what NO ONE tells you about ZERO WASTE grocery shopping

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[irishprincess]

“The most important thing is to do the best that you can.”

This mindset in the zerowaste community is so crucial to attracting more people to join the movement. Thank you so much for setting a good example.

[Nour-epnp]

Dude I unpack the boxes of clothes at target(the clothes that get shipped to the stores to be put on the shelves) and almost every piece of clothing is wrapped in plastic!!! Just because you don't see the plastic when the clothing is on the rack, doesn't mean it is low waste

[citlali]

When you can't use your own container, I've seen folks save and reuse the plastic bags the store provides. I know there are issues with single use plastic breaking down faster, but even just 2-3 more uses is better than one and done.

[amigozzl]

Great video!
I like how you emphasize other non-traditional zero waste issues; like transportation and the waste behind-the-scenes and especially food waste and composting.
You are probably my favorite ethical and eco-friendly Youtuber!

[LoveTheAutumnAir]

Shelby is doing good work out here making sustainability more accessible and I appreciate that so much. It takes a little bit from everyone in order to make great change and this breaks down the barrier people face of feeling like they don’t or can’t do enough in order to qualify as someone who is trying to be more sustainable.

[miss_m_yt]

For tofu many Asian grocery stores have self serve tofu bins which are cheaper than prepackaged tofu.

[TheBinsQueen]

I love this video! Food waste has been my really only pain point with reducing waste and I told myself "its ok". So I am making small changes as I go. This week instead of buying frozen peppers and onions in a bag, I made my own with fresh produce and froze them in a large stasher bag. This left me with more than in a freezer bag and it cost about the same. Small changes can make a difference 🙌

[shaenoodles]

When I first started getting into the zero waste community, I restricted my food options so much. I was already vegan and never felt restricted eating that way, but I had to give up a lot of options trying to reduce my waste. I dont live somewhere with zero waste grocery stores. A lot of fruits and vegetables are wrapped in plastic. The only thing at the bulk bins at my grocery store are nuts and rice. I'm glad that you're having this conversation. So many people in the community don't talk about this and it made me feel like I couldn't eat anything that had plastic or I was a terrible person. I was miserable, starving myself, and it was dangerous.

[strangekat]

Where I am, there are no bulk bins and no shops at all that do zero waste food. Therefore it isn't possible, unless I drive an hour out of my way. That isn't possible time wise and is probably counterproductive.

I get very frustrated when the middle class, able bodied zero waste movement doesn't consider that not everyone has money and not everyone has the spoons to spend hours searching for it.

[JosiahMcCarthy]

Shelby, this is a great video. I try to reduce my waste in a lot of ways, but I'm really only flirting with ZeroWaste at this point. I also work in a grocery store and I can confirm most of what you said here. The company I work for has about 100 stores and before they do more customer-focused ZeroWaste change, they're doing a ton of employee-focused/internal operations-focused change toward ZeroWaste. At first I was kind of frustrated with that, like "why can't you just let people bring their own containers for the bulk foods?" I actually really do appreciate this choice. It's the opposite of greenwashing, because the truth is that I as a grocery store employee make orders of magnitude more waste than I do as a consumer. And my customers don't really see that. So it's really perfect that my company is attacking the much bigger side of the problem first. We're composting (we can even compost meat and fish at my location because of a cool facility nearby), we recycle hard plastic and glass and metal, and soft plastic and films, and cardboard and they've changed the sources of the plastics for produce and bulk bags to be plant-based plastic, and changed packaging to use less plastic in many cases. Still a long way to go, though.
Another important point for my company is that food safety really does have to come first. If you compromise the safety of everyone's food in the name of sustainability, you will turn people against you if there is an incident, and some incidents can be life threatening. So being thoughtful about how your large grocery store chain can implement sustainable packaging is key, and takes time. I save where I can, and don't worry too much about the things that haven't quite changed yet to become maximally sustainable.

[EBETZEN]

your message is so important. It's not what "looks" best (aka for social media) its what is actually best for the environment.

[seasonalsecretsASMR]

I work for Kroger and kroger owns over 30 Affiliate companies. We recycle plastic and cardboard. When I work the bulk section, I do so.

[karenkaino]

Thank you for encouraging people to always do the best they can! It's such a complicated issue and this info helps a lot!

[taytaysharrard]

I'm SO glad you mentioned the not being able to use your own container for bulk shopping it is such a struggle to figure out exactly how to bulk shop

[ilovemyOKI]

I think this video is great in breaking the barriers between an all or nothing mindset a lot of minimalist/zero waste people have. For example I buy my flour from a local grocery store that sources it from local farmers but it comes in plastic. I’ve been conflicted on whether it’s better to buy the plastic flour or the flour in paper packaging, but is transported from other countries. Also, something that you touched on is doing as much as you can even if sometimes you don’t have time to make things from scratch. I try my hardest to do as much from fresh vegetables/scratch but with my current lifestyle sometimes I can’t dedicate 3 hours to making a meal.

[miss_m_yt]

I’m always astounded at how much I learn in every video of yours 💕. Thanks shelbi! Also your hair looks amazing!

[sanityisrelative]

Thank you for bringing up the fact that you can't always use your own jars in every store!

The nearest store to me that has bulk bins (also, just physically the nearest store to me, so it's the one I do most of my shopping in) is a Kroger store (Fred Meyer's to those of us in the Pacific Northwest). I asked a cashier if I could bring my own container for spices (I can use my produce bags for the larger bulk stuff, like beans and rice, so that's not such an issue for me) and she told me that they don't have an easy way to tare containers at the register anymore (there used to be a button, but it was taken away apparently) and the cashier seemed very opposed to the idea. I don't want to be one of *those* customers (I've worked retail, I know *those* customers) so I just decided to not bother.

The other day I needed a spice and I decided, since my container is super light (it's a cheap plastic tupperware-type that still works perfectly fine, so I still use it) I decided I'd just eat the like .1 oz weight and use it, instead of those plastic bags they have. I get to the register and the cashier (a different one) asked me if I knew the tare so she could take it off. I was wholly unprepared for that question and explained what the other cashier had said. She told me she doesn't mind doing it, that you just have to figure out how to make the register do what you want. Then she took off .1 oz from the weight for me.

It was quite a ride. I'm still going to go in assuming that I'll pay for the privilege of using my own container, and just be pleasantly surprised if I get a cashier willing to fight the register to take the tare off.

[Ashibe_bae]

I live in Houston. What I do is I go to regular grocery stores and fill my bulk bin stuff up in the plastic bags and then transfer them to jars when I get home. It is not possible to be zero waste in Houston. I have not found any stores that offer cleaning products, oils, or liquid soaps in bulk.

One thing I feel that people do not bring up that often when it comes to zero waste shopping is that it can be extremely cheap if you do have access to bulk bins. The Whole Foods and Sprouts in my area always constantly have sales on certain products. Yes, I do have to buy what is on sale, but who can beat $0.30 a pound for brown rice??? Honestly I got into zero waste shopping because in some instances it is a lot cheaper. Loose fruits and vegetables not in plastic can sometimes be more expensive, but if you go to multiple stores (yes I know this takes a lot of time and is unreasonable for some people) you can make it work on the cheap.

Also, going to some sit down restaurants can be "zero waste" as long as you don't use a plastic straw. But no one talks about the waste behind the scenes. Clearly there is waste being made for my Beyond Burger I just ordered since I know that that product comes in plastic.

The only food products I currently buy that are prepackaged are plant-based milk and some mock meats/ tofu. I think it is important on a plant-based diet/ vegan diet to get enough protein in, and sometimes I don't feel like just eating lentils or beans. Honestly, if I only ate lentils and beans I would have to eat a huge volume to meet my nutrient needs. I don't find it reasonable all the time.

[naomimay]

We have a grocery store called Hy-Vee and they have a bulk aisle. They do not offer plastic bags at all in their bulk section. They provide fully compostable brown paper bags. I am so happy about this!! My own containers are not allowed, but compostable bags are just as good! I cut them up and throw them in my compost.

[kimberlyhansen]

At Winco, you can take the paper bags from the front of the store (where the bags are at the registers) that are used to put single alcohol/beers in. It costs a few cents more than the plastic bag but you can reuse the paper bags or compost them.