Good Deed #12 – Bring Reusable Containers to the Bulk Bins

by onepartsunshine, in category 52 Good Deeds, Reuse

GOOD DEED - Bring reusable containers to the bulk food aisle | OnePartSunshine.com

One of the best parts about living where I live is the plethora of natural food stores. And each one of those stores has a wide assortment of bulk food bins. For Good Deed #12, I decided to make use of the bulk food aisle more, but also to start bringing my own containers.

The bulk food aisle is a great way to go green. Not only does it reduce packaging waste, but it costs less and allows you to control portions. It drives me crazy when I bring home a bag of rice or lentils and I have just slightly more than what my container can hold. So I decided to bring my container to the bulk food aisle.

I use large glass Mason jars to store my bulk foods. Now when I go grocery shopping, I bring those containers to the store with me. I take them to the customer service counter where they measure the tare weight (or the weight of the empty containers). I fill up the jars with my bulk foods and, when I check out, they subtract the tare weight from the total weight of the container. Since I bring my own bags anyway, it’s not a big deal to stick the empty jars in them too. If you are too nervous to carry glass, you can use cloth produce bags.

The Bulk is Green Council (BIG) has issued a challenge to consumers to buy bulk foods at least once per week during the month of April. Take the pledge to love bulk foods and you will be automatically entered into a drawing to win a prize pack worth $50 with everything you need to create a natural pantry filled with bulk foods.

For more information about the benefits of buying in bulk, check out BIG’s Infographic. To learn the ins and outs of buying bulk, see Earth911’s guide to buying in bulk as well as their recommendations as to which six foods you should buy in bulk.

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