LA’s Vegan Grocery Shop Besties Opens Zero Waste Market Next Door

On July 23, Los Angeles-based vegan grocery store BESTIES is opening the doors of a zero-waste market next door to its grocery store location. BESTIES Zero Waste (BØW) is the first and only store in North America to curate products that are entirely from vegan, cruelty-free, and zero-waste brands. Under its zero-waste policy, the store’s products come in plastic-free packaging, and if there is any packaging at all, it is made from 100-percent recycled materials and/or is 100-percent compostable or biodegradable. BESTIES also advocates for equal rights for all, so every company and brand it works with shares the same ethos: “Black lives matter, women’s rights are human rights, love is love, science is real, and compassion is everything.” Products include No Tox Life dishwashing blocks, Axiology multipurpose balms, and Leaf Shave all-metal razors.

 

 

 

 

 

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@bestiesveganparadise, the all-vegan grocery store in Hollywood, CA is opening a zero-waste marketplace! We got a sneak peek at the space before it opens, and we’re feeling inspired! Here you’ll find only all-vegan brands committed to sustainability and practices and packaging that are zero- or as low-waste as possible, like @notoxlife dish washing block, @axiology_beauty’s multipurpose balms, beautiful all-metal shavers from @leafshave, and more. The time to get sustainable is now!

A post shared by VegNews (@vegnews) on Jul 15, 2020 at 3:47pm PDT

“When we opened BESTIES Vegan Paradise as the world’s first vegan ‘7-Eleven,’ we set out to create a community for people who actively want to participate with us in creating a better world—one that champions Black-, woman-, LGBTQIA-, and people of color-owned vegan businesses, the environment, and all beings right to live a life free from cruelty, oppression, and abuse—every day, everywhere,” BESTIES co-founders Matt Fontana and Asia Phoenix told VegNews. “As we listened to our customers’ requests, questions, and frustrations over the last 18 months, it became apparent that we needed to push a bit harder and go a bit further. BESTIES Zero Waste is the very tip of the spear as far as providing a platform to radical and revolutionary companies and entrepreneurs who are risking everything to make a difference by proving integrity is always possible and refusing to settle at and step in the process of bringing a product to market.” 

BESTIES Vegan Paradise opened in 2019 and offers a variety of grocery products within its 1,500-square-foot space. With the opening of BØW, BESTIES now occupies 3,000 square feet between the two side-by-side locations, which the owners connected for convenience.