Less Waste...Bulk shopping
So, you care about reducing your waste and you’ve heard about shopping in bulk but where do you start? A key idea behind buying in bulk is that larger quantities mean less packaging and as we don’t all have the room to store 25kg of oats under our stairs, bulk stores provide the storage. Another important idea behind bulk shopping is that it allows us to buy only what we need. This works especially well for those less frequently used ingredients such as one off spices for that must try recipe. With bulk shopping you can put the one or two teaspoons of a certain ingredient into a jar and voila, no more waste.
So…how does it work?
If you are lucky enough to have a bulk or zero waste shop near you, and I am happy to say they are spreading rapidly across the UK, then armed with some empty bags and containers, you are good to go. Don’t be precious about your containers. Fish out that old Tupperware that has been languishing at the back of your cupboard or that jam jar you have just finished. Sure they are not as pretty as Mason or Kilner jars but you will have plenty of time to buy these when your old Tupperware gives out. That being said I would be lying if I didn’t admit to purchasing the odd jar because I thought it would look nice on my shelf!
Once at the ZW shop your first pit stop is the weighing scales. To start off put your empty container on the scales and make a note of the weight. This might be on a scrap of paper, with a chalk pen directly onto your container or in bigger stores you might have to accept a printed out sticky label (non-recyclable). This is an important step because you don’t want to end up paying for the weight of your empty jar. If you have forgotten your container most shops have a small stash of donated jars that they are happy for customers to help themselves to otherwise there will be paper bags hanging up by the produce.
ZW Tip
Although paper bags are recyclable anything you can reuse will always be better as no new materials were required to make the item.
Although paper bags are recyclable anything you can reuse will always be better as no new materials were required to make the item.
So, you have weighed your container and made a note of the weight, now you are ready to fill it up. You can choose from dried foodstuffs, to beauty products, to cleaning liquids and tools.
So tip, pour and scoop your items into your container and pop on the lid. When you are finished, your container will be reweighed and the weight of your empty container deducted from the total cost. That’s it. It is a lot more fun than your average supermarket which I find personally find a fairly stressful environment as I struggle to tune out the overwhelming volume of plastic packaging crammed onto every available surface.
Don’t forget to check out the non food options as well
If you don’t have a local zero waste store there are other steps you can take to reduce the amount of packaging you are consuming. Regular supermarkets usually have some of their fruit and vegetables loose. Also make sure to visit the counters at the back of the store rather than the aisle with the same pre-packed products and ask the assistants to put the items into your own containers. We no long eat meat and diary but when we did the shop assistants were more than happy to accommodate our requests to put food in our own containers rather than in plastic wrap. It takes a little confidence to request this but we found people were interested and asked us questions rather than belittling our attempts. Also check out whether you have a weekly market. These are great places for unpackaged fruit and veggies. So are small independents. Visit your butcher, your baker and your local deli. I have found small local retailers happy to accommodate our plastic free requests. Also find out if you have any Asian supermarkets near by. They often sell items in larger quantities or unpackaged. Find out if you have any food sharing or food rescue schemes in your area or perhaps you can join a local cooperative that buys in bulk and shares the goods between the members. There are also local and national delivery schemes both for fruit and veg and zero waste options. If all else fails look for the largest bag of something you can buy and easily store or share with a friend.
Does bulk shopping actually create less waste?
Yes – but it would be misleading to imagine that your new shopping habits mean you have eliminated your carbon footprint when it comes to your weekly shop. Our society, which is driven by the constructs of consumer capitalism, make it impossible to live zero waste. Instead try to see zero waste as a goal towards which you are striving, rather then somewhere you will end up. By shopping in bulk you are making a positive contribution towards waste reduction. Bulk shops are able to purchase goods in far larger quantities and so reduce the overall amount of packaging. Of course these items still have to be produced and once produced, processed, packed and transported and that involves its fair share of packaging. Until we force the government into making much needed system changes we must do our best within the confines of an imperfect system.
Fortunately the people who care enough to set up a bulk stores also care about the packaging the products come in and the methods of production used to create these products. They will have spent time researching where and how these goods have been produced, packed and shipped. They will often have spent time liaising with suppliers to ensure they receive the most sustainable packaging possible and to reduce the quantity of packaging where they can. They might have an arrangement to send packing material back to the supplier or will have found responsibly was of reusing and recycling packaging materials. If you have questions, chat to them. I have found the owners of these shops happy to be transparent about their supply chain.
Another waste reduction benefit of buying in bulk is that you can buy only what you need. Worldwide we waste a shocking one third of all the food we produce each year[1]. In the UK that equates to us collectively throwing away around 10.2million tonnes of food waste![2]I believe bulk shopping requires a more mindful approach to the way we consume, which in turn helps us to reduce our food (and non-food) waste. Armed with a shopping list and having carried out a bit of pre-shopping meal planning we are far more likely to purchase only what we need and to use all that we purchase. In addition, the amount we buy is determined by us rather than the retailer. When shopping at the supermarket we do not have this luxury, we are instead limited to non-recyclable pre- packaged, weights they have chosen to sell us.
Another way of reducing you waste is to write a shopping list and stick to it!
Is it more expensive?
Yes and no! Usually the food stocked is organic and organic food is more expensive. There are many convincing environmental and health arguments for purchasing organic food but until we have legislation making this an affordable option for all, I recognize that this will continue to be a barrier for some people. I hope as demand for bulk options continues to grow it will only be a matter of time before we see bulk aisles in supermarkets providing a greater range of price points and making this way of shopping far more accessible.
Although the cost of individual items may be on a par or even more expensive than the supermarkets own brand organic produce you will likely be, as mentioned above, buying only the quantity of food you need for the meals you have planned. Given the statistics outline above, buying only what we need has some very convincing cost savings.
Our local zero waste shop is Bamboo Turtle. The lovely ladies that run the shop where happy for me to share with you the costs of some of their products when compared to our closest supermarket which for us is Sainsbury. I tried to choose products which are easy to find in both stores and are fairly common household staples. I also chose the supermarkets own brand organic products where these were available as these seemed to me the closest match to the products stocked by zero waste shops. I did struggle with quantities. The supermarket have such a range of sizes which of course alters the price per grams of the products. Where possible I chose 500g packets. Where this was not possible I have indicated the packet size available. By comparison Bamboo Turtle buys in around 80% of its products in 25kg paper bags. This is was I found…
Product Price per 100g (bulk / supermarket)
Plain flour 25p / 18p (1kg)
Wholewheat pasta 38p / 20p
Brown rice 40p / 20p
Porridge oats (non organic) 15p / 15p
Cornflakes 43p / 32p (375g)
Roasted salted peanuts 76p / 92p (KP nuts, 250g)
Loose English breakfast tea £5.00 / £1.20 (125g)
Fairtrade coffee £2.74 / £1.32 (227g)
Mixed herbs £1.17 / £5.40 (14g)
Paprika £1.31 / £2.30 (44g)
*This is by no means a definitive list. Other bulk stores and supermarkets will differ in price being more or less expensive. This is an indication of how bulk and supermarket prices compare in my area.