You’ve probably heard of BYOB, but what about BYOC? If you’re not familiar with the term, it stands for Bring Your Own Container, meaning you fill your own containers when shopping instead of buying items in throwaway packaging. What better way to reduce waste!

This post was originally published in January, 2020.

If you’re a regular reader, you’ll know that my journey to a more sustainable life started with a simple gift of hand soap from Molloy’s, a local small business that refills soap, cleaning supplies and other items. This was the first place I’d heard of any type of refill or BYOC program.

How BYOC programs work

If you’ve never used your own containers in a store, it’s pretty simple. You don’t need fancy containers or matching mason jars. You can use any clean container you have at home. Just make sure it’s clean.

When you get to the store, they first weigh your empty container and mark the weight. Then, you fill the container with the product you like. When you’re ready to pay, the cashier will first remove, or tare, the weight of the empty container. That way you only pay for the product, and not the weight of the container.

The history of BYOC programs

BYOC is a trend that was slow to gain traction but had finally started to catch on by late 2019. Then the pandemic hit, resulting in a temporary pause on these programs. Since then, most programs have been reinstated.

Bulk Barn is Canada’s largest bulk food chain. My daughter worked there for two years when she was in high school. At that time, the store did not have a reusable container program. When customers would ask about it, they’d always be told all the reasons why it wouldn’t work.

About a year after my daughter started working at Bulk Barn, they announced they were piloting a reusable container program. The pilot was successful and expanded to all of their stores across Canada. Although it was put on hold during the pandemic, it’s back and on Sustainable Sundays, they give a 15% discount to customers who take their own containers. I never go to Bulk Barn without my reusable bags and containers.

Stores that support BYOC

BYOC makes senses in a bulk food store, and for a small business like Molloy’s, but what about larger chains? You might be surprised at the growing number of stores and restaurants that support BYOC. For my local readers, the BYOC Waterloo Region Facebook group is a good resource to find these businesses.

Major supermarkets chains in Canada have made great progress in eliminating plastic bags at their checkouts, but they haven’t gotten on board with BYOC. Even farmers’ markets often sell fruits and vegetables in plastic bags, but at least that lets them keep costs low and reduce waste by reusing their baskets and containers.

Wouldn’t it be great to get to the point where all stores and restaurants allow customers to refill their own containers? The lesson learned from Bulk Barn is, if enough customers ask, companies will respond.

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Supporting BYOC is good for business. I definitely buy a lot more items at Bulk Barn these days because I can bring my own containers. And, buying in bulk means I can buy as much or as little of an item as I need, resulting in less waste. What’s not to love about that?

Are you seeing the BYOC trend in your area too? Tell us about it below.