Packaging

[Neuling]

Originally Posted by sunshineleith

I miss the www.bulkbarn.ca

And where do you put the stuff you buy? I assume you cannot bring your own bags, jars etc. for hygienic reasons.
Cool prices by the way, about 1/2 of what we pay over here.

[sunshineleith]

Originally Posted by Neuling

And where do you put the stuff you buy? I assume you cannot bring your own bags, jars etc. for hygienic reasons.
Cool prices by the way, about 1/2 of what we pay over here.

They supply very thin plastic bags, which are recyclable, as well as super lightweight plastic tubs (for the more liquidy items like peanut butter, honey and pie filling) - which again, can be either brought back to the store for refills later or reused at home or recycled. At some stores you can also bring your own containers and they'll deduct the weight.

Then at home, you store it in your own packaging, tupperware containers, etc. It's a really brilliant store. I can't believe no one here (in England) has done this yet, especially as stuff is SO overpackaged here. Even fruit and vegetables in the UK is packaged into plastic, foam trays, etc. So the bulk barn aside, a lot of stuff in the major grocery stores in Canada is largely laid out "bulk style" like the green grocers here, and is sold by weight according to what you put in your little plastic bag. It cuts the cost to the seller and the consumer and saves on packaging.

The over-packaging in stores here still takes me aback and I find it very surprising that it is so prevalent, as on many fronts, (proactive on recycling, labelling things as non-GMO, lots of free-range/organic, etc.) the UK does very well.

[Neuling]

Yes, I noticed that at Tesco's, lot's of packaging. But with bananas it is different, which is great for exotic spiders

Down here fruit and vegetables are usually sold in those very thin plastic bags you mentioned where you fill in as much as you need. I assume the problem with that is that most customers naturally pick the good stuff so that some produce simply doesn't get sold and has to be disposed of. With trays and closed bags you usually get a certain percentage of produce that is not in good shape and the supermarket gets rid of it. Especially when one cannot inspect every single fruit from every side through the foil.

Outside the big cities one can also buy directly from farmers. I remember the huge strawberry fields in Germany where customers themselves do the harvesting so to speak.