These days, health and wellness movements have become intrinsically linked with eco-friendliness and sustainability. Why? Often, the whole and natural foods consumed by health-conscious folks have a simpler production process, making them less manufactured and usually better for the environment than highly processed foods, like candy or potato chips. But what about the packaging? As more and more businesses make the switch to more recyclable or biodegradable materials, are they really choosing the greenest option? Here are the benefits of buying kombucha on tap.
Buying kombucha on tap reduces your carbon footprint
While we know plastic bags harm the environment, alternative packaging materials, like cardboard or aluminium aren’t necessarily good for the environment either. It’s simple—the more packaging around your product, the worse it is for the environment. Not only do these materials require more time to decompose, the manufacturing process that makes them emits greenhouse gases that pollute the air—not to mention those released through transportation.
A study conducted by the University of Portland on the effects of purchasing select items in bulk found that purchasing bulk coffee would save 240 million pounds of foil packaging waste; bulk almonds would save 72 million pounds; and bulk peanut butter, 7 pounds per family. Kombucha on tap, as Gutsy sells in stores across Quebec, is only one format through which to purchase food and beverage items in bulk and, in turn, eliminate individual, single-use product packaging.
Buying kombucha on tap saves you money
Not only better for the environment, buying kombucha on tap is also better for your wallet. Less packaging reduces the cost to make the product and, as a result, the price consumers end up paying for it. Buying in bulk—as the name implies—also means that you can buy more at once.
Buying kombucha on tap and in-person is more sustainable
Although we could be led to think that buying online is more sustainable—because it eliminates the need to get in the car and drive to the store, all the while releasing carbon emissions—online shopping is indeed more harmful. The step in the retail supply chain analyzed the most for its environmental impact is called the “last-mile delivery”, or the distance between a store and a customer or between an online store’s distribution centre and the customer. A study conducted in the UK revealed that total greenhouse gas emissions were lower for those shopping at physical stores than those buying from fully online retailers.
In order to optimize the benefits for the environment when you go fill up on Gutsy, make sure to prepare ahead of time. Gather reusable bottles or jugs that you can fill yourself at the store. Plan how much kombucha you drink over a certain period of time, so you’re not always running out and making trips back to the store. And support your local bulk food stores by purchasing other essentials, like pasta or nuts, from them—and saving yourself the trouble and gas of making trips to multiple stores.
Although online shopping has grown in popularity, especially over the course of the pandemic, the most economical and eco-friendly way to purchase your favourite food and beverage items, like Gutsy kombucha, is in store and in bulk (or on tap, in our case). Not only can you help yourself to your desired amount of the delicious, fizzy drink, but you can do so knowing that you’re helping the environment and supporting your local businesses. To find out where you can fill up on Gutsy kombucha, check out our points of sale.