WEEK 10: BULK STORES
AVOID plastic wrapped items. REFILL your jars in BULK and PACKAGE-FREE stores.
I. PROBLEM
The biggest source of plastic waste that comes from households is due to food wrappers, containers — basically to store products in smaller portions for easier distribution. Yes, it is convenient for disaster relief and reduces food waste, but we forget the impact of wrapping it in something that is — completely indestructible — Plastic!!!
When I almost ran out of groceries and couldn’t buy plastic-wrapped items — this was me.
I was not eating right and starving myself (my weight btw was completely unaffected).
So I searched online and found out what other zero-waste bloggers were doing — and I discovered bulk stores!
II. SOLUTION
1. Bulk Stores
You can take cloth bags or old containers from home and refill them.
You follow 3 steps:
(1) Weigh your EMPTY container.
(2) Weigh your container after you’ve FILLED it.
(3) Note down the PRODUCT CODE of the item.
To keep it simple, you can use free plastic bags available at the store, wash it regularly and reuse it forever (Do whatever works for you)
2. Returnable options OR Recyclable (Glass, Aluminum).
Some stores give you the option to bring back the item for recycling or reuse.
eg: Milk (Whole Foods), Toothpaste (Lush)
3. (Plastic option) Buy BULK
If you cannot find plastic free options, buy them in bulk!
eg: If I love Parle-G (I do ❤). I would buy a bulk product (like the topmost in the pic).
III. SOURCES
How do I find a bulk bulk store?
1. For USA:
https://zerowastehome.com/app/
2. For India
Do I even need to provide sources? it’s everywhere! In fact, people would love it if you saved them some money by getting your own jars/bags!
You can take a look at these nicely curated sites:
1. Southern India
2. North India
For inspiration, checkout Bare Necessities (started by a zero waste blogger in Bangalore, India! My home ❤)
FIN
You don’t have to over think it (like I do), just get 5 items you consume the most from a bulk store. That’s it.
And yes, it makes a BIG difference because every single time you buy, you decrease the demand for plastic packaged products. And that’s where you as a tiny individual in this vast population of humans can make a powerful impact.
So the next time you decide to buy groceries, find a store and try this out :)
— Meghna :D
