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?

Trash Tally #2

My absence has been lying very heavily on my mind these past two weeks. Waste is something I think about literally all day long, so it isn't that I forget to update I just get so caught up in things!  My only excuse is that I had no time to update the weekend I came back from my road trip because I immediately left for the beach on Monday. Then I brought a stomach virus back with me that absolutely crippled me for about a week. I'm still feeling it some, but my health has made a huge improvement, so I'm making a come back yet again. It really doesn't feel like it's been a month. It's been one strange summer.

My week at the beach and my week back home have been very sobering and full of waste. I didn't feel like I had a choice though. Being at the beach I was living by another families set of guidelines, and being sick made me go for so many disposable food options while I wasn't able to cook. It all made me feel terrible. Like I was pushing my principles away for comfort. Which is exactly what was happening. I learned some lessons. Prepare better. Stick to my own standards. Ask my friends for help (something I'm terrible at). It'll all go much more smoothly next time. Though I really don't want a stomach virus ever again; that was hell.

As for my road trip with my dad, I quickly realized carrying my trash around with me, even for a day, was unrealistic. Keeping it separated from his trash and remembering where I'd put my granola wrapper in my backpack from a hike and which one was from which day just got messy and was full of crumbs. I didn't like it. I kept a mental tally though. The biggest problems were paper napkins, straws at restaurants, and granola bar wrappers. The amount of granola bars we ate was absurd. But honestly other than that, there wasn't too much trash. Then also I must mention the slight guilt my father and I both felt for driving a car around that far. It is not an environmentally sound way to travel. Though we immensely enjoyed ourselves, it was the last road trip for us. We'd opt for public transportation next time while staying more in one location. Though I'm sure I'll go on a road trip again in my life, it will go a bit differently.

So changes I would have made for that trip? Well if I could have had my shopping kit with me groceries wouldn't have been a waste issue. We could have bought bulk for most things and recycled the rest. Though granola bars still pose a challenge for me. They are a camping necessity in our eyes. I'll have to keep thinking of an alternative. Next, I have GOT to learn to ask for no straw at restaurants. I hate those plastic things. I really struggle with remembering to request for no straw though. Next, dad told me was going to start carrying reusable napkins in his car which made me swell with pride. Also got him to switch from cup to cone at the numerous ice cream shops we visited. No more cup and plastic spoon for him which also makes for a happy daughter.

It's easy changes like this that can really add up to make a difference in what's going in our landfills.

Here's the trash I collected the weekend between my road trip and my beach trip.

A trash bag with an unfortunate, large gash in it found behind my desk from a previous tenant, a piece of duct tape pulled off my fan from another previous tenant, a wrapper to a fortune cookie, two wrappers from candy (oops), a large sheet of plastic from a new air filter, a bottle cap, and a sheet of plastic from a food container.

All of these things could have been avoided. Well I'm unsure about the air filter. I need those, but maybe there's an alternative. Anyways, everything else could have been avoided. Silly purchases.

I'm beginning to keep my trash again as my life is finally getting back into a schedule. I have a week left before school begins, and my schedule is solid. Later this week I plan to record my grocery shopping to give you an idea of how zero waste shopping works.

Will update soon. Pinky promise this time.