“Zero Waste” Grocery Shopping

This is my first blog post. Hi everyone! Thanks for reading. This past year I’ve been trying to learn more about living sustainably. It’s something that was close to my heart growing up but not something that I have actively lived very well. So I am trying to do better, for myself and for this beautiful earth 🌎. And I’m going to write about what I’m learning along the way!

I’m going to preface this post by saying that I absolutely have not been able to achieve zero-waste grocery shopping. It’s hard! I'm inspired by people that manage to produce almost no garbage, but our world is not currently set up for that lifestyle.

I've been focusing on mindfulness – trying to be aware of the choices I make. Is it something I really need? Could I get a slightly different option that has less packaging or at least no plastic? Was it made locally? I used to throw things in my cart without asking these questions, but now I take a bit more time. And I find it doesn’t make grocery shopping tedious. It makes it me take note of the things I’m eating and where they came from, and I appreciate a “good find” way more.

I took a (terribly lit) picture of my most recent grocery shop:

I already got into the cucumber. The wrap on it is an Abeego beeswax wrap that I’ll chat about another time.

This isn’t a full shop, but it includes a few things that I wanted to point out as “fails” and “wins” for me. The pineapple is the first win. Obviously not local, but I do get them sometimes and I used to get the pre-sliced one in the plastic container!! That was one of the first things to go – I couldn’t believe that I used to choose the option of plastic that may never get recycled over maybe 10 minutes of prep work. Also, you totally get more pineapple when you get the whole one.

Next, my favourite recent find was these cute glass yogurt pots! They’re local, delicious, and I plan to reuse the pots as adorable little candle holders.

I skip the plastic bags for fruit and vegetables. If I really need a bag (like for beans or something that you can’t exactly buy loose), I use my homemade bags sewed from repurposed curtain fabric. Everything else, toss it straight in the cart. The other day I saw a woman put her bananas in a plastic bag and I’m like WHY? They are self packaged! I understand stuff like lettuce and apples, because there’s a sense that it’s going to get dirty and we tend to live in a happy place where we pretend dozens of people haven’t already touched the food in a grocery store. (But pssst they did)

The most obvious fail is on the chicken. We bought sausages wrapped in deli paper and had the lunchmeat put straight into a Tupperware instead of a bag, but got this big ol’ package of chicken on a styrofoam tray. The plan is to switch to buying meat from a butcher, but at this point went for convenience and got what was on offer for a good deal at the store.

Which brings me to a note on this grocery shop: it isn’t vegan or vegetarian. Without a doubt, the best way to reduce your footprint is to go vegan. I have a ton of respect for those who do. But I’m a terribly picky eater and… well, that’s the only excuse I’ve got. I do try to reduce meat where I can, eat little red meat, and buy cashew milk instead of cow milk.

The other photo is a few examples of things that I buy at Bulk Barn. They recently started a new program where you can bring your own container, weigh it, and fill it up instead of using a bag! I was excited that this program came out right as I was starting to try and cut down on waste, and even more excited when I discovered that you can get peanut butter there.

There’s an argument against going zero-waste, and that is: why bother when it’s barely a drop in the ocean? I ask myself that sometimes when I JUST WANT AN ICED CAPP and the damn things only come in a plastic cup. But I believe that the consumer can make a difference. Look at the recent changes in the marketplace – most restaurants offer gluten-free and vegan options. It was demanded and it was delivered. What if everyone started requesting bulk options at grocery stores? What if we only shopped at places that offered a “boomerang bag” system where customers have access to cloth bags that can be returned? There’s a million little things we can do, and I’m loving learning more from people who are true eco-warriors.