Nika Antalová (source: Archive of Nika Antalová)
The zero-waste shopping trend is growing big in Slovakia. In recent years, several shops for zero-waste lifestyle proponents have opened in Bratislava, as well as in other towns around Slovakia like Piešťany, Trenčín, Banská Bystrica and Košice.
However, not every smaller town has a zero-waste shop. A young French-Slovak family living in Luxembourg decided to start a sustainable alternative to traditional online marketplaces: their own online store with ecological and sustainable alternative to zero-waste shopping.
“E-commerce has witnessed tremendous growth in the past few years, but at the moment there are barely any signs of it expanding in a truly sustainable way,” Nika Antalová, the Slovak member of the Slovak-French family, explains the idea behind Zwoice.
Going zero-waste because of the future
In April 2020 Antalová will mark ten years of living in Luxembourg. Her story is not much different from many of the expat stories in the small western-European country. She moved there for a three-month translation internship at the European Parliament to take a break from a customer service job she had in Prague and didn’t enjoy much. The traineeship was prolonged by another three months, after which she found an exciting job as a business analyst at Apple, met Philippe, the father of her child, and stayed ever since.
They chose a zero-waste lifestyle together after their son was born. They had always considered themselves environmentally conscious minimalists, purchasing only what was necessary, and owning at least four recycling bins to thoroughly split waste and give it a second chance.
