Plastic-free shopping - tips and tricks for your shopping without plastic

Every year, Germany produces around 18 million tons of plastic waste. Phew!  These stats are a hard pill to swallow.
Nevertheless, it's not surprising when you think about it, because plastic has been part of almost everything our society produces since the middle of the 20th century. Plastic and microplastics are contained in packaging of all kinds: in shampoos, cosmetics, water bottles, toys and much more. In the meantime, the problem is fortunately also recognized as such and more and more people want to actively do something against the plastic flood. That's why there are already many solutions and alternatives for plastic-free and unpackaged shopping. You find it hard to get started? This one isn't, because we'll tell you how to do it the easiest way, even if you don't have an unpacked store nearby!

Content:

· Preparation is everything! - What you need for your plastic-free shopping

· Where you can buy unpackaged food and plastic-free products

· Weekly market
· Directly from the farm / farm shop
· Unpacked store
· Organic supermarket
· Supermarket
· Online stores

Preparation is everything! - What you need for your plastic-free shopping

If you cook fresh and yourself, you save a lot of plastic, because individual ingredients are more often available unpackaged. Before you go shopping, check out what you already have at home that you can use for your purchase of unpackaged food and other goods. Utensils you can use:

• Empty glass bottles
• Screw jars and preserving jars
• Stainless-steel storage boxes
• Reusable fruit and vegetable net bags
• Havesack
• Tote bag
• Wicker basket
• Empty egg cartons
• Insulated stainless-steel water bottle

If you don't have the right nets for fruit, vegetables, nuts or bread, check out our ECO Fresh Bags . If you need to pack larger quantities like pasta, flour or legumes, then our Goodies Box is just what you need. With 1400 ml capacity you can take home a good portion of unpacked food. If you want to bring different components, such as strawberries, green beans, and gummy bears, our Bao Bowls+ are the way to go. If you like to get milk from your local farmer or have a milk filling station at the health food store, you can wonderfully use our insulated bottle YANG (1 L) . This way, you can bring your milk home chilled and leak-proof.   

Where you can buy unpackaged food and plastic-free products

Plastic-free shopping is a bit more effort at the beginning, since it is not possible to buy everything without packaging everywhere. But once you get the hang of it and know where to get what, it's really fun to buy unpackaged food. We'd like to show you a few ways to get unpackaged food, no matter where you live:

Weekly market 

If you have a weekly market, it's a good place to start shopping plastic-free. Many regional farmers or other producers sell their goods there as nature created them: unpackaged! Other fruit and vegetable vendors also offer their goods in bulk.

Directly from the farm / farm store

On the outskirts or in rural areas you have the possibility to buy directly from the farm or producer. Most direct marketers offer their goods without packaging and you can transport your vegetables, fruit or eggs home in containers that you bring yourself.

Unpacked store

They already exist in many cities: unpackaged stores. The principle is not completely new, but rather a modern kind of corner store. Flour, pasta, pulses, nuts, sweets, cosmetics in solid form and much more are available for customers to fill themselves. Other items, such as jams or some cleaning products, can be bought there in jars or bottles.

Organic market

Similarly, unpackaged food is offered in the vast majority of organic food stores wherever possible. Fruit and vegetables in particular are either loose or offered in plastic-free packaging. Here you can also buy cheese, sausage, ham or meat without packaging at the fresh produce counter and have it packed directly in a can that you bring yourself. 

Supermarket

Shopping without plastic is also possible in the normal supermarket around the corner, because more and more supermarkets now also offer unpackaged fruit and vegetables - often even in organic quality. In most cases, the organic varieties are marked as such with laser branding. If you pay attention, you will also find products in the supermarket that use more environmentally friendly packaging alternatives instead of plastic.

Online stores

If you can't find any suitable offers in your area, you can also find wonderful stores on the Internet that enable plastic-free shopping. Whether food, cosmetics, cleaning products or plastic-free packaging – online you will find a wide range of plastic-free food and other unpackaged goods.

Conclusion:

See, it's not that hard! With the right basic equipment and a little know-how, you can quickly start plastic-free shopping. So you do something against the plastic flood and incidentally something for your health, because probably you will cook from now on much more often fresh and yourself! So, now it's time to prepare delicious snacks and meals from your plastic-free purchases. Have fun! And if you want to enjoy them on the go or store leftovers, check out our other products in the store.