[O]ne newly opened café in Nova Scotia has taken the daunting plunge and opened as a zero-waste coffee shop and grocery store. Since opening on October 3, The Tare Shop estimates that it’s saved more than 2,000 coffee cups and plastic bags from ending up in landfills by refusing to offer to-go cups or excessive packaging.
Customers are encouraged to bring in their own mug, purchase a reusable travel cup at the café, or take one of the café’s free mugs from the donated “mug library” to enjoy a beverage at the shop or to go.
“It’s been pretty cool to see people come in, all rushed and frantic, in need of their coffee to go, and when we tell them that we don’t have any disposable mugs sometimes they’ll realize that they have five or 10 minutes and they sit down to have their coffee for here,” said Kate Pepler, the shop’s owner, in an interview with CBC. The Tare Shop also offers groceries and non-perishables without extra packaging or plastic bags for purchase.
