive impact on the perceptions and habits of the people. Now one does not need to spend a lot of time searching for them, as one can just come to Zero Waste and buy everything in one place. This goal has already been achieved!
Larisa said, "We have a lot of customers, especially people who live nearby. They come every week. Or people who live far away, they come every two or three weeks ... buy in stocks. Also, thanks to the spread of such stores we would be able to achieve a more strategic goal – to reduce the volume of plastic waste [in society].”
Rather than earning money, what was at the heart of Larisa’s mission was making goods that conform to the principles of zero waste more available. This goal has been realized, as the store has already has its regular customers. This is the first store of its kind in Moscow, so Larisa’s inspiring idea has let her capitalize on a hitherto untapped market.
The investment to establish the store was about 23,000 US dollars (1,500,000 Russian roubles). The major costs are wages paid to the employees. Now the store staff consists of three persons, including two sales specialists who work in shifts and the owner. Larisa’s future plan for the development is to expand the range of of goods offered at Zero Waste Shop and to open a new store, closer to the center of Moscow. Also she plans to create her own online store in the future.
Previously, the principle of zero waste was unknown to many people in Russia. Thanks to the opening of Zero Waste Shop, the topic of garbage and reducing its amount became popular in social media and internet magazines. “When I open the store, people began to write about this topic, talk, many began to learn about what zero waste is, and that you can live like this ... a lot of publications have been written,” says Larisa.
At the same time as we were interviewing Larisa, she had been visited by TV journalists and a another journalist from an internet magazine. This, as Larisa puts it, is Zero Waste Shop’s main contribution to society – now zero waste is not just words; it is a social phenomenon. Larisa and other founders of stores of this format, contributes to the popularisation of the LOHAS (Lifestyle of Health and Sustainability) movement, which is gaining popularity in Russia. Now Larisa keeps in touch with her colleagues. They have formed their own community, which changes the perception of familiar things in the best direction.
We must also note that the impact of the concept of Zero Waste Shop radically changes your life. The sales specialist at told us her story: Previously, she worked as an accountant at a large company. When she saw the vacancy at the Zero Waste Shop, she realized that this idea is very close to her and she wanted to change her life. So, she left her job as an office worker to work in the store without regret. This is a vivid example of how one bright idea can change not only the habits of an individual, but also radically change lives and realize a longstanding dream to contribute to sustainable development.
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Zero Waste Shop is the first of its kind in Moscow. The shop refuses to use environmentally unfriendly packaging and sells only organic and multiple-use products. In the store, one can buy anything from cereals and spices to organic household chemicals and hygiene products. All items are sold package-free to help mitigate the global waste crisis.
