Bare Market is Toronto’s one-stop shop for package-free goods, including body care products, home decor items, DIY ingredients and food in bulk. Customers bring in their own clean reusable containers for purchase and are charged per weight of the products purchased.
Dayna Stein, our founder, holds a Bachelor of Science in Sustainable Food Systems and Master of Science in Strategic Leadership towards Sustainability. Her mission is to make transitioning to zero waste living accessible and cost effective.
The Vision
Since 2018, Bare Market has made sustainable and ethical living accessible, with products for body care, home products, DIY ingredients and food all coming under one virtual roof. Their mission is to enable all people to live a low waste lifestyle while supporting local and environmentally responsible suppliers; to reach this goal they offer refillable options for everyday products and grocery store staples as well as offer low waste lifestyle items that consumers can purchase directly.
At 1480 Danforth Ave in Toronto’s east end lies an innovative package-free one-stop shop that welcomes customers to bring in their own containers to fill with everything from shampoo and conditioner, dish soap and laundry detergent - as well as offering container lending for a nominal deposit fee - while providing an atmosphere conducive to engaging conversations about environmental and social concerns.
Dayna Stein believes it is crucial for Bare Market to create dialogue and increase awareness on key global issues, including environmental degradation as well as worker rights violations and ensure farmers take proper care in managing their land.
Bare Market’s team remains motivated by this greater mission. Working with suppliers who share similar ideals, and taking time to get acquainted with vendors ensures that products offered for sale at Bare Market are ethical, environmentally friendly and safe for their consumers.
For instance, when selecting cosmetics for their company’s inventory, they prioritize those made of natural and organic ingredients and free of animal testing. Furthermore, packaging used must meet their “bare test,” meaning it shouldn’t end up in landfills or have negative environmental ramifications.
Prior to opening their permanent location in early 2020, an organization held several pop-up stores around the city. These trials allowed the organization to gauge community interest in what products were being offered and assess pricing models that best suit them. Following these trials, they are now prepared to open their retail store permanently.
Inside Bare Market
Bare Market is Toronto’s first one-stop shop to offer body, home and DIY products as well as grocery items without packaging. Customers bring in their own reusable containers for refilling, with only weight charges applied - for instance a bottle of shampoo can cost roughly 50% less when purchased individually than its equivalent in prepackaged form.
Dayna Stein, founder of Bare Market, sees sustainability as providing people with small behavioral changes they can implement into everyday lives to become leaders within their own communities. She strives to educate individuals and create convenient ways to facilitate such practices.
Before opening Bare Market permanently in Toronto’s east end, she ran it as a series of pop-up events to test out different products, locations and price points; ultimately the success of these events helped secure permanent space within the city.
Stein has expanded her offerings beyond her pop-ups with the assistance of her dedicated team, offering bulk body items, DIY ingredients, cleaners and organic produce at competitive prices. For customers without their own reusable containers to borrow for free; there’s also an extensive bare lending program where customers can rent any clean, dry and chip-free container against a small refundable deposit fee.
The Bare Market team works closely with their suppliers. At first it was difficult to find companies willing to sell bulk quantities of their goods, but the team persevered and built relationships with various businesses instead. Now they receive emails from these same firms notifying them they have started offering these products in bulk quantities.
An important component of business is creating dialogue about larger environmental and social issues, like plastic pollution. From these conversations can emerge deeper issues like farmer treatment and the sustainability of food supply chains.
Zero-Waste Delivery
Some retailers who incorporate sustainability into their business model aim for zero-waste delivery as part of their sustainability initiative. Consumers will receive products directly from them rather than being delivered from an outside source in cardboard boxes.
Home delivery processes with eco-conscious consumers in mind require extra steps, but the additional step will pay dividends in terms of reduced environmental impacts. A recent survey demonstrated this as 47% of online shoppers ditched brands when they didn’t align with their values.
Local businesses have begun offering zero-waste delivery services to meet the rising demands of environmentally conscious customers. One such local membership-based service, The Rounds, provides zero waste commerce in the form of household staples like toilet paper and toothpaste as well as locally sourced produce and pastries that are stored at neighborhood fulfillment centers and distributed using electric bikes or vans at regularly scheduled times in tote bags with recyclable containers (when possible) at each home delivery. When members finish purchasing products they’ve ordered from The Rounds staff will collect empty containers and bring new refills until it all makes for zero waste commerce!
Eco Existence, a package-free store offering eco-friendly beauty and DIY raw ingredient products, as well as educational events on living a zero waste lifestyle, hosts regular events to educate on living zero-waste lifestyle, sells essential oils and bulk soap, as well as bamboo toothbrushes and non-plastic cleaning equipment - among many other products - at extremely reasonable prices.
Zero-waste grocery stores have begun popping up across Canada. Unboxed Market in Toronto offers one such package-free shop that serves bulk goods and sustainable local products; in addition, they provide seasonal subscription boxes for those looking to live plastic-free lifestyles.
These initiatives are helping to move home delivery away from big box stores towards locally sourced, environmentally friendly options. It is imperative that consumers are educated about the environmental effects of their home delivery choices in order to make an informed decision and find a provider who supports their values and priorities.
Sustainable Sourcing
Dayna Stein had a vision to make refillable body and home care, DIY ingredients, low-waste food products and lifestyle solutions more financially accessible to everyday consumers. She wanted to also create a community space where people could come together and discuss sustainable living, learn how to reduce their own waste and make positive change in their surroundings.
Since opening its doors in Toronto in 2018, Bare Market has become Toronto’s one-stop-shop for package-free beauty and grocery products, selling refillable shampoo bottles, hair gel, beard oil, dish soap and laundry detergent along with bulk local and organic produce, dry goods gourmet treats and prepared foods.
The team collaborates closely with its suppliers to ensure each product they carry has minimal environmental impact and follows ethical, transparent processes of production. For instance, staff frequently visit local farmers markets and Etsy sellers to purchase from producers who take similar approaches in reducing their own ecological footprints.
Bare Market strives to do more than encourage waste reduction among its consumers; they hope to raise awareness of larger issues behind plastic pollution such as fair treatment of migrant workers and overall sustainability of agricultural operations.
To reach this goal, they host workshops and events where people can come together and discuss ways of making small behavioral changes to reduce waste. Furthermore, there’s also a community board where customers can post tips or ideas they might like to see at the store.
Future Plans at Bare Market. Since their online presence allows them to have an increased impact, Bare Market’s primary goals for the future involve building out their online presence so as to have an even larger effect. They plan on creating a system which takes in used containers from customers, cleans and sanitizes them before refilling with new product so they can be reused again. Furthermore, Bare Market will establish a framework using Natural Step Framework’s Strategic Sustainability Measurement Tool with indicators to track impact over time.
In Conclusion
Bare Market is a pioneer in the field of sustainable delivery services. They offer a one-stop-shop for package-free goods and strive to make zero-waste living accessible and cost-effective. By providing refillable options for everyday products and grocery store staples, they are reducing waste one delivery at a time. Their sustainable sourcing practices ensure that the products offered for sale are ethical, environmentally friendly, and safe for consumers. Bare Market’s commitment to creating dialogue and increasing awareness on key global issues, including environmental degradation and worker rights violations, makes them a leader in the field of sustainable living.
Looking ahead, Bare Market plans to build out their online presence and to establish a framework using the Natural Step Framework’s Strategic Sustainability Measurement Tool to track their impact over time. By taking these steps, they hope to have an even larger effect on reducing waste and promoting sustainable living. Bare Market’s vision and mission are inspiring and provide a blueprint for others to follow in the effort to reduce waste and promote sustainability. Their innovative model of zero-waste delivery and sustainable sourcing can serve as a model for other businesses looking to reduce their environmental impact and promote social responsibility.