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We’ve become accustomed to plastic packaging in much of what we buy – especially in the grocery store. So much of our food is wrapped in plastic. For example, how can we buy frozen foods and cooking oil without it? Zero-waste grocery shopping seems a distant dream.
But some folks are finding ways to make their shopping more plastic-free. These people shared their innovative ideas with CBC's What on Earth?
Wendy Jeske in Tsawwassen, B.C. says: "I have been buying meats from the butcher counter, so that they are wrapped in paper (as my mother used to do!), rather than buying meat that is placed on a plastic tray and wrapped in plastic film."
Jeske gets her eggs "from a local farm and they want the cardboard cartons only, so I keep returning them to the farm. No styrofoam or plastic cartons! Yay!"
Catherine Irwin-Gibson in Montreal said her fishmonger gives her “a 15 per cent discount for my own container, and just zeroes the scale with my container on it, then prints the label for the cost. Yes, there is a label and that's the waste, but it's much lower than the whole packaging and styrofoam and such nonsense like that."
Irwin-Gibson even has an idea for frozen food. "Buy (produce items) fresh when they're in season and freeze them yourself."
How about bread? "I dusted off my bread machine and I make my own," said Marcia Parker.
Kiirsti Owen in Truro, N.S., said she brings her own growler (large bottle) to local breweries to get beer and cider. She also put in a plug for the SodaStream home-carbonization system: "I was skeptical at first, but it's greatly reduced the number of bottles/cans we use."
Kaitie Hoffmann in Toronto rhymed off a list of things she has "successfully gotten package-free: meats (bacon, chicken breast, ground meat), cheese, milk, yoghurt, sour cream, cream cheese, bacon, breads, fresh and frozen veggies and fruit, oils (olive, etc.), spices, pasta, oatmeal, potato chips, honey, crackers, tortilla chips, peanut butter, chocolate bars, coffee, tea... you name it."
She accomplished this, she said, by bringing her own containers to bulk and grocery stores.
Alex Denicola has "completely eliminated plastic bottled liquid soap for both dishes (hand-washed) and the bathroom sink and shower for over 10 years now. We use both a 'laundry bar' soap and a 'shampoo and conditioner' bar soap made by a Toronto company, and they awesomely come with zero wrapping. What we do in the kitchen is simply run or pour hot water over the soap bar, and voila, we have a sink or basin of sudsy water."
Some say that it's hard to go zero-waste outside of Canada's urban centres.
Julie Poole in Swan River, Man., wrote, "even though [zero-waste shopping] is possible in big cities like Toronto and Vancouver, it is actually totally impossible in rural Canada." She said she wrote in "to voice my frustration that I want to do better, but the things I need are not available where I live. No bulk foods and no butcher."
Kaitie Hoffman offered this parting insight: "I have heard that 'it's not about a small group of people doing this perfectly, it's about a large group of people doing this imperfectly.' I think that is an amazing message that hopefully will resonate with your readers and beyond. It's not about going 100 per cent plastic/packaging-free — it's about avoiding single-use plastics and other packaging where you can."
In Orillia, we are lucky to have zero-waste food options. The Refillery District (18 Mississaga St. E.) and Bulk Barn (3275 Monarch Drive) are just two examples.
