Reduce Packaging Waste: Bulk Shopping
This is my entry in the Live Sustainably photo contest. I have been a long-time shopper of bulk bins (when they have what I need, anyway! I wish they had more!), but a lot of people use bulk bins and scoop into disposable plastic bags, like produce bags, provided by the store. Often I see a cup of bulk rice or something stuffed into this ginormous plastic bag, because people don't bring their own containers (and I used to work at a health food store, and saw it there, too). It always kind of surprises me, because the stereotype is health food store = eco conscious folk, right? Not always!
So I try to bring my own containers. Usually in the past I brought my big jars for whatever I was buying, like these:
But I don't drive, and so when you are walking home carrying 30 pounds of groceries, the extra 4 pounds from big glass jars makes a difference. Finally I thought of a better plan:
I have two flour sacks (yes, that I actually bought flour in, they're not relics of a bygone age 😁), so I know they'll hold fine powders and not leak. Testing some of my bag clips out, they managed to close over the fabric, so YAY a few ounces instead of a few pounds!
Turbinado sugar in flour sack
So that's my new pedestrian-friendly bulk shopping tip. If you're wondering where I got flour in cloth, actually NOT at the health food store! The big one came from Walmart (I know, I don't normally shop there because Fuck Walmart They're Evil, but it was one time years ago that a friend was going and I asked if I could tag along because I had been given xmas gifts I would never use with Walmart tags on them, so I thought I could trade them in for groceries instead, which I did), which is a brand of flour from the Navajo Nation. The second smaller bag is a recent one from King Soopers (Kroger), from a brand from the southern part of my state (Colorado). So I don't know if they are available at all Walmarts or Krogers, or just us because we're on the edge of the breadbasket, but, there you are!
Thanks for reading!
That Red Fish your momma always warned you about
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Thank you so much! 😄
Hmmm, I like this idea! I always get like 10 different things from bulk barn in small to large quanities.
I would need a lot of small bags aha, do you know where to get farbric like that or what it is that doesnt leak? Id like to make my own!
I always try to bring jars, but since I walk usually its not entirely feasable, but I hate plastic and its lame to use it.
I'm not sure, but people sell "flour sack towels," so maybe whatever they are made of?
Good idea @phoenixwren .. have a nice day ^_^
Buying in bulk saves alot especially on the reduced prices of the commodity. Bulk products are also normally packaged in recyclable bags. Thanks for your effort and great work @phoenixwren.
Buying in bulk saves alot especially on the reduced prices of the commodity. Bulk products are also normally packaged in recyclable bags. Thanks for your effort and great work @phoenixwren.
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