Sustainability is a hot topic at the moment and rightly so if we want to save our planet! I have been trying to gradually build in more sustainable ways of living into my lifestyle and lately I have been thinking more and more about the plastic contained in our food shops. There is so much waste that just goes right into our rubbish bin EVERY SINGLE DAY, but we have the POWER to reduce this! One way is shopping package free…
The Source Bulk Foods
The Sourced Bulk Foods is one of London’s finest zero waste shops and I can see why. We visited the shop in Chiswick, and it was so exciting! As soon as we walked in the door, I felt like I was in a candy store full of exciting ‘pick and mix’ everywhere I turned to. The staff were immediately welcoming, and no judgement made if you had to ask how things work.
What Products To They Have
Wow, there is no shortage of store cupboard items here. They have items ranging from oils, nut butter, pasta and rice, chickpeas, lentils and pulses, tea and coffee, nuts, dry baking items, sweet treats, spices and herbs… It really is so exciting inside. We didn’t have enough tubs for our enthusiasm…
What We Bought
We bought the following items and it all came to just below £20:
Cacao Powder
Garam Masala
Wholewheat Pasta
Raw Chocolate Almonds
Vegan Turkish Delight
Mini Doughnuts
Pecan And Maple Granola
Pumpkin Seeds
My favourite items were the pasta, the chocolate almonds and the granola. So yummy!
What Is On My Wishlist…
There are so many items that caught my eye, but we had to resist temptation as buying too much is not a good idea for food waste. Don’t worry though, next time I have my eye on… dried blueberries, blueberry powder, all the chocolate covered nuts, coconut flour, loose tea, raw chocolate covered mulberries, cacao butter, lentil pasta, nut butter….
So How Does It Work
At The Source (and many other similar shops), you can take your own containers or use the paper bags provided. They also sell jars and containers there if you should need to buy any for reusable purposes. At the start, you weigh your containers using the scales and write on a bit of brown tape the weight of each box. You can ask the staff to help if need be. Next, you fill your boxes with your treasured choices, making sure to write the product code on the same brown label as before. Don’t worry the brown tape comes straight off and does not ruin your box and it is not plastic tape! Then you take the finished boxes to the till and hey presto, the staff do the rest.
What I Thought Of The Cost
I took a photo of my receipt for evaluation purposes… It really depends on the item but some products I would say are more expensive, some are less, and some are about the same. What I would say is the quality is outstanding at The Source Bulk Foods and so you know you are getting a premium product. And you are saving the environment. Things like spices are amazing to get in zero waste shops because you can buy only what you need, and so there is less waste. Who else has lots of herbs and spices which you have only used part a jar of? These are so cheap to buy in shops like these!
My Conclusions…
Zero waste bulk food stores are becoming even more available and I hope this continues to grow. Whilst at the moment, even in London, I feel there is a real lack of them in close proximity. I had to travel in the car to my zero-waste shop of choice and this does negate the carbon footprint efforts by going on this mission…. However, if I was already in the area or got public transport then this trip would have been more sustainable! What I am trying to say at least is that I am glad more and more bulk food stores are opening and I am so excited by this change. Let’s hope for even more shops like these very soon!
Has this tempted you to try out a zero-waste food store?
