There’s no question that a lot of current carbon emissions come from private car transportation. Cut out the super short shopping trips for ‘some milk and a paper’, and we would dramatically cut the emissions from our suburban and country living. But it’s hard to shift our habits, unless we can make local shopping so convenient that it’s a no-brainer to use. Now a French company has started to fight back. Boxy convenience stores are made out of recycled shipping containers, and use top tech to offer ultra cool shopping convenience.

The stores are fully automated, open 24/7, have no staff and hold around 300 of the most popular products at reasonable prices. The user downloads an app, swipes to gain access and simply grabs their products and leaves. The app handles all the payment, so there’s no nasty cash to tempt villains. You just receive a receipt on your phone and the money is deducted from your account. Oh and it knows what you’ve taken using sensors and cameras.

Clean, simple, easy to use and very handy. What’s not to like? The company currently has around 22 Boxy stores located across France, and they’re clearly aiming for many more. We see this as a perfect solution to country living where the bus services are awful, and distances between shops a problem.