Weekly updates and tips on where to buy package free

I've had Christmas parties the last 2 weekends so our weekly shops have been a bit more on the lazy side - last week we at least got into the market, but this weekend we stuck to the grocery store and butcher.

Now that we've found which stalls have better prices and switched to more fish/poultry/veggie meals we are starting to see the savings. When we shopped at Aldi (a cheaper grocery store) we were spending 60-70€/week - the last couple of weeks we have been spending 55€ - not a huge savings but adds up to 240-720€ savings per year and we are eating/cleaning healthier, helping the environment and wasting less food in addition.

Some other wins this week have been:

We found plastic and aluminium alternatives:

ice cream sandwhiches in cardboard wrapped in paper rather than plastic
tomatoes in tetrapaks instead of cans and
gluten free spaghetti noodles in cardboard instead of plastic

Also my influence is spreading! I've been talking about my changes with my colleagues at lunch and this week we did a Secret Santa. Someone got a keep cup, others were telling me they were conscious of the packaging when they were shopping and my gift came wrapped in natural fabric and was a wooden configurable calendar for the new house - so very thoughtful, I also got a Christmas card electronically instead of in the post. It is nice to see the changes I have made for myself are slowly rubbing off even in little ways. Some days it is hard to see how I can possibly make a difference when the scale of the problem is so large, but if everyone I talk to changes something small then maybe it will lead to a bigger change - one can only hope.

Shop

Last week

This week

Cost

Last week - 54€

Market 29€
Tesco 25€

This week - 55€

Dunnes 50€
Butcher 5€

Meals

Last week

Shrimp fried rice
Spaghetti
Turkey burgers
Bacon/eggs
BLTs
Take-out

This week

Bean Burrito with homemade gluten free wraps
Spaghetti
Curry chips
Bacon/eggs/avocado
Turkey burgers
Lasagna

Meal Prep/Baking

This weekend I made up a batch of 8 gluten free tortilla wraps which should do us for 4 bean burrito meals over the next couple of weeks. I made it while I was making dinner so did not feel like an extra task too much. Recipe here - I replaced regular flour with gluten free flour 1:1.

I also had a few banana's going bad so threw together a loaf of banana bread which baked while we were eating dinner. Recipe here - again I replaced regular flour with gluten free flour 1:1.

The hard work of mixing for both is made easier by my Ninja blender - I couldn't do without it - it does everything: dough, soup, smoothies, crepes, bean paste, soap, and the best ice crushing for margaritas - you name it.

Preferred Packaging

We are still buying some packaged items as I'm too lazy to make everything so for the packaged items we still buy we are constantly trying to find more ecological options. In order of preference/environmental impact (from what I gather from basic research):

Glass
Good: can be recycled infinitely without loss of properties
Bad: heavier to transport (more CO2)
Cardboard/Paper
Good:
made from renewable resources
manufacturing recycled paper instead of new paper from virgin wood plump uses 54% less energy and 58% less water. Paper products use up to 35% of the world’s annual commercial wood harvest
each ton of recycled paper can save 17 trees, 2.2 cubic metres of landfill space and 7,000 gallons of water
Bad: cannot be recycled indefinitely. With every recycling, fibers become shorter. After being processed five to seven times, the fibers become too short for the production of new paper, requiring the addition of new fibers

Tetrapaks

Good:
made mostly of paper products (renewable)
they are light which uses less CO2 for transport
Bad: made of mixed materials (paper lined with aluminium with a plastic cap) they are hard to recycle
Metal
Good:
one recycled drink can save 20 times more energy and emissions than making the can from new materials
recycling uses 5% of the energy needed for primary production
if you recycle 1 aluminium can today, it can be made into a new can, get filled and be back on the shelf in just 6 weeks
approximately 75% of the aluminium ever produced is still in circulation today
Bad:
heavier (more CO2 to transport)
more resources required for initial extraction

Plastic as packaging is avoided if at all possible as 1. soft plastics are no longer recyclable in Ireland and go to landfill and 2. plastic is made from crude oil – a valuable and limited non-renewable resource. Recycling plastic (for the rigid plastics that can still be recycled) saves 2/3 of the energy required to produce plastic from raw materials.

Source for some stats from here, here and here

As mentioned above, this week we were able to find more sustainable packaging for our ice cream sandwiches, gf spaghetti noodles and "tinned" tomatoes.

Bulk options

When I think back to when I lived in Ottawa, we had loads of bulk options to choose from which I didn't take advantage of - when I started looking for similar options in Cork I thought I would struggle - and although it's not as vast there are more and more popping up once you know where to look. No matter where you live or shop you can buy at least some products without packaging. If you have the option between plastic and anything else, go for the more sustainable packaging.

Places you can check out in your own town:

Regular grocery stores have some fruit and veg loose
Bigger grocery chains have in house bakeries and deli counters where you can get bread, fish, meat, cheeses, olives, salads, ice cream, nuts and seeds - bring your own produce bags and jars
Butchers/fish mongers/bakeries - bring your own jars/linen bread bags
Health food stores - more and more are offering bulk buy options, my 2 local ones now have nuts, seeds, dried fruits, oats, rock salt, pasta, rice, lentils etc (photos below)
Bulk food stores
Asian/Polish/foreign shops - these shops surprisingly have sustainably packaged products like a 3kg bag of baking soda for example
Local veggie boxes - you can order weekly deliveries of local veg/fruit from local farmers just google local veggie boxes and see what's available in your area
Community bulk buys - we have a local person who places orders for a group of people with a bulk food supplier - you can get bulk discounts for items if you need a lot of something or want to share with someone else - check your local community groups - although some of these come in plastic, it's reduced somewhat by ordering in bulk