Zero Waste Grocery Shopping: Bulk // Trash Tally #3

I've managed to par down my grocery shopping to almost no landfill trash. Yes, I still have some recycling and some trash, but I'm pretty excited with how far I've come while trying to balance so much.

The key that I was missing all along was the bulk aisle at Whole Foods. It provides so many staples that I would normally buy packaged. And with my cloth bags and jars for storage, I'm set.

The things I've bought in bulk with no packaging: rice, bars of soap, garbanzo beans, granola, nuts, raisins, snack mix, yogurt pretzels, quinoa, and tea. And there are a few different items I plan to buy next time I go such as bulk spices, rolled oats, and dried fruit among other things.

With those and produce, I'm pretty much set. There's more that can be done though. I'm going to search for a bread store soon, so I can get that without the plastic bag. And of course I'm brainstorming more

If you want some bulk reusable bags, there's a lot of options out there. I own these six bags, and I really like them. You could probably use some really fine mesh ones so you can see your product more, but these allow you to write on them with a water soluble crayon. That way you eliminate the little tag with the PLU number on it. I also write the tare weight on mine to make it more efficient and easier for the cashier. So far, I've forgotten my crayon every time, so then I have to use the little tags that end up as trash. There's always next time though.

Here's what I bought on this trip (our dogs were very interested in what I was doing): Tea (not sure how long it will last as this is the first time using bulk tea); Raisins (last about two weeks); Quinoa (again, first time purchase so not sure); Yogurt pretzels (they're way too good, I expect them to be gone by the end of the week); Granola (about three weeks); and Snack mix (also really really good, but I'll stretch it two weeks); Some mixed salad (a week and a half...probably got too much); about five or six mushrooms (a week); some packaged yogurt (a week - not pictured); and finally some packaged sprouts (the strangest weakness I have, but the packaging is recyclable).

Now I know people call Whole Foods "Whole Paycheck" which I find kind of annoying, but I guess it's just a joke. The point is, this only cost $44, and I'm gonna have food for a while. I proceeded to buy package-less produce at a local market for $15, and then a few other packaged (but mostly recyclable) things for $20. These are items I buy every other week. The weeks in between I might spend $20 on groceries. So all in all that's about $200 a month on groceries.This also includes all cleaning supplies and toiletry items unless I go on a big soap run. I honestly don't think that's breaking my bank, too much. I value my health too much to live off of ramen noodles and potato chips. And I value the remaining space left on the earth too much to fill it will trash. Therefore my values are worth about $200 a month. Perhaps I am underestimating. I'm getting a little paranoid throwing these numbers out. I'll have to continue to keep track of them and update you. I'm also a little uncomfortable sharing my spendings with whoever happens upon my page, but if this is what I have to do to give you a good representation, then it's what I'll do.

I'd love to answer any questions about how I do my bulk shopping.

Lastly, I'd like to show my trash tally for the week. This trash is from last Sunday to today. I decided I'm going to leave it in the jar cause it takes way too much time to lay it out and name everything in there; however, I'm going to squish it down as hard as I can to make it uniform each time and give a visual effect of whether it's getting smaller or not.

So what's in here? A lot of tea bag packages (which I found a solution to with the bulk tea and reusable strainer); A wristband from a bar (unavoidable unfortunately); little ties from the bulk food because I left my crayon (definitely avoidable); packaging from my prescription (seemingly unavoidable, but I'll try to get creative); some tags from some new pants I had to buy for a leadership program I do (Should have taken the time to find some used khakis. They don't have the obnoxious tags that new clothes have. I usually only buy used clothes); An old stick of deodorant I found in the depths under my bathroom sink (avoidable thanks to LUSH! Something I plan on talking about later this week); Foil lids from my new contacts (avoidable when I can afford Lasik...hah); Some plastic from a shoe repair; And a two granola bar wrappers (I'm working on it I swear!)

Here's to hoping next week holds less trash. However, all the silly things I bought when I was sick will be running out soon, so I'll have to face that trash. I'll update Sunday for sure. And hopefully get another post in this week. School starts tomorrow, so I'm not sure how busy I'll be.

What was in your trash this week?