Reducing Waste :: Less Waste Project

Produce bags

In May, I resolved to try and eliminate as much waste as posible. I already cloth diaper the young sir and I do my best to avoid packaged foods. This means I spend a lot of time in that darn kitchen of mine, but at least we are healthier because of it!

Inspired by blogs such as The No Trash Project, I bought a bunch of mason jars and these products bags (see picture).

I started off my little experiment by doing my main grocery shopping trip at the Save-On in French Creek (Oceanside, Vancouver Island). They don’t have a very good setup for promoting waste-free. Their scales aren’t easily calibrated, so buying in bulk with a mason jar is quite a pain in the arse fo the employees — and this was made clear to me when I was asking if I could use said jars.

Fair enough, their job is pretty tough. Let’s face it: we don’t have the friendliest people in the area! haha

Regardless, I felt way too… insecure, I guess. I opted not to buy anything in bulk there, except for almonds which I placed inside of one of the above-mentioned produce bags. It worked great!

Here is my loot from the store… I’ll admit I caved a little with some items. *cough* chips *cough*

May Groceriess

May Groceriess

Let’s review.

Plastics

  • Cheerios internal bag
  • Wrap and seal on peanut butter
  • Spouts of Soy beverages
Compostable/Recyclable Packages
  • Fruits and veggies (bananas, lemons, potatoes, tomatoes, zucchini, garlic, onions)
  • Eggs/carton
  • Soy beverage containers w/spouts cut off (compostable)
  • Oats bag (large sack on right-side)
  • Flour bag
  • Coffee beans (paper bag)
  • Cheerios box

Glass

  • Peanut butter jar
  • Two mason jars (mine): wheat bran and nutritional yeast flakes

All of that, plus this awesome failure:

Chips... Plastic Bag

I was packing my groceries into my fabric bags, turn around and I see my two bags of chips (sorry) stuffed into a plastic bag. Uhg! *face palm*

Oh well.

That said, I would like to give a huge, giant, Thank You!! To Parksville’s Naked Naturals. See their website here: ShopNaked.ca/

I walked into Naked Naturals with my mason jars and asked the same as I did at Save-On — can I use these jars for bulk items? You bet. The guy working (I believe one of the owners) just took my jar, weighed it, and handed it back. I got wheat bran and nutritional yeast flakes.

The guy had to jimmy up some on the fly math to get the pricing right for the weight lol It took him about 5 or so minutes for something that would normally take less than a minute. He didn’t complain, didn’t even give me a hint of annoyance. I walked out a very happy customer. Total redemption from my experience with Save-On 😀

I would call this month’s no waste project… A start. It’s a start 🙂

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