Ditch the plastic and grab your reusable bag, jars, and containers. It’s time to start shopping for groceries and other conscious essentials at these zero-waste grocery and lifestyle stores in Singapore.
Step into a grocery store in Singapore and be prepared to confront a sea of single-use plastic packaging and overwhelming volumes of plastic bags. We recently shared this 2018 report that calculates 820 million supermarket plastic bags are used each year in Singapore. And in August 2020, Grace Fu, Minister for Sustainability and the Environment, stated that Singapore is “not in a hurry” to ban plastic bags. The only thing left to do then is take matters into our own hands and start shopping at stores that embrace a zero-waste, #PlasticFree approach. Here are our favourite places to shop with a conscious for groceries and other reusable must-haves.
Groceries
Scoop Wholefoods
This family-run Aussie business is a bulk wholefoods mecca that supports local suppliers and producers. You’ll find everything from flours, spices, herbs, grains, and pulses, to chocolate, dried fruit, cereal, and nut butter. If you’re looking for a niche ingredient, chances are you’ll find it here. You can also pick up other eco-friendly household goods like detergents, shampoo, conditioner, and bath soaks in reusable packaging. Finally, it’s got a brilliant fermentary stocking delicious kombucha, junbucha, water kefir, and tepache.
Shop here | Locations: Tanglin Mall, Great World City, and Paya Lebar Quarter
Unpackt
Claiming the title of Singapore’s first zero-waste store, we’ve got a soft spot for Unpackt. This independent store handpicks all of its items according to its ethos of balancing quality and variety, ensuring everything is sustainably sourced. As well as groceries, you’ll find a range of liquid items at its refill station including shampoo, dishwashing liquid, honey, olive oil and soy sauce. The best part? It’s also a social enterprise that focuses on hiring the elderly and single mothers offering them training and fair employment.
Shop here | Locations: Cross Street Exchange, Jalan Kuras
The Source Bulk Foods
If you’re on the hunt for bulk wholefoods, healthy snacks, and organic treats look no further. Since launching, The Source has prevented 300,000 kgs of packaging waste from entering landfills, saved 50,000,000 plastic bags from production, and donated AUD$75,000 to support Sea Shepherd. It stocks just about every possible wholefood you can imagine, but we’re particular fans of its pre-mixed soups, biscuits, and cookies. Yum.
Shop here | Locations: Great World City, Cluny Court and (coming soon!) Raffles Place.
The Green Girl
Shipping fresh, certified-organic produce from small family-run organic farms in France, Italy, and Spain, The Green Girl’s seasonal selections are a must-try. Order online and your delivery will arrive at your doorstep the day it touches down in Singapore. The company reduces waste by procuring only what has been ordered and packages its goods in recycled paper bags and cartons. Its ethos? No storage, no leftovers, no plastic, just original goodness and preserved nutrients. Sounds good to us.
Wet markets (!)
We’re in Singapore; ditch the supermarkets altogether and head to a wet market. Not only can you fill your fridge with fresh produce sans packaging, but you’ll also spend a fraction of the cost.
Lifestyle
The Social Space
This socially conscious multi-concept store is an absolute gem. Within you’ll find a tea bar and cafe, nail salon, a ‘refillery’, and a fair trade retail space promoting awareness of sustainable conscious living. Whether you’re looking for zero-waste skin care products, sustainable dog shampoo, or cute conscious accessories for your home (beeswax wraps, storage bags, coasters) or outfit (earrings, socks, and sunglasses), chances are you’ll find it in The Social Space.
Shop here | Location: 333 Kreta Ayer Road, Marina One Residences (Garden Tower)
The Green Collective
Much like us here at GITNB headquarters, The Green Collective is on a mission to make sustainability mainstream. Talk about kindred spirits. Which is maybe why you’ll regularly find out team members visiting to stock up on all things reusable; from coffee cups, collapsible lunch boxes, and cutlery sets to bamboo toothbrushes, menstrual cups, and urban composter kits. It also runs an ‘experience’ series hosting regular talks and workshops on sustainable topics like ‘what is holistic wellness?’, ‘the power of the consumer in fashion’, and ‘plastic bags – the carrot or the stick?’.
Shop here | Location: Funan Mall
#LittleGreenSteps
For more resources and inspiration on how to transition to a zero-waste lifestyle, check out our Take Action page.