Zero Waste Grocery Tips without a Bulk Store

Zero waste bulk stores are not available everywhere. Where I live we have a few in the larger cities and that’s about it. Unfortunately for me this is not close by and I have to get by visiting regular grocery stores. This makes zero waste groceries not really zero waste but as low waste as possible and I want to share a few tips with you to make your daily groceries as low waste as possible.

Packaging

Go for a different type of packaging instead of plastic. Did you know that the use of plastic packaging has increased over 100 times since the 1960s?

There is no need to contribute to this waste therefore choose a different type of packaging material. Aluminum, glass, and cardboard are all better options compared to plastic. Another interesting fact is that even though plastic packaging has increased severely over the past 60 years, glass packing has ‘only’ double in use. Meaning lots of packaging that used to be glass is now plastic.

Some jars may look like glass but are plastic, unfortunately. So, be careful. Always tap the container with a fingernail so you can hear whether or not the packing is indeed glass. Another advantage of glass jars is that when it is empty, you have an empty jar that you could use for other purposes. These could be food-related like storing snacks but glass jars have lots of more uses like storing craft materials, storing toothbrushes, etc.