Small Business of the Month: Maison jar

    Maison Jar is a refillery and low-waste grocery store located in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. The store is a one-stop-shop for food, home essentials, and personal care items – all without unnecessary packaging. Maison Jar sells their products all by measure. Whether sampling something new, buying for a single meal, or stocking up for the season, customers can pick the quantity of a product as they need. The offering includes produce, fresh bread, dairy and vegan cheese, pastas, coffees, teas, spices, detergents, soaps, shampoos, and much more. Customers at Maison Jar are encouraged to shop with their own containers though the store offers low waste options like recycled brown paper bags and free donated jars.

   The team at Maison Jar works closely with producers to offer carefully selected and responsibly sourced products, placing an emphasis on local and organic options. Maison Jar also places a priority on working with producers that deliver through a closed-loop system. Under this system, a product is received by Maison Jar in a reusable container. After use, the container is sent back to the producer for cleaning and reuse. This results in no waste between Maison Jar and the producer. Maison Jar currently operates with 19 producers under a closed-loop system and is actively working to convert more relationships to closed-loop.

   To further demonstrate its commitment to low-waste, Maison Jar is completing a zero-waste certification with Green Business Certification Inc, called TRUE (Total Resource Use and Efficiency) certification. This certification rates how well the business performs in minimizing its waste and how efficient it is in the use of resources.

   The team at Maison Jar believes that small habits make a big difference. By providing a guiding hand to customers in shopping more consciously for food and everyday products, Maison Jar hopes to inspire people to naturally change other habits and aspects of their lives to be more eco-friendly.  

Find Maison Jar here: