136 They Opened a Bricks & Mortar Shop... & then COVID hit!

Earlier this year, I had the chance to attend the launch of an incredible foundation called Impact Zero, created by my friend Erin Andrews. At this event, I met 2 incredible individuals named Tanis and Mara who are the founders of an eco-friendly, package-free refillery in midtown Toronto called The Green Jar. More than just a shop though, Tanis and Mara are educators & community members who are on a mission to ensure that zero waste is accessible and less intimidating. Tannis and Mara spent their formative years on a 50 acre horse farm in the 1970’s and would spend their summers with their grandmother in the Swiss Alps, where low waste, package-free shopping was the norm. Tannis and Mara have memories of daily trips into town with their Grandmother to visit the baker, butcher and fromager, allowing one to catch-up with the proprietors and neighbours about the daily events. The sisters wanted to recreate a sense of community and similar feel in their space, but awaited the right time to open their own shop. As young adults, Tannis and Mara were frustrated with the amount of plastic waste they saw in their city. Their efforts to maintain their sustainable lifestyle by buying package-free products in bulk had them travelling all over the city, requiring lots of planning. There had to be a better way! The Green Jar was created in order to support a circular economy by assisting their community in reducing (and one day eliminating) household waste and single-use plastics, as well as embracing an eco-friendly lifestyle. This is an inspiring and informative conversion. We talk about their experience opening a shop just a mere few months before COVID, how they pivoted with the persistence of the global pandemic, some of the most valuable investments they made while planning out their store & who they hired, top items to switch to eco friendly, what sparked the idea to open the shop, how they built a community of customers, the most important things to have in place if you want to open a retail space, and more! This was their first podcast so I hope to do them justice with this episode. The best place to connect with them is on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/thegreenjarshop/ OR visit the shop in Toronto at 1061 St Clair Ave W, Toronto, ON M6E 1A6 Visit their website... thegreenjarshop.com