5 Packaging-Free Shops in Cape Town

It’s no secret that one of the keys to saving the environment is reducing the amount of waste we produce on a daily basis. Luckily Cape Town is on its way to making environmentally-conscious shopping a whole lot easier and more convenient. Until recently packaging-free shopping in the Mother City was a real challenge but thanks to a few trend-setting retail and grocery stores it’s now a reality for many living in Cape Town. Here are 5 packaging-free places in Cape Town where you can do your weekly shop!

1. Nude Foods

This packaging-free grocery store focuses on the buy-in-bulk concept and encourages shoppers to bring their own containers, thereby reducing and reusing packaging instead of creating more. The products on shelve at Nude Foods are also totally non-GMO and the store sources all its products from local suppliers, meaning you can also expect reasonable prices.

Nude Foods is open Tuesday to Friday from 09:00 to 18:00, and Saturday from 09:00 ’til 14:00. For more information visit the Nude Foods website.

2. Spaza Store

Locate at the V&A Watershed, this store stocks sustainable shopping products — think hand knit cotton cloths, shopping bags, and other everyday household storage and packaging items — that help reduce single-use plastic pollution. The products are made by a group of women in Manenberg, meaning Spaza Store also provides job opportunities for locals — bonus!

For more information visit the Spaza Store website.

3. Unpacked Pantry

Located in Heathfield, the Unpacked Pantry, is the southern suburbs’ best kept secret. The packaging-free shop stocks a wide selection of fresh produce and dry pantry staples including local honey. Focused on the 5 R’s to achieve a zero-waste lifestyle — refuse, reduce, reuse, rot and recycle — this store is bound to inspire your plastic-free journey.

For more information visit the Unpacked Pantry website.

4. Shop Zero

Located in trendy Woodstock, Shop Zero is focused on replacing single-use plastic packaging with reusable containers and bags. This store is vegan and vegetarian operated and owned, and stocks fresh produce as well as sustainable hemp tote bags and cork yoga mats. They also have an online store that delivers nationwide!

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For more information and to shop online visit the Shop Zero website.

5. Lush

It’s not just grocery products that are the culprit, beauty products contribute hugely to everyday waste as well! With a wide range of packaging-free, ‘naked’ beauty products, Lush is on a mission to reduce waste across the globe. In fact, the natural beauty brand is so committed it even launched the world’s first ever packaging-free cosmetics store, The Lush Naked Shop, in Milan, Italy! While they’re not completely packaging-free just yet, Lush South Africa stores stock all sorts of packaging-free products like shampoo, face wash, and body lotion bars that will help you live a more environmentally conscious lifestyle while still looking oh-so-pretty.