• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Contact
Family Focus Blog Header

Family Focus Blog

Top family blog by Nashville mom blogger

  • Crafts & Activities
  • Home Decor
  • Green Living
  • Family Food
  • Lifestyle
  • Parenting
  • Family Travel
You are here: Home / Green Living and Eco-Friendly Tips / Why You Should Start Bulk Food Shopping [Surprising Facts]

Why You Should Start Bulk Food Shopping [Surprising Facts]

August 16, 2019 by Scarlet

178 shares
  • Share119
  • Tweet36
  • Yummly

Most people are aware that shopping in bulk is a great money saver. Did you know that shopping in bulk is a green choice too? I use the term bulk food shopping to refer to buying goods from bulk bins at the store. I also use it to include buying in bulk packages. Shopping in bulk is a eco-friendly choice because it conserves energy in many ways. Learn all the advantages of buying in bulk here.

Bulk Food Shopping Saves Money, Conserves Energy And Reduces Waste

bulk food shopping
The bulk foods section at my local Sprouts.

Here are all the reasons you want to create a natural and organic pantry filled with eco-friendly bulk foods to feed your family. Buying in bulk reduces the amount of packaging used for those goods. This results in less packaging waste in landfills as well as saving the water and energy used to produce the extra packaging.

According to the ACEEE, “Freight trucks are responsible for almost 20% of all transportation-related fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions in the United States.”  Bulk food shopping helps reduce transportation inefficiency. Items packaged for bulk sale have less packaging and take up less space. This means that they can be transported more efficiently. In other words, less trips and less fuel will be needed to carry bulk packaging.

Buying natural and organic bulk foods from the bulk bins provide significant benefits to the environment. Chief among these is that a substantial amount of packaging waste is diverted from landfills. Bulk foods also decrease emissions. The transportation of bulk product to retailers is efficient as it can be packed more densely on a truck. But that’s not all.  Organic bulk foods on average cost 89% less than their packaged counterparts!

why buy bulk foods / Family Focus Blog
Infographic provided by the Bulk is Green Council, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the environmental and economical benefits of natural and organic bulk foods.

Where To Buy Bulk Foods:

Many health food stores have bulk aisles where you can load up things like oatmeal, grains, nuts, and even snack foods.  While most conventional grocery stores don’t have large bulk sections, you can usually find at least a bulk coffee bean section. 

When the bulk bins purchasing options are limited, go for large bulk bags. Instead of individually wrapped servings of chips that are then packaged again, get the “party sized” bag of chips and use bulk food storage containers such as jars or canister to store them. Then use small reusable containers to pack your food to go.

Another innovation that I have noticed is that some products are being concentrated. This provides the same benefits of buying in bulk. It reduces packaging waste and energy consumption as well as reduced freight weight and space.     

You can also try bulk food shopping online with my affiliate links to retailers like iHerb and Amazon.

bulk foods reduce packaging / Family Focus Blog
Bulk food shopping refers to buying foods from the bulk bins of a grocery store which results in less waste and less packaging.

So get ready to love bulk foods!  It is one of the easy ways to go green every day of the year. What products do you buy in bulk?  Have you considered asking your grocer to carry more bulk items?

Related Posts:

10 Ways To Go Green With Little Effort

How To Shop More Sustainably

Tips To Help You Live Local

178 shares
  • Share119
  • Tweet36
  • Yummly

Filed Under: Green Living and Eco-Friendly Tips Tagged With: go green, shopping

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Liz says

    August 16, 2019 at 7:43 am

    I’m all for doing this! I wish more grocery stores had bigger bulk sections though.

  2. Lauralee Hensley says

    August 16, 2019 at 10:56 am

    The garden shop I went to, to get some information on my soil type, had bulk garden seeds. It was wonderful, they weren’t hidden inside little paper packages where you couldn’t see if they looked like strong healthy seeds or not. You could tell what they looked like. Then they were put inside of a small, not bleached paper towel and folded in the little towels. The little paper towel was then safe to put in the ground as compost because it doesn’t have any inks, or bleaches in it.

Primary Sidebar

Let's Be Friends!

Welcome To Family Focus Blog

Family Blogger
Thanks for reading Family Focus Blog, which has been named a top family blog for parenting resources. It was created in 2010 by Nashville mom blogger, Scarlet Paolicchi. She shares tips for better family life, parenting, family fun activities, eco-friendly lifestyle, family food ideas, family travel, and home decor. Family Focus Blog has been named #3 in Cision PR’s 50 U.S. Top Mom Blog list. Scarlet Paolicchi is the author of four books.

Affiliate Link To My Book On Amazon

Gratitude Journal For Teens

Footer

Popular Posts

Importance of Family In Society
Benefits Of Spending Time With Family
Family Oriented Meaning
Bible Verses About Parenting Responsibilities
Qualities Of A Role Model
Jello Chocolate Pudding Pie Recipe

Disclosure

Family Focus Blog is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program. We also accept forms of cash advertising and sponsorship. We disclose material relationships and share honest opinions.
Privacy Policy

Copyright

© Scarlet Paolicchi and Family Focus Blog, 2010-2023. Short excerpts of this family blog may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Family Focus Blog with link back to the original content. Duplicating a whole post is strictly prohibited.

Copyright © 2023