The first packaging-free organic grocery store is coming to Luxembourg City this summer: OUNI (‘Organic Unpackaged Natural Ingredients’) is a brand new cooperative, officially formed on 6 February 2016, which is launching an environmentally-friendly alternative to conventional grocery stores, where customers can buy a wide range of grocery and household products without wasteful packaging.
“The average Luxembourg resident produces about 653 kg of waste per year,” said Caroline Lam, a founding member of OUNI. “This is what inspired us to create the cooperative, in order to make real change possible.” With product packaging accounting for nearly half of what we throw away, OUNI has the potential to reduce local household waste by 148 tonnes per year.
OUNI will offer organic, local and/or fairtrade food and household products in bulk or in reusable glass jars and bottles. This will allow customers to use their own containers, thus avoiding packaging waste, as well as to buy only the amount they need, reducing food waste and saving money. But it will not only be a place to shop; it will also be a community meeting place with a café and workshops on sustainable living and DIY. Bringing together over 1000 cooperative members and the wider public, OUNI will become a key actor in the promotion of a more environmentally-friendly lifestyle in Luxembourg.
OUNI is one of the socially-focused business projects entered in the current edition of the 1,2,3 GO Social competition, organised by Nyuko, which provides coaching, business plan support and training to promising local social entreprise projects. The OUNI team will present their project to the jury and the public at the upcoming 1,2,3 GO Social closing ceremony on 16 February 2016.
The team - Vanessa, Patricia, Anne, Saskia, Kasia, Rebecca and Caroline - are passionate about living more sustainably!
Are you interested in becoming part of? OUNI is currently looking for new members to join the cooperative to make this project a reality. Come to Rotondes on 25 February 2016 at 19:00 to meet the team, learn more about the concept and sign up to become a member. For more info visit www.ouni.lu.
