Student helping Londoners reimagine zero waste

Written by Farnaz Kouchaki, Communications Intern

Kara Rijnen, a second-year student of the Social Justice and Peace Studies program, has co-founded Reimagine Co, a zero-waste start-up to encourage Londoners to live without single-use plastic packaging.

After 15 years of working in real estate, Rijnen left the industry in 2018 with aspirations to do more for the planet and its people. She co-started Reimagine Co. with her husband, Heenal Rajani, to provide Londoners with affordable, convenient, and package-free grocery options and help them choose reusable and refillable alternatives to single-use plastic products.

What was once an inspiring idea is today a vibrant social enterprise that saved over 14,000 single-use bottles and avoided 1 million straws in two years in the London area.

Reimagine Co, which started as a community hub for people who were passionate about sustainable ways of living, expanded its outreach to a broader audience in the local community by presenting over 100 free workshops to more than 1,500 participants to teach Londoners how to reduce their waste and live more sustainably.

These workshops included a monthly Zero Waste 101 which taught the basics of reducing waste, a monthly repair cafe where people could bring their broken items, and have volunteers fix them, clothing swaps, book swaps, DIY nights and composting workshops.

The workshops were designed to raise awareness around sustainability and help support the community on the path to reducing their waste.

“This is not just for people who are zero-waste enthusiasts. This is not just for people who are generating a mason jar of garbage a year, not at all. What we want to do is show that living package free is for everyone, this is a simple way of living,” says Rijnen. The workshops were designed to raise awareness around sustainability and help support the community on the path to reducing their waste.

To expand their activities, Reimagine Co. started a crowdfunding campaign to kick start the first zero-waste grocery store in the city of London amid all the challenges facing small businesses with the COVID-19 pandemic. The community, however, embraced the initiative tightly, and not only did they surpass their goal of raising $50,000 within 30 days, they have extended the campaign which has reached over $88,000 by mid- October.

This was a very unique and innovative crowdfunding campaign, as the company is offering store credit for every donation, valid until the end of December 2021.

Starting in 2021, Reimagine Co. is planning to use these funds to roll out a lending library which will have tools, small kitchen appliances, reusable party supplies, camping gear and more. With a yearly membership, members will be able to borrow many items which are typically used only once or twice. They have also planned for a commercial kitchen, allowing them to prepare meals on site and reduce food waste in grocery stores by turning older products into frozen meals. Additionally, they will be opening a zero-waste vegan café where customers can buy food items without packaging. They are also hoping that in 2021 they can get back to the events they were holding before COVID-19 restrictions or hold smaller socially distanced workshops.

The co-founders of Reimagine Co. are very thankful for the support they have received from the community to successfully materialize their vision and are hoping that they can give back to the society through this initiative by donating leftover food to people experiencing homelessness and hunger.

“We are incredibly grateful for the community’s response to our crowdfunding campaign. Thank you to everyone who has donated and helped to spread the word. It’s been a tough time for small businesses, it’s a tough time for everyone, and community is the answer. Thank you to everyone for trusting us with your hard-earned cash and for co-creating this vision with us,” Rijnen says.

To learn more about Reimagine Co and the zero-waste lifestyle, visit their website: https://reimagineco.ca/