![_It's a Hoot Night: The Kinks at Hotel Vegas [Show Preview]](http://austinist.com/assets_c/2012/05/thekinks-thumb-250x250-716040.jpg)
Less Really is More: in.gredients Co-founder Christian Lane Discusses the First Package-free Zero Waste Grocery Store
When sitting down with co-founder of recently announced in.gredients, a concept quickly coming to fruition as the first package-free, waste-not grocery store in Austin and ostensibly the U.S., it’s apparent Christian Lane has done his homework. All researching and late night assignments aside, Christian and his partners (also his brothers), Patrick and Joseph, and “brother in spirit,” Christopher Pepe, possess years of actual project implementation vis-à-vis their work as Praecipio Consulting (http://praecipio.com), an IT, business process, and custom development consulting firm based in Austin.
in.gredients’ founders are well-versed in the ways of Austin and well-seasoned experts in taking concepts from ideation to implementation successfully. The in.gredients storefront and the community components are clearly not a pipe dream; this is a long-term mission in the careful hands of a band of brothers, related or not, who plan to see this through step by careful step. They’re betting that it actually will take a village to alter the deep-seated behaviors of the disposable generation, and their township is forming quickly, with early supporters in a handful of friends, local farmers, resident home builder Nathan Clawson of Clawson Custom Builders, and even nationwide media (ABC News, GOOD, Grist and more).
How did Brothers Lane go from multi-level software and business process consulting to sustainability?
About a year ago we started thinking on efforts surrounding sustainability. But from a purely economic perspective, we’ve helped clients reduce for years -- whether it’s reducing time spent, creating business efficiencies or reducing wastes. in.gredients is a newer venture, centered first around environmental sustainability and issues. Life cycle management has been a sweet spot for us, and similar approaches can be applied to nature and consumption.
This disposable mentality -- we’ve got to dispose of it.
You haven’t reached your funding goal yet. So why publicly announce when you did (June)? To accelerate your funding goal?
To an extent, yes. If we had all the money we needed we would have waited to announce until a month or so before opening. We also want people to have as much upfront input in in.gredients as possible, and that’s partly why we announced our funding when we did.
How close are you to your funding goal now?
A little over $10,000 towards a $15,000 starting goal.
And what does the initial $15,000 cover?
The space will first be for community engagement. in.gredients is a collaborative effort between business, community, and consumers, and while the storefront is central to what we’re building we’re focusing the $15,000 raised on IndieGoGo towards actual engagement such as gardening groups, lessons on water harvesting/capturing and in-the-field demonstrations.
Leading up to the opening there will be plenty of opportunities for volunteers and members of the community to get involved, and we’ll also be training people on how the store actually works.
The selection of $15k is somewhat arbitrary, but it was also based on research of what does get funded and what doesn’t. This seemed a reasonable amount for the community engagement activities we have planned.
Who made the in.gredients video? It’s effective.
Brian Nunnery (marketing at Brothers Lane) produced, prepared the storyboard and script, edited, and provided the voice-over and audio while Patrick (Lane) shot the video and photography. The interview of the farmers was recorded by Patrick and Brian at a nearby farm.
So just how bad is it? Just estimating, how much of our personal waste most likely comes from our grocery store runs?
Let’s say you spend $800 a month on groceries, which is not an unlikely average, about 25% of it is waste from their groceries. Another statistic is: packaging usually makes up around 10 to 20 percent of the cost of the non-produce items you buy.
And another: about 40% of what finds its way into landfills each day is packaging.
Let’s return to the community aspect. Can you tell us a bit more about the part in.gredients will play in the community -- something very dear to Austin residents?
As mentioned, we will have gardening groups, lessons and demonstrations .
Apart from sustainability, we’re trying to encourage walkability and bikeability, which are also very communal traits, with healthy options at the end destination. For example, if there is a convenience store nearby and it’s the only walkable place, people are walking there and getting whatever junk they can cause it’s all there is. People demonstrate that they’re willing to take alternative modes of transportation to get food, and we’re providing a destination with mostly local, fresh and healthy options.
Have you visited any other waste-free grocery stores here or abroad?
No, but I applaud a few that are apparently piloting and beginning to execute them well.
Precycling is a word that in.gredients and other organizations use. I don’t know that everyone is familiar with its definition though. Can you tell me, in your words, what that means?
Precycling is essentially prioritizing reducing and reusing over recycling in an effort to reduce waste - this is done by avoiding items that will generate waste in the first place. The recycling symbol everyone is familiar with has three arrows that represent the three R's: reduce, reuse and recycle. It is important that we recycle when something no longer has utility. Disposing of single use items is an environmentally costly habit.
Do you already have a building selected for the storefront? What part of Austin?
We will announce the location this Friday, July 15.
---
That seems a nice place to conclude our sit-down with in.gredients’ Christian Lane. Check Austinist the week of July 15 for the location announcement of in.gredients! To contribute via the IndieGoGo crowdfunding site, visit: http://www.indiegogo.com/ingredients
