Katerina Bogatireva grew up in Latvia when it was still a republic of the Soviet Union. She remembers that sometimes the shelves in her neighborhood’s stores were empty. She also remembers taking her own jars to these markets to have them filled with sour cream.

She remembers a time and place when plastic bags were rare and prized. Growing up, she couldn’t help but learn the value of not wasting food, and the importance of making the most of every resource we have.

Fast forward to 2018, when our oceans contain more plastic than plankton, and to Bushwick, where Katerina’s long-held values are coming to life in the form of Precycle: a new, zero-waste way to shop for groceries in the neighborhood. The store is the first of its kind in the northeast US, and it’s on a mission to help you save our species (and all others) by reducing your food and packaging waste to virtually nil.