Saturday, August 22, 2009

Day 39 and 40 - My own containers to the bulk store, and natural dish soap

I'm posting this one in advance of Sunday and Monday, and then tomorrow, I'll post changes that will take effect on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, as I'll be traveling a bit this week.

Yesterday, I took one of my homemade drawstring bags to Bulk Barn for some black beans. I was a little nervous as to how the staff of Bulk Barn would react to someone using their own containers instead of the provided thin plastic bags, because in the years I've been shopping there, I've never seen anyone do what I was about to do. I shop Bulk Barn whenever I can, and it's a great way to save money on things like flour and nuts. Yesterday, I needed beans for the soup that is currently simmering on the stove. So I filled my little sack and approached the cash. The cashier looked in my bag to see what I wished to purchase, and then happily rang me in. She even liked my bag. And that was that. No drama or trauma. Just me and my beans and no plastic bag. Thrilling! Ok, so maybe I paid a smidgen more than I would have, due to fabric weighing more than plastic, but oh well. Normally I only buy dry goods at Bulk Barn, where my little sacks work great. If I ever buy something like peanut butter, I'll just have to remember to bring my own containers from home.

I switched to eco-friendly dishwasher detergent a while ago, and I'm very happy with the results it is giving me. Now I need eco-friendly dish soap that I can use when I hand wash dishes, which, frankly, almost never happens. I don't buy things that can't go in the dishwasher. But my stock pot just won't fit. So this is the one thing I must wash by hand. And yesterday I used up the last little bit of apple-scented, micro-bubble cleanser green goo that took me over a year to go through, and now I'm heading out to find some soap that better for the planet.

5 comments:

fem pen said...

I use Dr. Bronner's lavender bar soap. Yep, bar soap. Rub the sponge on it and it's good to go. Works great, no plastic.

Crunchy Chicken said...

I use Planet Dishsoap. It is, by far, better than anything else I've used, even on super greasy nasty stuff.

Q said...

you might not even be paying that little bit extra for your bulk stuff. Most cash registers have a code for "heavier" bags on their snazzy little keyboard. It's usually used for when people buy their fruit in the paper bags provided for mushrooms.(I had to learn about it when I was a cashier) but it also works with bring your own bags.

Anonymous said...

I love Seventh Generation's Free and Clear dishsoap. Currently trying out Ecover's dishsoap (it was on sale this month at the co-op).

Brandi said...

Also, if you take heavier containers, glass jars or heavier bags - go through the line first, have them weighed and write the weight on a piece of tape on top. There is a way they can subtract the weight of the jars at check-out. I see this all the time.