Imagine this: You go to the store, pick up your cut of meat or deli items, and everything is packaged in plastic bags or trays. Once you’re home, you use the food and throw away the packaging—straight into the landfill. Unfortunately, this is a common practice, and Western Australians are among the largest producers of waste per person in the world. But there’s a simple alternative to this wasteful cycle: refill your own container!
Why Refill Your Own Container?
By bringing your own reusable containers to the store, you can dramatically reduce single-use plastic waste. Instead of contributing to the mountains of waste created by plastic bags, trays, and packaging, you can eliminate unnecessary rubbish altogether. Plus, it makes storing food easier at home since containers stack neatly and can go straight from the fridge or freezer to the table.
How to Refill Your Own Container
Refilling your own container is easier than you might think. Here’s how you do it:
- Bring Your Clean Container: Choose a food-grade container like glass jars, metal tins, or reusable plastic containers. It just needs to be clean and ready to use.
- Hand Over Your Container: When at the deli, butcher, or bulk food store (like Wasteless Pantry), hand your container to the assistant and ask them to place your food item inside.
- Tare the Weight: The assistant will place your container on the scale, press the TARE button, and set the scale to zero before they start filling. This way, you’ll only pay for the weight of your food—not the container.
- Weigh and Label: Your container is filled, weighed, and the price is printed or noted.
- Store at Home: Once you’re home, your food is already in a container, reducing packaging waste and making storage a breeze. No extra steps required!
Where to Refill Your Container
Many stores are already familiar with this process. You can also try your local deli or butcher—just ask if they’re happy to help. If you’re nervous about trying it for the first time, you can always say, “Jeannie and Amanda from Wasteless Pantry suggested I try this!”
Why It’s Worth It
By bringing your own containers, you’re not only reducing plastic waste but also saving time. Stackable containers are easier to store in the fridge or freezer, and deli items can be served directly from the container, making mealtime simpler. Plus, this small change is an important step in planning and reducing food waste.
Take the Challenge!
We challenge you to bring your own container for just one purchase this week. Snap a photo of your zero-waste shopping experience and share it on our Facebook page. Let us know if you’d do it again!
Thank you for this great tip! I agree though the scariest part for me will be actually asking to do this – but I will try! 🙂
I just tried this at my local woolies – their policy was: staff cannot pack the items into resusable containers (it has to be done by the customer themselves) due to health hygiene etc. This was fine with me…until it meant that they had to weigh the produce by first placing a plastic liner on the scales, then using the liner to pass the produce to me so I could be the one to put it into the container. Plastic liner then gets thrown away!!
There seems to be a lot of variation between stores and even more education needed too! My suggestion is to go where you get what you need without packaging and where you are able to put your money toward retailers doing the right thing. It really depends on your location but generally there should be someone around that will be more helpful. Good luck!
Hi, how does the butcher pick up the meat from the deli shelves? My butcher uses a plastic bag.. how do I avoid the use of the plastic bag to pick the meat up?
There is always a way – they can use tongs instead of a plastic bag quite easily 🙂