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Five Ideas for Buying In Bulk


There are so many beneficial reasons to buy in bulk, so this simple green practice is easy and rewarding to implement. Living an hour away from the nearest grocery store, buying our food and personal products in bulk is a necessity of mountain life. The survivalist in me does not feel comfortable unless my pantry is stocked with staple goods bought in bulk. Not only does buying in bulk make life more convenient by saving trips to the grocery store, it saves money and environmental resources as well. Bulk good prices are cheaper than individually packaged goods, and fewer trips to the store means less fossil fuel burned and more leisure time for you! The following five ideas will help you make the most of buying in bulk.

Don’t limit bulk purchases to food items only!

Buying shampoo, laundry soap, dish soap, toilet paper, etc. is also beneficial to the environment and your wallet. Even if an item is not available in bulk at your local co-op or health food store, buying the largest size possible will give you similar savings financially and environmentally.

Bring your own containers!

When buying from bulk bins, bring your own containers. You can weigh your jars before filling them, in order to subtract the tare weight from the total purchase weigh. In addition, you will always buy the right amount for your containers if you take them along with you to the bulk foods aisle. If you must use plastic bags, try reusing them several times before recycling them.

Start a buying club and share with friends!

You will save a lot more money if you buy your own bulk bags of staple goods, such as rice and flour, directly from a natural foods distributor. Fifteen years ago, we started a buying club with friends through Mountain People’s Warehouse, which would deliver goods once a month to a neighboring town. Several families would take turns picking up the buying club’s order, and we had great fun sharing bulk items we couldn’t use completely or afford alone. By combining our orders, we easily met the minimum required order amount of this natural foods distributor. Even if you don’t want to start a buying club, you can order your own bulk goods through your local health food store for a small price above wholesale.

Buy big amounts, save packaging!

The larger the quantity you buy, the less packaging is involved. Be wary, though, of large warehouse stores that simply sell you cases of prepackaged individual goods; this is not bulk buying! For example, Aveda reports that when you buy liter size bottles of shampoo, you can help prevent waste.

Aveda litres use 40% less plastic and cost 30% less than the equivalent product in regular size bottles. Larger sizes mean we have to produce, and ship, fewer bottles. This means we send out fewer trucks that emit CO2 — the primary cause of global warming — into the atmosphere.

Imagine how much would be saved by buying gallon jugs of shampoo!

Store your bulk items in gallon-sized glass jars!

The safety of plastics used in food storage is questionable, and glass mason jars offer a safe alternative. Many health food distributors also carry gallon glass jars that are perfect for storing bulk food. Many people also use food grade five-gallon buckets for home bulk food storage, but I prefer glass jars.

When you buy in bulk, you tend to eat healthier, as there are less packaged, processed foods on hand in the kitchen. Diving into your staples on a winter day is a great way to eat well and do a little bit to save the environment, too. Save money, time, and resources by following this simple tip.

This post originally appeared on Green Options.

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Comments

  1. Ami Scott says

    November 3, 2007 at 7:39 am

    We’ve been working on this ourselves. I get lots of funny looks when I take my containers with me. 😀 And it’s very true that if you shop healthy, you eat healthy. I haven’t bought any convenience foods (frozen dinners, waffles, etc.) in months and in fact I pretty much just avoid those freezer aisles altogether. It’s still hard though, especially when you shop with children that yell for the first liscensed character they see. Bleh

    Reply

Trackbacks

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    September 1, 2008 at 10:56 am

    […] need five apples, four pears, and a bunch of bananas. Do I need three plastic bags as well? No. The clerk may get annoyed, and she will have to touch my fruit, but so did the teenager […]

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  2. Eco-Friendly Lunches: Plum Creek Mercantile’s Feed Sacks and Bulk Food Bags | natural paper towels says:
    September 19, 2008 at 8:05 am

    […] but I still find myself using them to pack school lunches from time to time or when I forget to bring containers for my bulk food…that is, until I discovered Plum Creek Mercantile on Etsy. Plum Creek Mercantile’s hand […]

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  3. Eco-Friendly Lunches: Plum Creek Mercantile’s Feed Sacks and Bulk Food Bags | Eco Buying says:
    October 11, 2008 at 12:16 pm

    […] but I still find myself using them to pack school lunches from time to time or when I forget to bring containers for my bulk food…that is, until I discovered Plum Creek Mercantile on Etsy. Plum Creek Mercantile’s hand […]

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  4. Our Favorite: Soaked Blender Pancakes! : Eco Child’s Play says:
    September 5, 2009 at 6:57 pm

    […] recipe calls for whole grains which can usually be found in the bulk bin section of a natural foods store or some traditional markets. Choose from wheat berries, steel […]

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  5. Do those plastic bulk bins contain BPA? says:
    March 5, 2013 at 6:53 am

    […] you are like me, you shop in bulk to save money and reduce […]

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About Eco Child’s Play

Our ethos is to provide news, information, and opinions on natural, green parenting to help your family live a greener, healthier life! Additionally, we offer personal consulting services to help you achieve your green living goals.

Jennifer is a vegetarian, yoga teacher, gardener, hiker, teacher, and mother that has been living off-the-grid for over 20 years.

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