Another successful zero-waste grocery trip under our belts in the Williams house!
Some people have asked us some questions, so here are the answers to a few of our FAQ!
1. Is it hard? Nope, it isn't that difficult, actually! In the span of a month, we've gotten very used to it!
2. Does it cost more? We are actually saving money. There are a few items we pay more for (like dairy!), but overall we are saving money.
3. What are the easy switches? For us, easy switches are taking our containers to Bulk Barn (or other bulk stores!) for dry goods like pasta, flour, and sugar. Another easy one was cloth produce bags for fruits and veggies. It was a bit more nerve wracking to take containers to the grocer for cheese and fish, but so well received!
4. Does it take longer? We are usually done our groceries faster now, because we don't aimlessly wander the aisles. We go in with the containers or cloth bags for what we want, and leave when they are full. We do spend a bit of time investigating what produce is local and plastic-free, but it doesn't take long. The only thing that slows us down-- we get lots of great dialogue about why we do what we do-- which is so worth it!
5. What about the really hard stuff, like yogurt? There are a few items, like yogurt!, that we find really tricky to buy. For yogurt, we aren't really buying it right now. It isn't a staple in our home. For butter, we have shifted from tubs to foil wrapped. Where we couldn't completely eliminate waste, we reduced it. For other things, like bread (which will be easy in most towns!), we have made a shift to a substitute. Here in Simcoe, our bakery pre-bags bread and the bags are plastic. So instead, we buy loose buns or bagels in our cloth bags. I've also started making a variety of breads and buns at homes instead.
Thanks to the zero-wasters we've been co-learning this stuff with!
@walkersustainabilityproject
#zerowasteliving #zerowastegroceries