The challenges of shopping for Plastic Free July

21 July 2017

Nearing the end of Plastic Free July, and Danielle shares the challenges of shopping for Plastic Free July

GROCERY SHOPPING

Prior to starting Plastic Free July, I brought reusable produce bags, ‘honeywrap’ food covers and researched online to find alternatives for our usual plastic wrapped food products.

The first shop was time-consuming due to having to go to multiple stores, but between Farros, New World and Bakers Delight I was able to purchase most ‘plastic free’ replacements quite easily.

The staff at the New World deli counter were happy to replace the plastic for paper (except for the price sticker) for the deli meats and cheese, and Farros sell milk in glass bottles. Unfortunately, the milk comes in 1L bottles for around $7 each, but we also brought fresh milk from a Taupaki farm for $3.50 per/L. Our coffee already comes in a glass jar, and the sugar in a paper bag, but trying to find tea bags that aren’t wrapped in plastic has proved difficult.

I have also found that I will need to do two smaller shops a week because the shelf life of the deli meats and bread is only a few days (but tastes so much better!)

Items that I have found difficult to replace are muesli, tea bags, and instant noodles. I will add Bin Inn to my shopping route to source the muesli, but I think it will be a month without instant noodles!