Pop A Lid On It

This week I ventured out of the big 'bad' supermarket chains and visited a bulk food store. I went there to buy ingredients for future waste-free recipes. This sort of supermarket or store is "do it your self" where products are priced by the kg and you pick and choose which products you would like.  Using a paper bag you are able to scoop in the ingredients you desire and pay for however much you have. This is a great way to reduce packaging waste, especially plastic packaging. The paper bags used are recyclable so its great for the environment! Walking into the store I found it quite intimidating, I've never been to one before and there are so many products which you can choose. From flours to nuts, chocolate to spices and even nut butter's, oils and syrups. These stores encourage consumers to bake and cook more products that don't require packaging, this can also encourage a more healthy diet as you are eating less processed foods. This also reduces food waste. 1 in 5 bags of shopping is wasted every week in Australia and 35% of the average household bin is food waste. Much of this waste is expired or 'not good enough' to eat. Because you aren't buying excessive amounts of food there is less going into landfill. It encourages us to only get what is needed, and this is probably why the prices are slightly higher.

I’d recommend bringing a reusable bag with you when going to the shop. They have baskets at the front of the store but it will be a little tricky juggling everything when you leave. They supply paper bags and pens which is a bonus, But the pens might poke a hole in the bag so bring a sharpie! I purchased tapioca flour, dark organic chocolate chips, almonds, baking powder and coconut sugar. This all came to $20. in comparison to a supermarket chain for 4 items this is quite expensive. In saying that I did purchase ‘healthy’ ingredients which rant your standard household items. 

To store all these wonderful ingredients I have collected some old coffee, tea and syrup jars. You can also buy glass jars from Kmart or $2 stores or you can use Tupperware containers anything that is airtight will do. Use hot running water to peel the old labels off and rinse the jars to remove any leftover smells and or food remnants. Dry well before filling.  

To store all these wonderful ingredients I have collected some old coffee, tea and syrup jars. You can also buy glass jars from Kmart or $2 stores or you can use Tupperware containers anything that is airtight will do. Use hot running water to peel the old labels off and rinse the jars to remove any leftover smells and or food remnants. Dry well before filling.  

It is a little difficult to know what's what in the jars and when they were purchased, so a good idea is to label them. If you have a label maker go right ahead and get labelling! Using printing paper divide the paper lengthways by 10. The boxes will be roughly 3 cm in length, half the paper so you have two sides giving you 20 boxes. Using a pen or permeant marker write the products name and date in which you placed into the jar then Tape the label to the jar. Another idea which will save more paper, sticky tape and time would be to use a whiteboard marker. This will be easy to rub off when putting different products into the jars. 

I was very overwhelmed by the experience as there were a plethora of ingredients to choose from. But I really recommend seeking out your local bulk store to try and reduce your waste for the week. I visited Naked foods bulk food store located in Cronulla which had an array of ingredients. https://nakedfoods.com.au/ they have a few stores located in the North Shore, Bondi and Newtown to name a few.