Day Five: To the Grocery Store!

Trash Tally

Here's today! That's a lot of pesky junkmail in the recycling pile... I'll talk about how to reduce some of it in a future post on paper waste.

Grocery Store Tips

I thought it would be interesting to look at our general haul and how we haul/store it. Here's the typical weekly grocery shop, bulk on top and packaged on bottom:

Almost always stored in our car, ready for a shop, are our reusable grocery bags (4 of them) with our (rinsed and dried if necessary) reused plastic bulk bags:

 

Hey guyz, do yu see me in da pikchur? I'm a mastur fotobommer.

Thanks to Gianna, we also have these super handy and durable mesh bags for produce:

Once we're crafty enough to make more of these, we can use even less of the plastic bulk bags.

Our weekly haul varies quite a bit depending on our bulk supply at home. As some of these jars below diminish, we'll have a bigger shop ahead of us.

Our Pantry

Fortunately, most of our local grocery stores, whether it's the small food co-op or the big Fred Meyers, have ample bulk sections:

And of course more than ample packaged sections. This is an aisle of Oregon-loved Bob's Red Mill products: 

 

While we love the products, it's a lot of crinkly plastic packaging and if you read the blog yesterday, crinkly plastic cannot be recycled. Fortunately, the bulk section around the corner from this picture has about half of these Bob's products in bulk (for not quite half the price but still some savings!).

I am often overwhelmed in the grocery store. When I look around, it seems that all I see is packaging. I'm grateful for other options and stick as much as I can to the produce and bulk sections, happily avoiding the majority of the packaged aisles in the grocery store.


And I had to include some recognition for the beloved peanut butter/almond butter grinders, also a financial steal and so fresh. Plus, it's so fun to grind your own... the power!

Admittedly we usually do the peanut butter because it's cheaper!

Improvements Down the Road

We're pretty happy with our practices when it comes to grocery shopping but know we have places to improve. A recent change we're making (because of the awareness this blog has brought us) is in the tea category. A generous wedding gift of wonderful bulk teas reminded us that this is an option. We've usually bought it prepackaged but bulk is no packaging, just as easy to prepare, just as tasty - and half the price! Certainly, tea wrappers and bags are not a significant portion of our waste by volume or weight, but we're excited about the change on principle.

Another category we're looking to improve soon is in bulk bathroom/cleaning products. One of the local grocery stores sells laundry detergent, dish soap, shampoo, and a few other items in bulk - and, as is the way with bulk, it's much cheaper than the packaged version. Even better than this, there are some homemade options, as demonstrated by Melissa in her brilliant post about natural bath and body products sourced straight from your pantry!

Readers, please share any ideas or tips you have in relation to the grocery store trip!