Greenpeace and loop store jointly opened a pop-up packaging-free grocery store at the Simple Life Festival, with a shared vision to promote naked shopping culture. Customers were encouraged to bring their own containers and enjoy self-help shopping at the pop-up store. The two-day Greenpeace event attracted over 2,000 registration. Families acclaimed the advantages of package-free products after their naked shopping experience and decided to pursue naked shopping since then.
In celebration of World Environment Day (June 5) and World Oceans Day (June 8) this year, Greenpeace hosted the Simple Life Festival at D·PARK, Tsuen Wan, Hong Kong on the June 4 to 5 weekend. The Festival featured workshops and stalls highlighting plastic-free green living practices with the deco on the theme of old Hong Kong nostalgia.
Greenpeace x loop store’s pop-up packaging-free shop was the centre-piece of the festival that offered the patrons and public a real-person naked shopping experience. It sold dried fruits, popcorn, tea leaves, candies, among other traditional Hong Kong cakes and snacks, and eco-friendly commodities such as plant fibre tooth floss and reusable food wraps. Unlike the default quantity and price offered at massive commercial shopping, customers could choose the exact quantity of goods they needed at the store, put it in their own container(s), weigh it on the electronic balance, and pay for it on a pro-rata basis like the old days.
Winning Support from Customers: We’re Ready for Naked Shopping
Miss Wong supported naked shopping in action. She told us it was not her first naked shopping experience. To buy the snacks at the Greenpeace x loop store’s pop-up packaging-free shop, she brought her own containers varied in sizes. ‘It’s a piece of cake having my containers ready. I’ve developed a habit of reusing takeaway containers. They are light and convenient to carry.’ We thank everyone like Miss Wong who is well prepared for naked shopping. Together, customers, shops and corporations can go plastic-free in future, including the take-away services.
At the Store, Mr Wong experienced the first-ever naked shopping with his family. He was fond of it at first sight when he walked by. Recapping what was covered in an environmental protection talk he attended with his five-year-old son, Mr Wong remarked, ‘previously, we heard the ocean pollution problem is acute. Today, it’s surprising to learn the tremendous amount of plastic garbage Hong Kong people produces every day.’ Riding on this naked shopping experience, he felt committed to supporting the naked shopping culture with his son. ‘(By doing so,) we can help to save the Earth, and strengthen our kids’ sense of environmental protection.’
Ms Lai and her eight-year-old son were fond of traditional Hong Kong bakeries such as “chick cakes”. It was their first time going naked shopping. ‘Not a challenge at all to bring my own containers. Usually, I’d have my own drinking straw and reusable food bag ready (for shopping and dining).’ Before this visit, she had been longing for a naked shopping experience. ‘Most naked shops are located on Hong Kong island, and they are too distant to me.’ She hoped the naked shopping culture could become popular in Hong Kong and soon naked shops could be readily found in every district in the city.
Lovely seeing kids learn naked shopping
Bear, the loop store owner, found that family customers were their major customer base at the Festival. It was a lovely scene – some parents asked their kids to pay attention to the number of goods they needed so that they could bring the corresponding containers with them next time. It was heart-warming to see the shared goal of naked shopping across generations, and she would expect a further stretch of naked shopping’ in the community. She looked forward to seeing more naked shops and package-free business operation models in future. ‘It’s important to let customers know they have a choice and they can have a try (on naked shopping).’ Thoughtfully, Bear prepared a mini dishwasher on-site, so that utensils like cooking tongs could be cleaned and ready for customers’ use throughout the self-help naked shopping experience at the Festival.
Plastic-free Actions: Calls for Your Support!
More than 10 local handcraft booths were set up at this Simple Life Festival, including sales of scent candles made of soy wax, handmade accessories and eco-friendly products. Booths at the market featured plastic-free and simple wrapping for product sales.
‘Nostalgic Snapshot Checkpoints’ brought visitors back to the old Hong Kong scenes, attracting not only the senior citizens but youngsters to the spots. Display panels gave visitors a brief introduction to the naked shopping culture and the hazardous effects of plastic pollution on our oceans.
Eco-food Wrap Instructor: Educating Two Generations
At the Festival, various eco-workshops took place, engaging both adults and children with eco-handicraft creation experiences. At the eco-food wrap booth, participants were stamping their favourite patterns on the cloth. They swept a layer of coating blended with both beeswax and olive oil on the cloth, leaving it to dry. The instructor of the workshop, Mrs Bao, encouraged participants to replace disposable plastic wrap with the reusable eco-food wrap participants created at the workshop. Through the eco-food wrap-making process, Mrs Bao educated the two generations, ‘next time when a parent wants to use any disposable plastic wrap, his/her kid will remind them of using this piece of (beeswax) cloth instead’.
Participants of the plant pounding workshop made use of recycled materials such as flower petals and leaves, tracing the unique patterns of the plants on the cloths. Instructor, Siu, was chilled to see excited participants exclaim, ‘surprising to see these (recycled) flower petals could have their after-life uses.’ Another workshop introduced participants to how to make a thumb piano with recycled umbrella skeletons and red wine wooden boards. Participants could play music with this handmade thumb piano. Miss Ng, one of the participants, told us it was lots of fun ‘creating something out of recycled materials, something that we can’t buy readily. The experience itself deepens our understanding (about environmental protection).’
As a closing note to the Simple Life Festival, Greenpeace is grateful for engaging participants with the pleasant eco-habits through which they could appreciate the green choices available to them. Along with you, we can choose to continue our support for naked shopping culture and keep going plastic-free in our daily life.
Greenpeace has been promoting plastic-free actions around the world and in Hong Kong. We initiate waste reduction from its source, and advocate governments and corporations to develop plastic-reduction policies for addressing the severe plastic pollution issue. We are also committed to organising citywide plastic-free activities. Please stay tuned to our latest news, and join us to grow and empower our plastic-free community!
