The recent worldwide movement to reduce waste has prompted a new business in Vernon.

, a locally-owned Okanagan business, has been delivering organic, Okanagan food to communities throughout B.C. for over three years. The founder, owner and CEO of Farm Bound, Jaye Siegmueller, decided that the next step for the company would be launching a zero waste store.

Zero Waste is a philosophy that encourages the redesign of resource life cycles so that all products are reused. The goal is for no trash to end up in landfills, incinerators or the ocean. Its an approach that aims for a massive change in the way materials flow through society, ideally resulting in no waste.

鈥淭he zero waste movement started in Europe a few years ago and it鈥檚 just spread like wildfire. There鈥檚 a lot of awareness around plastic usage like the no-straw movement, which is a really great start, but we can do so much more. At Farm Bound, we鈥檙e really committed to local food and environmental sustainability so I wanted to take that one step further to invite the consumer to look at our habits,鈥� Siegmueller said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just a small simple thing but if we can just get used to bringing jars and containers and bringing reasonable produce bags, we can eliminate so much waste and, inherently, we鈥檒l just eat a lot healthier.鈥�

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Set to launch last September, she said they initially decided to open the first Zero Waste store in 91大黄鸭 but the project was halted after a pipe burst just nine days before the official opening.

So, in the meantime, she said they have decided to test out the model in Vernon.

鈥淲e were really lucky to get containers from a business in Armstrong that was getting rid of their bulk section so now we鈥檙e going to open up a Zero Waste store here in our warehouse for our Thursday sale and start looking for a more permanent location in Vernon that can be open seven days a week.鈥�

Vernon鈥檚 Farm Bound warehouse sale takes place Thursdays from 12 p.m.- 7 p.m. and Saturdays from 10a.m. - 3 p.m. at 1935 11th Avenue.

鈥淲hat we do for the warehouse sales is sell off our overstock from our deliveries at a discount and now, at the same time, we鈥檒l also be selling the zero waste stuff.鈥�

She said that they are hoping to have access to the 91大黄鸭 store by the end of the month, while also actively looking for a permanent store location in Vernon.

鈥淗onestly, we just want to get started,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e kind of lost steam a little bit with all the flooding and I just want to get it going. So we鈥檙e going to start by opening here and I think that鈥檚 a great way to test out the market, see what people like and what they want to buy.鈥�

With a focus on locally-sourced, fresh food, she said that she鈥檚 excited to have gained some traction with local suppliers.

鈥淭hey鈥檙e really on board with it. They don鈥檛 like the packaging either because it鈥檚 an expense for their business and they really see that there鈥檚 an opportunity to do better. It鈥檚 good for the consumer too because there鈥檚 also going to be cost savings of 10-20 per cent because they鈥檙e not going to have to package food products,鈥� Siegmueller said.

鈥淭he zero waste movement is just the next evolution. So our purpose is to connect everybody with the local, organic farmers and then now, let鈥檚 look at our waste and take it one step further so everything is a progression. I don鈥檛 know what will be next after zero waste.鈥�

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