Grocery shopping. Love it or hate, unless you are self-sufficient, we all have to do it. I know very few people who are self-sufficient and produce all their own food – well actually, I know no one who is self-sufficient producing all their own food – so for most of us that means heading to the grocery store and coming home with heavy bags and light wallets AND A LOT OF PLASTIC.
You may have heard “buying in bulk” being tossed around the blogosphere as a way to cut down our plastic consumption. Buying in bulk, what does that mean? For some it means going to big-box discount stores where you have to be a member to shop and buying a giant tub of mayonnaise that takes three years to consume. Or, while at the same store picking up a case of individually wrapped boxes of mac ‘n cheese all bundled together. Sure they’re individually packaged, but it’s a case so that’s still buying in bulk, right? Now granted, the first scenario is saving plastic, since you are buying one container rather than a bunch of smaller ones, that is assuming you can actually consume that much mayonnaise before it expires. This is not what I think of when buying in bulk. Buying in bulk to me means package-free shopping. Bulk goods are displayed unwrapped in bins for you to choose from.
The store I shop at provides plastic bags and twist-ties for purchasing bulk goods. If your intent for buying in bulk is to reduce plastic waste then the real benefit comes from bringing your own containers.
Any old container will work, just make sure it is clean, can be sealed, and has the bar code crossed out. We have a surplus of yogurt containers so they tend to be my vessel of choice. They stack for easy storage and the lids are interchangeable. Plus, by reusing them I am keeping multiple plastic items out of the waste stream – the yogurt container and lid and the packaging that would have come from not buying in bulk or the plastic bag and twist-tie when buying in bulk. I like to use glass containers for items that will be stored directly in the container they were purchased in, like the pickle jar that I use to store walnuts in my refrigerator. Other items are transferred to larger glass containers for long-term storage when I get home. The mesh bags are used for buying produce and other large loose items. I take a sharpie with me for recording tare weights, PLUs, and crossing out any barcodes I might have missed. For items I purchase regularly like flour, sugar and granola I already have the PLU {price look-up code} recorded on yogurt lids. It is a good idea to write the actual name of the item along with the PLU. That way when you’re getting ready to go to the store you know which lids to grab. 1561? I don’t know what that is, but “sugar” I can easily identify. Same thing goes for when returning from the store with multiple types of the same product. Is this wheat flour or rye flour? They look the same to me. Along with the PLU and product name, I have the tare weight recorded on the lid. Tare weight is the weight of the container with lid when empty. Okay, now that you have the basics, let’s go shopping!
First stop is the check out. What? But, I haven’t even bought anything yet you say. I know that the check out is usually your last stop when shopping, but you need to go there {or customer service} first to get the tare weight of your containers. Got it? Good. Record the tare weight of each container using your sharpie on the lid you will be using. I used to put the tare weights on the bottom of my containers until the checkers started giving me grief. Apparently it was too much work to pick the container up and look at the bottom. Fine, have it your way.
No need to do anything with produce. Just slip it in your mesh bag and go! I purposely buy fruit and vegetables not packaged in plastic, so why would I want to place it in a plastic bag for transport home? Makes no sense, no? My store is still old school, using those annoying produce stickers. One day maybe the industry will switch to laser-engraved fruit and vegetables.
Today I also need chocolate chips, rye flour {looks exactly like wheat doesn’t it?}, and egg noodles. Into their respective containers they go. What else? Oh yeah, walnuts. I want to make Chocolate Chip Blondies.
As tempting as it may be, please do not munch on the nuts and candies from the bulk bins! We do not want stores to have to start putting tare weights on customers. Once you’re in the car, feel free to munch away. Most of my food is coming from my CSA or the Farmers Market these days, so that’s it for my shopping list today. Other items offered that I buy in bulk regularly are:
All that’s left to do is check out. Sometimes the cashiers get confused by my yogurt containers, repeatedly trying to scan them. Really? Who buys six containers of yogurt at a time? Once I tell them the tare weight and PLU are on the lid they get it. On days I am actually buying yogurt along with bulk goods I put the real yogurt first as not to confuse them further. They’re really zombies you know. Grocery scanning zombies who occasionally mutter, “Did you find everything okay?” It’s not their fault, I think the constant beep, beep, beep of the scanner hypnotizes them.
Upon checkout the cashier will weigh your containers {assuming you don’t have a zombie, like the one who bagged my groceries} and deduct the tare weight from that, giving you your total cost. In theory, this is cheaper than just picking a box off the shelf since you are not paying for packaging. I have never compared the costs. For me, the lack of waste is worth any additional expense. What would you pay to reduce plastic pollution?
Tagged as:
GREEN YOUR: GROCERY SHOPPING,
GREEN YOUR: KITCHEN {FOOD},
PLASTIC {THE BANE OF MY EXISTENCE},
YOU CAN DO IT: GOING GREEN,
YOU CAN DO IT: SUSTAINABLE LIVING {WASTE REDUCTION}
