My Low Waste Shopping Trip and Shopping for Special Diets

Today I went shopping and focused on trying to purchase things with as little packaging as possible.

We belong to a CSA, so I have been lucky I haven't had to buy many vegetables. (And they are all plastic free!!)

Unfortunately, when I used Bea Johnson@ZeroWasteHome.com 's "Bulk" app, the nearest Bulk food store to me is 14 miles away. Uh. I didn't feel like driving all that way, so  I went to a local farm instead.

I bought 3 glass (returnable) bottles of milk (whole, 2%, and chocolate. The 2% is for yogurt making, as I have not been able to find "bulk" yogurt). My son really enjoys the chocolate milk. The milk is from a local dairy (hormone free), and at $2.50 a bottle (after the initial bottle deposit) it is a good buy.

The bananas were lose, in the front bag  (bags are cotton produce bags purchased at amazon here: produce bag. I have been very happy with them, they have the tare printed on them and are machine washable.  2 pints of blueberries are in the front bag, the back bag has 4 ears of sweet corn. Next to that is 1 container of yogurt (starter for the homemade yogurt, but I won't have to buy any plastic cups of yogurt once I get the first batch started) a box of butter, and a pound of deli cheese. Cheese has been quite a problem, other than plastic I have only found cheese in a wax coating, and the only flavor available in the wax is cheddar (which my son doesn't like).

After the farm I stopped at Great Harvest Bread Company, a bread store chain we have in town. The girl was more than happy to put a naked loaf into my bread bag. Score!

My husband (and many people out there these days) is gluten free (celiac). I am having trouble finding any gluten free products (flour, bread, pasta etc.) not packaged in plastic. Most regular flour and pasta can at least be found in paper bags/ cardboard boxes, but it seems all the gluten free items come in plastic.

Also, the issue with bulk bins and cross contamination with gluten containing items I have not looked into this too much, as I said before the nearest bulk store to me is a good half hour drive. This will be something to look into.


I'm off to enjoy my local blueberries. Happy Monday :)

Katie