Nearly Plastic Free Grocery Shopping

Yesterday I took two big bins of plastics over to Michigan State University’s new recycling center. These bins represent my old way of thinking, basically that if I could recycle it, I could buy it. Little did I know that recycling, while the best option for unavoidable plastic, is certainly not a magic solution. Hopefully, I will never take such a big load for recycling again. Even though I’m only two weeks into my experiment in plastic reduction, my household is already seeing a marked decrease in our plastic trash, mainly from more conscientious grocery shopping.

Grocery shopping without plastic is not easy. First of all, plastic creeps up in sneaky places that the average shopper would never suspect. Paper milk cartons are lined with plastic. Most canned goods have a plastic liner. Even the lids on glass jars have a plastic undercoating! Products that I remember buying in glass jars transitioned to plastic when I wasn’t paying attention. Take for instance mayonnaise. My entire life I remember it being in a glass jar, so when I started thinking about avoiding plastics, I had to take a look in my refrigerator to see if it was glass or plastic. Sure enough, plastic! While prospects appear grim for the plastic free shopper, there is a way.

First, we have stopped buying any pre-packaged fruits and vegetables. I used to buy the big plastic boxes of organic lettuce. Never again! The lettuce turned into green slime within three days of purchase anyways. I now buy produce that is as free and unpackaged as the day it was picked. I have dozens of plastic produce bags in my pantry from previous purchases that I am reusing for fruits and vegetables. When I get home, I rinse the bags out and dry them on the plastic bag dryer that my husband lovingly made for me out of craft store wood and a glue gun. Please ignore the fact that the dryer was never finished; great projects often take years to complete.

Note: Now that I know I will never willingly bring home another plastic bag, they have become precious commodities in the house, which is why I was outraged to wake up one morning and find that my husband had torn into a plastic bag with all the grace of a raccoon because the twist tie was too difficult. See the photographic evidence provided in this post.

Second, when we buy meat, we buy straight from the butcher counter and ask that the product be wrapped in butcher paper. I plan to begin bringing my own containers to the meat counter. I will let my readers know how well this innovation is received at the butcher counter (I’m a little worried as some of our neighborhood butchers tend to be on the surly side).

Third, we are buying our milk in plastic jars. The milk comes from Calder Dairy in Monroe, Michigan and is sold at the Lansing City Market and at the East Lansing Food Co-Op. It’s not cheap, but considering that we no longer buy dozens of snack foods, I think that our budget has room for this wholesome product.

Fourth, as mentioned above, there are many snack foods that we are no longer buying. The sad truth is that crackers, cookies, and a whole host of other delightfully sweet and salty snacks come in plastic bags. Even crackers in 100 percent post-consumer cardboard boxes are enclosed in plastic interior sleeves. This change means that we are eating more whole foods. One positive side effect is that we are also losing weight. This trend will probably continue until my husband, the house chef, perfects the potato chip recipe that he is dreaming about.

Fifth, we are investigating bulk food options at the Foods For Living store in East Lansing and the East Lansing Food Co-Op. We can buy cereal, nuts, coffee, and grains in bulk, using the bags and containers we take with us, of course.

Finally, we always bring our own bags for purchases, whether it be at the grocery store or the mall. We request approximately one paper bag per week for our kitchen garbage can, but other than this one exception, we haven’t brought home a bag.

I cannot close this post without first noting that our grocery shopping is not entirely plastic free. Our mission, after all, is to reduce plastic consumption; however, there are some products that we feel we cannot give up without sacrificing too much quality of life. For instance, we have decided that the minimal amount of plastic on the underside of a glass jar’s lid is simply too much to worry about at this time. Also, chopped boxed tomatoes are absolutely essential to our recipes. As a side note, readers should be aware that most canned tomatoes are lined with plastic enamel that contains Bisphenol A or BPA, an additive that is a suspected endocrine disruptor. We use Pomi boxed tomatoes, which do not use BPA. According to their website, Muir Glen Organics plans on eliminating BPA from their cans this year. Next summer, though, I’ll probably go old school and start canning my tomatoes. Maybe mom will come over and teach me how!