This is not what my grocery shopping used to look like. This was actually a trip at the end of December, when I started paying better attention to the wastefulness of food packaging. I normally shop once per week, but as I try to pare down and use up, this week only required a couple of items. Before, a trip for “just a couple items” meant a ton of unnecessary stuff would make its way into my cart. This trip, however, I was trying to stay packaging-free. I brought my muslin bags for coffee beans and almonds (to make almond milk for said coffee), a bottle of peppermint essential oil, and the most eco toothbrush I could find locally. I carted it all home in a reusable shopping bag.
The twist ties (for writing the product numbers from the bulk bins), receipt, glass bottle, and toothbrush packaging and handle can all be recycled, so this trip was nearly zero waste. However, next time I will put the product numbers on a note on my phone since the bags already close with a drawstring (twist ties not necessary). I’m still learning.:)
I live in the Utah suburbs, and shopping like this is not the norm, but it’s commonplace at the shop I went to (a small health foods store). It was a good practice run for me (tiny haul as it was).
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