Switch from pre-packaged cereals & grains to bulk. Fill up your reusable container with oats, rice, granola, legumes, alternative grains and even fresh nut butters. And don’t forget to pack homemade lunches in reusable bags and containers.

What’s In It For the Planet?

  • Containers and packaging materials constitute 32% of the United States’ solid waste stream, over 800 pounds per person annually. (Dan Imhoff)
  • Each year, the average elementary school student eating homemade lunches generates between 45 and 90 pounds of Ziploc bags, foil pouches, and other packaging waste. (Dan Imhoff)
  • The environmental cost of creating packaging far outweighs the cost of disposing of it. Many plastic containers are produced with the use of fossil fuels.
  • Where does most food packaging end up? Landfills.

What’s In It For Me?

Sure, it’s quick and easy to grab a box of organic cereal or bagged brown rice off the shelf, and it may seem like a pretty good option. But the super option awaits you in the bulk section, especially if you bring your own reusable containers.

Shopping in bulk of course saves money because you don’t pay for wasteful packaging – but it also makes life more interesting, not to mention healthy. When was the last time you tried a new grain like farro, quinoa or amaranth? Cooked up a delicious split pea or lentil soup lately? Churned fresh peanut butter without preservatives or added sugar?

Choosing bulk also means slowing down and making more thoughtful choices about what you eat. And that’s living well.

We’d love to hear about your own experiences in the bulk section. Share your story with others who are also taking steps to live greener today.

Finding the Sacred in…Choosing Bulk

I started exploring my neighborhood market’s bulk section out of genuine curiosity. It was around the same time that I began shopping at local farmers markets, and the two seemed to go hand-in-hand. At first I tried every raw, organic nut under the sun as well as a variety of cereals, dried fruit and rice. Instead of buying granola I began making it with raw ingredients like oats, honey, coconut and walnuts. And lately I’ve been crazy for alternative grains like farro, buckwheat, and barley, so much so that my fiancé thinks I’ve gone a bit batty. I’ve tried to get to the bottom of this little obsession: why does it feel so darn good to choose bulk?

From an environmental standpoint, creating less waste and using only what you need is critical. But there’s something more to it.

When I began poking around the bulk section I was inspired by the many varieties of dried beans, spices, and grains. Taking these foods home and cooking them slowly from scratch taught me – on a very visceral level - about the origins of food. As Americans we are entrenched in a culture of processed foods – so it was an eye-opening experience to soak beans overnight, wash them of their silt and pebbles, and simmer them for a few hours.

True, making your own food from scratch takes time, but I’ve learned some tricks along the way. I like to make a big pot of soup on Sunday evenings and eat it for lunch the rest of the week. Or I’ll cook up a bunch of wild rice or farro and mix it with fresh vegetables and herbs for a hearty salad. Cooking from scratch doesn’t have to be particularly time-consuming once you get your chops.
- Moira, San Francisco

Wanna Learn More?

Read Paper or Plastic: Searching for Solutions to an Overpackaged World, by Daniel Imhoff

Read Beyond Recycling: A Re-user’s Guide: 336 Practical Tips to Save Money and Protect the Environment,
by Kathy Stein

Read The Omnivore’s Dilemma and In Defense of Food,
by Michael Pollan

Learn more about food justice and sustainability at the Center for EcoLiteracy

Want to know where all that stuff goes? Watch
The Story of Stuff

Listen to the Kitchen Sister’s Hidden Kitchens show

Check out Michael Abelman’s beautiful food photography

Visit the Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture

 

Sky Seasoning
A piece of sky
Broke off and fell
Through the crack in the ceiling
Right into my soup,
KERPLOP!
I really must state
That I usually hate
Lentil soup, but I ate
Every drop!
Delicious delicious
(A bit like plaster),
But so delicious, goodness sake–
I could have eaten a lentil-soup lake.
It’s amazing the difference
A bit of sky can make.
- Shel Silverstein

 

Wanna Do More?

  • Choose products that have less packaging than others and purchase products in large containers whenever possible.
  • Choose glass containers over plastic whenever possible. And then reuse them!
  • Shop at a co-op instead of a supermarket. Co-ops offer a variety of wonderful bulk food.
  • Replace one new food item with bulk each time you go to the market.

Have some suggestions of your own? Share them on HabitChat.