Exploring Refill Shops for Pasta, Rice and other Dried Goods

At a standard supermarket it is impossible to find pasta and rice in plastic free packaging.  Even when it is in a cardboard box there is a clear plastic window or plastic bag inside the box (so frustrating).  If you like lasagne then you are OK as that is all you can find in a cardboard box with no plastic in most supermarkets, however Aldi's does add a plastic window.  For all other items: pasta, couscous, rice I have enjoyed looking further afield.  The good thing is the shelf life on these dry food is long, so if you can store them correctly they do not need to be bought on your weekly shop.  So when you do take a special trip to a refill shop you can stock up for the month or two.  We visited the Echo Zero Waste Store in Altrincham to fill our jars with dried food for the month.  

  

We also found other things on the market too, like dried bananas which I love but are also great for kids packed lunch boxes with some raisins.   

  

There are a number of shops and websites that offer pasta and other dried goods plastic free.  I intend to visit all of our local ones as and when our jars need filling.  Most offer more than just pasta, rice, and lentils refills, they also have shampoo, washing up liquid, other cleaning products all to be refilled.  So take your empty bottles with you.  

A Good Life Heatons - Heaton Mersey

Eco Zero Waste Store - Altrincham market

Just Footprints - Forum shopping Centre Chester

Plastic Free Weigh - Coming to Knutsford Market Hall in April 

This link: 162 Bulk and Zero Waste Shops is great for finding places near you.  

Online there is the Plastic Free Pantry however I think you have to order quite a lot of things to make the postage not seem too expensive.   Generally these stores offer organic food which, if you are like me and not used to buying organic, seem a lot more expensive.  For example: Asda's own brand penne pasta is 90p/kg and the organic penna on Echo Zero Waste Store is £3.90 per kg, this to me is prohibitive.  I am slowly getting used to the costs of things in by weight, but it is taking a while to understand what is expensive per kg and what is not. 

I have discussed the apparent high prices through with the new owner at The Plastic Free Weigh and she explained:

'some of my items may be more expensive than the supermarkets as it's actually very very difficult to find places that will sell items not pre packaged and in bulk and this boosts that price up.  Yes it's not how it should be, but until more people make the change that's unfortunately how it is.  Also on top of that as a small independent retailer, I do not have the buying power of the likes of Tesco and Asda and that means I can't by in bulk as much which drives the costs down.  What I will do is make the the items I can get cheaper I keep cheaper, and I WILL NOT just add on more profit.'  

I was glad she was able to shed some light on the price differences.  I looked at buying bulk when in Costco and I was really disappointed to find their pasta was just lots of smaller plastic bags within one large plastic bag, so more plastic than you would get buying it from a standard supermarket.  So I do appreciate buying wholesale while also being reduced or no plastic is difficult.

I am carrying out my own plastic experiment on bulk buying.  I bought 3kg of fusilli in a plastic bag.  Once it is empty I am going to weigh the plastic bag and compare it to 6x empty 500g bags of pasta.  I am not 100% convinced that buying in bulk does reduce the amount of plastic as the larger plastic bag feels thicker to carry the extra content.  I will keep you posted when I finally get through 3kg of pasta.  I would really like this to have less plastic as it works out so much more cost effective when feeding a family and trying to be a little more eco-conscious.