I have been shopping at Save-On-Foods for over ten years. It is the store I shop at most frequently because it is the closest to my house. However, over the years I have grown to love it because they have been supportive of my zero waste shopping style.
Bulk Section
The easiest zero waste shopping change I made was using cloth bags for items from the bulk section. I have had the same small cloth bags for over a year and I love them. This is one of my top easy swaps for zero waste beginners.
Save-On-Foods has a great bulk section with a variety of nuts (raw, roasted, un/salted), seeds, grains, coffee, candy, dried fruit, granola, snacks – you name it! You never need to get one of their plastic bags if you have your own cloth bags. You can use their tags for writing the bin number (not zero waste), or you can write them all in your phone. I find it easier for the cashier if I just reuse the tags or get new ones. If you write the name of the item that goes with the bin number they are much easier to reuse.
I realize that not everyone is able to shop in the bulk section due to alergies. So safe packaging plays an important role in our society. But in my case I can work towards reducing the amount of plastic bags wasted by using my reusable cloth bags. I am grateful I don’t need to worry about cross contamination.
Spices
Save-On-Foods has a small section with bulk spices. They don’t have refills to all of the spices in my rack but they have some of my most commonly used spices: sea salt, pepper, cumin, paprika, garlic powder. Recently I started to take advantage of this. My experience went something like this:
Prepare for Spices
Before I go shopping I prepare the containers that I will need for the excursion. This really gets me writing good lists and shopping with intention. I clean and dry a short mason jar for each type of spice I want to buy. Then I put the lid on the jar and put a piece of masking tape on the lid. I write the name of the spice on the tape leaving space for the weight of the jar and the bin number.
Weigh then Scoop
When I arrive at the store, I head to the checkout and ask the cashier to weigh the jar (lid on) for me. I write the weight of it on the piece of masking tape. Then I head to the spice section and add the spice to the jar. Be sure to use a jar with a wide enough opening, I tried with a store bought spice jar but it was difficult because the scoop was wider than the narrow jar.
Tare the Jar
When I get to the checkout it I usually have to explain the situation to the cashier. I tell them that we already weighed the jar and that needs to be subtracted from the total weight to find out how much it will cost. Some cashiers panic in which case I apologize and tell them it is possible and I have done it before. Usually someone knows how to do it and they will come over and help. But the last time I went, nobody knew how to enter the weight of my jar into the register. I used my calculater to manually subtract the amount.
This really gets me writing good lists and shopping with intention.
The good news is that a whole jar of spices like cumin for example, costs me just $0.70 as opposed to $7. I transferred the cumin into my store bought jar when I arrived home and disovered that I filled the jar and still had left over. The savings was amazing!
Apologize and be Grateful!
I won’t lie, it is awkward to shop this way. I end up apologizing to all of the cashiers who have helped and to the people in line behind me! But so far, everyone has been very supportive. Several times the people behind me in line have thanked me for using my own containers and told me they might try it too.
After several awkward moments at the cashier, I decided I should phone the manager of my local Save-On-Foods. I was able to get in touch with him right away and he was very positive about the whole ordeal. I asked him if shopping with my own containers is even allowed and he said that it is absolutely encouraged. He even offered to contact headquarters to find out if they can offer a $0.05 incentive for each plastic bag I save by bringing in my own jar. The manager promised to educate the cashiers so they all know how to tare a jar. He is committed to moving towards zero waste at Save-On-Foods. This was such a welcome surprise as my experience at Whole Foods was quite the opposite. They flat out disallow me to bring my own jar. More on that later. Thank you Save-On-Foods!
Deli
I have also had a good experience at the deli counter at Save-On-Foods. When I bring my own glass food container olives in, they happily fill it. It is easy for them to tare the container just before putting the food in. Then they can print the sticker with the price on it so scanning the sticker is easy at the checkout. Maybe eventually they can move away from using stickers and the piece of deli paper but for now, I am very happy not bringing home a plastic bag or olive container. This is one small advancement for zero waste at Save-On-Foods.
Some of the people working at the deli counter also happily put sliced meats in my container but I have been refused by the deli manager. She said there is an issue with food safety and they will not do it anymore. They offer a piece of paper instead of the plastic bag.
Raw Meats
I do not purchase my meat at Save-On-Foods because of the packaging it comes with. There are two other butchers that I prefer to go to that let me get my chicken (ground, thighs or breasts) in my own container. The meat department at Save-On-Foods is already packaged usually in styrofoam with a pad and plastic wrap. Maybe I will ask the manager to consider making a change in this area but for now I will buy my meat elsewhere.
Produce
I wouldn’t say I am overly happy with the choices at Save-On-Foods for produce. I am often faced with the decision to purchase organic fruit in plastic bags or non-organic without the plastic. The berries usually come in a plastic clamshell container as opposed to Kin’s Farm Market where I can either take the “paper boxes” or put the berries in my own cloth bags. Their organic potatoes, apples, cauliflower and cucumber all come wrapped in plastic. This encourages me to shop at the farmer’s markets for produce.
Save-On-Foods Waste Reduction Success
Although Save-On-Foods has some zero waste improvements to make (produce is often wrapped in plastic, meats, cheeses) they have been very supportive and proactive. In January 2019, they announced a 6 year plan to reduce their food waste by 50%. They reached that goal within 6 months and have revised to goal to become zero waste within 3 years. CEO Darrell Jones says their priority is to minimize the food they have to give away in the first place. For the food that cannot be sold, they are working with local food security groups to help distribute the human edible food to food banks and the rest to farms for feed and compost. Way to go Save-On-Foods!
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