Day #1 of Successful Plastic Bag-Free Shopping – Check!

Committing to shopping plastic bag-free is all about getting organised. The first step is always the hardest however stick with it. I am here to prove if I can change my habits anyone can.

Posted by Shea on February 16, 2014

All this research is inarguably pointing to ridding our home of plastic bags so it is time to tackle plastic bag-free shopping!

Today is shopping day, so I have pulled out the reusable shopping bags from the back of the pantry and set off to buy our fruit and veg and conquer plastic bag-free shopping.

Over the last week I have had many conversations, both with you guys (the dedicated support team of this blog) and of course my Sister, regarding the use of plastic bags. Pulling that disastrous number of 151 at the end of my Plastic Bag Stocktake was a huge wake-up call for me and solutions need to be found.

How did you guys go with the count?

Where To Recycle Plastic Bags

Seems my Sister has one solution to instantly (and still responsibly) reduce my tally – ‘shopping bag recycle bins’ at the supermarket. I had never heard of them before, have you?

So into the boot my excess bags go, along with the reusable shopping bags and I’m off to my Sister’s local shopping centre to investigate.

Must Read: A Super Easy and Practical Way to Reuse Orange Produce Bags

Morningside Central, Qld deserves a huge plug here. I came away from this new shopping destination (for me) so very impressed with the opportunities this complex have in place for recycling.

Discoveries While Shopping Plastic Bag-free

The first thing I came across was a recycling box on the corner full of reusable cardboard boxes – they are out in full view for whoever wants them
Next, I headed to the supermarket to drop off my bag of ‘bags’ and walked past the fruit and veg store. They had another pile of boxes next to the cashier, ready to fill with their customers produce
As I walked into the supermarket displayed front and centre, was a stand selling all kinds of reusable bags. There were the usual ones with the supported base and of course the cold bags. I was surprised and impressed to see something new (well new to me anyway) packs of smaller, reusable shopping bags
I walked through the turnstiles and at my disposal was a stand of antibacterial wipes. Nothing to do with recycling but, a perfect shop courtesy to stop the spread of germs. Especially useful to wipe down your shopping trolley before sitting your child in the presumably putrid child seat
As I was going through the check out there was a sign above the cash register reminding the cashier to – ‘Aim to put 7 items in each bag’. Clearly, no one has that sign up at the store where they pack my online grocery order!

Must Read: The Most Practical and Convenient Reusable Bag to Make Plastic Bag-Free Shopping Easy

Successful Grocery Shopping Plastic Bag-free

As I walked out carrying my reusable shopping bags (which incidentally had the opposition branded all over it, uh oh) a big ‘so proud of myself’ smile grew across my face. That wasn’t hard at all.

I placed my 100 odd unneeded plastic bags from home in the recycle bin provided, whilst wondering where they go from there? I need to do some more digging to answer that question as the lady I asked on the checkout wasn’t 100% sure. She knew they weren’t reused in store and was equally confident they were disposed of correctly and the plastic reused for other purposes.

So shopping without plastic bags – so far easily done. Handed over my bag, very obliging cashier packed my couple of items in it and off I went.

Next stop the fruit and veg store next door. Although I buy our perishables from big-name supermarkets, I avoid buying fresh produce there. But that is another story….

Successful Fruit and Vegetable Shopping Plastic Bag-free

Shopping without plastic bags for fresh produce became a little trickier:

Firstly I didn’t take into consideration buying those couple of items at the supermarket and one bag, out of two bags, was nearly full before I even started
The second challenge was being conscious not to pick up prepackaged items unless totally unavoidable (we’ve already talked about those tomatoes from last week….) I found lettuce, certain fresh herbs and potatoes were all prepackaged in plastic at this store – so disappointed!
Thirdly – the grapes!!
When they aren’t sealed in a bag, apart from them coming off the stems and getting everywhere, it seems it is far easier for the children to reach in and demolish them before we’ve even left the store

Although I had to put some thought into keeping the items safe in the trolley with only having one reusable bag at my disposal, there was relief at the check out when I was politely asked – “would you like a bag or a box?”

Of course I had forgotten about that pile of boxes I walked past earlier so, without hesitation, I grabbed a box and all my fragile choices were safely stored and easy to carry to the car. Even the grapes had a safe area. To top it off the box will later become very handy later on for a cardboard weed mat, under the mulch, in my garden.

Day #1 of plastic bag-free shopping – Check!

So what I’ve discovered so far is:

– Be overly prepared and take more bags than you think you will need.
– Supermarkets and shopping complex’s need to take a proactive approach and offer alternative package solutions other than relying on the plastic bag. It is way overdue and people will find another store if their needs aren’t met.

Pin For Later

What do you pack your shopping into to transport home?

Join in the conversation! We would all love to benefit from your plastic bag-free shopping experience(s) either the comment section below, Instagram, Facebook or Pinterest.

Any tips would be greatly appreciated and questions will be answered to the best of my ability.

Looking forward to our future conversations,
X Shea