LESS PLASTIC, MORE SAVINGS?
A guide to buying bulk foods at Sprouts
Hello, my readers.
Happy Friday, welcome to my first post of September.
Happy Friday, welcome to my first post of September.
Today we are taking a bit of a turn here.
As you may know, I am constantly trying to find new ways to save money and save the planet at the same time.
But first I need to give you a little background on why I am so conscious of saving the planet!
It all started back when I was little. About 5 or 6. A lot of it has to do with the culture I grew up in, and my family environment.
Most of the traits I have today I learned when I was young, this is why is too important for kids to grow up with good values.
Anyway, I am losing track of myself, back to where it all began.
My mom is a huge inspiration in my life. She taught me a lot of the wonderful values I have now. At a young age, she made me aware of what having empathy is all about. I mention this because it has to do a lot with the decisions I make today.
Later in life, I took an environmental class. They taught me the effects of not measuring the consequences of my acts (environmental wise). The consequences of not taking care of the planet. I learned to recycle, to reduce and to reuse.
Ignorance is one of the biggest reasons why we stand still. Not knowing or choosing not to, blocks us. We need to educate ourselves to be better, to grow. I always like to say, we never learn too much, you know?
Summarizing everything. One of the main reasons I try to reduce my carbon footprint on the planet is because since I was little I was taught to have empathy, not only for others but for my home, THE EARTH. And because thankfully I was given education on what to do, and how.
Now I want to pass that onto you. Environmental Friday's was born out of the idea of spreading the correct information and easy ways to reduce, reuse and recycle.
Thought out the months I will be posting my experience, my methods and what I no longer buy to help reduce waste. I hope you will stick with me and join me on this journey to take action and save the planet.
But first I need to give you a little background on why I am so conscious of saving the planet!
It all started back when I was little. About 5 or 6. A lot of it has to do with the culture I grew up in, and my family environment.
Most of the traits I have today I learned when I was young, this is why is too important for kids to grow up with good values.
Anyway, I am losing track of myself, back to where it all began.
My mom is a huge inspiration in my life. She taught me a lot of the wonderful values I have now. At a young age, she made me aware of what having empathy is all about. I mention this because it has to do a lot with the decisions I make today.
Later in life, I took an environmental class. They taught me the effects of not measuring the consequences of my acts (environmental wise). The consequences of not taking care of the planet. I learned to recycle, to reduce and to reuse.
Ignorance is one of the biggest reasons why we stand still. Not knowing or choosing not to, blocks us. We need to educate ourselves to be better, to grow. I always like to say, we never learn too much, you know?
Summarizing everything. One of the main reasons I try to reduce my carbon footprint on the planet is because since I was little I was taught to have empathy, not only for others but for my home, THE EARTH. And because thankfully I was given education on what to do, and how.
Now I want to pass that onto you. Environmental Friday's was born out of the idea of spreading the correct information and easy ways to reduce, reuse and recycle.
Thought out the months I will be posting my experience, my methods and what I no longer buy to help reduce waste. I hope you will stick with me and join me on this journey to take action and save the planet.
Digging into those "zero waste" posts and videos I came across two wonderful things:
1. Many stores now offer bulk sections. Meaning that you can buy cereals, grains, candy, etc. By bulk. This way you have the option to buy without the extra packaging.
Today we are going to talk about the bulk products you can find in a bin inside a store and you can self serve on the quantity you need.
Today we are going to talk about the bulk products you can find in a bin inside a store and you can self serve on the quantity you need.
2. They let you bring your own containers. Because It wouldn't be helping the planet if you still used the plastic bag, duh! Not only can you bring cloth bags, but your own jars! HOW AWESOME! RIGHT?
When I knew about this I was thrilled because let's be honest, we all throw away those plastic containers, and we are producing a lot of waste.
So if I can reduce the waste I produce weekly, by buying bulk foods with my own containers. I'm all about it!
I only know two stores that sell bulk foods that allow you to bring your own containers close to where I live:
*Sprouts
check sprouts website to learn what bulk food they sell
*Whole Foods
Whole Foods website
I only know two stores that sell bulk foods that allow you to bring your own containers close to where I live:
*Sprouts
check sprouts website to learn what bulk food they sell
*Whole Foods
Whole Foods website
After this long intro. I'm going to share tips on what to do and how.
You will need the following:
1. Your own plastic containers or jars.
For this, I want to emphasize you do not have to go out and buy jars or containers. First, look around, make sure you do not have already jars lying around your kitchen. I reuse the jars that the pasta sauce comes in. I just clean them really good. The whole point of this is to reduce waste, remember?
2. Dry erase markers.
Choose dry erase markers over permanent markers because they are easy to erase if you need to.
3. Reusable bags.
What steps to take?
* Buy Jars here
* Buy mesh bags here
* Buy dry erase markers here
1. Gather your jars and containers.
2. Make a list of the bulk products you are going to buy, and assign to each container what is going into each one.
3. Make sure when you arrive at sprouts or any bulk food store, to ask a cashier to weigh your containers/jars and they will tell you the weight of the container, you are going to write this number on the container (this is why you need a marker). Repeat this with each container.
4. After step 3 go to the bulk section and start filling the containers up! Make sure to write the PLU code on the container.
5. Go to the cashier, they will use the PLU code you wrote to identify each bulk product, after this they will deduct the weight of the container and you will be charged just for the net weight. That is why you need to weigh the containers first. And why is so important you write the numbers on the container.
6. Pay and enjoy your bulk food without the guiltiness of wasting plastic packaging.
Sprouts discounted me $.05 cents for every container I used. I used 8 I saved $.40 cents. It might not be much. But the price of bulk food is usually less because you're not paying for packing, display, and brands. Plus Sprouts is known for offering quality products.
This might get tedious but changes require work and actions. I still need to change a lot of habits. I am not perfect but I can assure I am working every day to become better.
I really hope this post was helpful to you, and you learned something. Please feel free to share, and spread the word.
I will see you in a few months with another Environmental Friday's segment!
-AR
1. Your own plastic containers or jars.
For this, I want to emphasize you do not have to go out and buy jars or containers. First, look around, make sure you do not have already jars lying around your kitchen. I reuse the jars that the pasta sauce comes in. I just clean them really good. The whole point of this is to reduce waste, remember?
2. Dry erase markers.
Choose dry erase markers over permanent markers because they are easy to erase if you need to.
3. Reusable bags.
What steps to take?
* Buy Jars here
* Buy mesh bags here
* Buy dry erase markers here
1. Gather your jars and containers.
2. Make a list of the bulk products you are going to buy, and assign to each container what is going into each one.
3. Make sure when you arrive at sprouts or any bulk food store, to ask a cashier to weigh your containers/jars and they will tell you the weight of the container, you are going to write this number on the container (this is why you need a marker). Repeat this with each container.
4. After step 3 go to the bulk section and start filling the containers up! Make sure to write the PLU code on the container.
5. Go to the cashier, they will use the PLU code you wrote to identify each bulk product, after this they will deduct the weight of the container and you will be charged just for the net weight. That is why you need to weigh the containers first. And why is so important you write the numbers on the container.
6. Pay and enjoy your bulk food without the guiltiness of wasting plastic packaging.
Sprouts discounted me $.05 cents for every container I used. I used 8 I saved $.40 cents. It might not be much. But the price of bulk food is usually less because you're not paying for packing, display, and brands. Plus Sprouts is known for offering quality products.
This might get tedious but changes require work and actions. I still need to change a lot of habits. I am not perfect but I can assure I am working every day to become better.
I really hope this post was helpful to you, and you learned something. Please feel free to share, and spread the word.
I will see you in a few months with another Environmental Friday's segment!
-AR
This post was not sponsored. All opinions are my own based on my experience.
IMPORTANT INFO*
Use Ebates to save money while shopping online! check it out here
*DISCLAIMER*
Products have been purchased by me, this is my own honest opinion.
Links WITH * are affiliate links. I make a commission with every purchase.
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