Package free grocery shopping: pros and cons

As I mentioned before, our groceries are partially purchased at a refill store. Meaning, they're package free. I'll try to elaborate a bit more on this way of shopping in this post. Depending on which store we'll shop at, they have shelf stable goods in huge baskets or more tidy containers. From what I've noticed, the tidier the containers and the shops, the more expensive they are. Usually it's not self service, but an employee will measure/weigh the goods. You could bring your own container,  but usually they put it in a baggie, similar to a sandwich baggie. It's then labelled with the product/price on it. 

What kind of foods do we buy there? Legumes, some grains (such as whole wheat flour, sorghum flour, and oats), spices, nuts and seeds, cocoa powder, cornstarch, as well as some "candy". Traditional healthy treats such as frankincense (this is like natural chewing gum), corn for making popcorn, and carob. This obviously doesn't cover all our needs from the store, and there's certainly items that we don't buy there. If it were me, I'd buy everything there, but unfortunately not everything is available at the refill store. I really hope these stores will expand their assortment one day and that about everything would be available there. 

Its obvious that this kind of shopping does reduce the amount of plastic going into the landfill, which is the foremost reason why we shop like this. Seeing nature sites getting more and more cluttered with rubbish is so heartbreaking. It's frustrating when you realise that the world's plastic pollution is not inevitable, if people would just put a little more effort in how they shop. Other than environmental reasons, which are obvious, what I especially like about these kind of shops is the simplicity! You've probably seen pictures (if not in real life) of colourful markets with heaps of different coloured spices. Well, apart from the fact that it's not just spices there, it still looks quite similar. The more modern refill stores will sell their goods in a bit more neat containers, which has a bit more of the aesthetic look. It's both very simplistic in their own way. I also really appreciate that this way we're cutting back on our plastic use. Living in a country where there's a garbage problem in some areas, it's clear how much plastic is being wasted. I cringe at every disposable plastic item that I can easily avoid using. Yes, they do use sandwich baggies in those shops, but I make sure to simply reuse those. So that's not too big of an issue (to me), and otherwise I can still bring my own containers. Another benefit of these shops is that they're usually just so much cheaper! Just to compare; oats are about double the price here if you'd buy them in the supermarket. And at the refill store, they already are quite expensive. You'll get the exact same product, which means you're paying all that money just for a cardboard box. Not even a firm reusable box with a lid or something. That's just throwing money into the trash, in my opinion. What I also like is that with package free shopping, you're not dependent on the package sizes that you find in the supermarket. When you have a small household or only want to buy a certain (small) amount for whatever reason, this is possible- you can buy just however much you want (this is the case where we buy our goods anyhow). This is a good way to avoid wasting foods. 

Of course, as with everything, there are cons - or others may consider them to be cons, anyhow. I only see benefits in shopping this way but I'd thought of including them anyway. Since it's package free, there's obviously no "use by" date. To me, that's no issue at all - I think that putting dates on shelf stable foods is just a way to encourage wasting foods. If it looks and smells good, I'll just eat it.                                                            With foods not being "properly" packed, you do need suitable containers. Yes, this may cost a bit initially, but it doesn't necessarily mean very trendy and expensive ones with the "zero waste aesthetics", you can just buy the cheapest plastic containers you can find, or simply reuse food containers. With smaller kitchens, this does take up a bit more space at times, but I'm willing to sacrifice that space (I have no idea what else to store in my cupboards anyway). We have a lot of smaller buckets, I think they're 5L buckets, not completely sure - there fits about 3.5 kg of flour in a bucket. I also have smaller containers for the foods that we don't buy in bigger quantities, such as sorghum flour. Yes, this does take up space but I don't think it takes up much more space than stocking the average pantry with packaged items. The reason why we need a lot of space is due to the fact that we're buying in bulk, not so because of the lack of packaging. As long as you're using suitable containers, it's not that much of a space they're occupying. 

All in all I like the way we shop- the way people have been doing this before supermarkets were there. You may find it too costly, which unfortunately is the case in some countries, unfortunately, and I can totally understand that especially in these times, people look at the prices solely. Some may find it too time consuming, which I can understand too. I'm privileged with a refill store in our street, even though we usually go to another one in a different neighbourhood, but it's still very accessible.

Still, despite people's general reluctance of returning to the old ways of shopping, I am very enthusiastic about it. It just may take some planning and making shopping lists and investing in containers.