Shopping – Five Easy Ways to Go Easy on the Plastic Even in a Big, Normal Grocery Store

Even when you’re shopping in a mainstream grocery/supermarket (i.e., not bringing your own containers to weigh and fill from bulk bins), you can reduce to (nearly) nothing plastic waste.

1. Tote your own tote bag

I know, I know, hard to remember to bring those pesky sacks. But here’s a tip: keep a stash in the trunk. And when you’re done unpacking your loot at home, put those puppies (er, bags) back into the car.

My favorites: a canvas/fabric sack (great for everything, but especially for messy and dangerous-when-raw things – just pop it into the laundry!); one of those square-bottom ones to make packing boxed items easier; a wine bag for all manner of bottles jars and/or little stacks of avocados,…; I have one semi-insulated bag I got for a donation to something, but I can usually get my groceries into the house within 30-45 minutes, so I don’t worry about it that much. And isn’t ice cream the best at that unpacking-the-groceries stage, when it’s all mushy around the edges,…?!

2. Ignore the produce bags

Go crazy, let it all hang out – those potatoes, the apples, onions, even that bunch o parsley. Unless you’re going to pack a sopping head of leaf lettuce smack up against the birthday card you selected for your mother-in-law, ask yourself: do I really need to bag up this ________ (fill in the blank)? Pretty much always, you’ll find the answer is no. So, until grocery stores simply quit offering those bags-on-a-roll, just skip ’em. It’ll feel a little rogue at first, like skinny dipping – ooh, my peaches are bumping up against the garlic, and the peppers are touching cereal box! But it’s okay.

And if in the back of your mind, you’re worried about your food in direct contact with the shopping cart, open a mental window and let that thought fly away. Before it got to you, every piece of produce has already been handled by gobs of other people and has been in contact with many things at least as dirty as the shopping cart you’re wheeling. Besides, you’re gonna wash that stuff before eating, aren’t you? So, go on. Go crazy. Skip the bag.

3. Consider an item’s packaging, inside and out.

    

   

It’s pretty daggone hard to avoid plastic, but it’s possible at least to minimize.  One of my favorite dried pasta brands, DeCecco, still packs into boxes (with a small plastic window), and of course go big on anything you can store for a time (rather than buying a several individually packed items).

Ladies, give a thought to those feminine hygiene products. (Guys, feel free to skip on down to next item.) I’ve found I can get Kotex brand pantyliners that aren’t individually wrapped (tip: they come in a cardboard box), and Tampax still makes paper-wrapped cardboard applicator tampons, though you have to look closely because wow there are lots of options (mostly plastic). The OB method is probably a pretty good choice simply because it’s a smaller item. Let us know if you’ve know of others!

4. Tell the deli folks that you’re happy with paper wrap.

… If they let you. (And if they don’t, at least let them know that you’d prefer that.) You can repackage the fish, the pork chops, the slices of muenster into your own reusable/washable containers when you get home. The paper will hold you fine til then (and see above about the canvas tote bag! – put an item in there, then pop the bag into the laundry).

5. Go big.

If you’re going to buy something that keeps a while, get a bigger container of the stuff. White wine vinegar? (Great for cleaning!) Get a jug instead of a bunch of smaller bottles. Frozen veggies? Get the family size, you can keep frozen what you don’t need for a particular dish, and when you’re done with the package, reuse the bag for other foods. (Don’t forget to re-label the bag, though. There’s nothing worse than hoping for okra and finding corn; okay there’s a lot that’s worse, but you get my point) Or re-use the bag for pet poop disposal. Kudos to Nature’s Path (they’re not paying me) for creating big bags of cereal, thereby reducing by its the necessary number of bags and also dispensing (hah!) with the unnecessary outer box.

Bonus!

If it happens that you’ve come into possession of waaaay too many tote bags (if you’ve got a professional conference go-er in your household, e.g.), hand off one or two to your fellow shoppers in the checkout line. Most times they’ll take them with gratitude. Once or twice I’ve got a you’re-weird-no-thanks look, but mostly I’ve met some interesting folks. It’s funny how sharing a friendly word suddenly makes neighbors out of strangers. Hey, we’re all in this together. Can I get an Amen!?