Zero-waste peanut butter shopping in the US

It's my favorite thing: peanut butter. But tough to get by in a package-free way when living in Europe. So it is such a pleasure in the US to find the local bulk shop where they have an actual peanut grinder to get instant peanut butter in our own jar!

To top if off, the organic raw honey dispenser is right next to it. I'm glad my grandmother has plenty of containers in the right size I need to get just the perfect amount for the 10 days I'm spending here.

And even better, my cousin Laura is with me to have lots of fun during the whole process, her first time shopping bulk and discovering the joys of filling up our own jars.

Thanks to the Fort Collins Zero Waste Group on Facebook, led by Katie who responded very fast with recommendations of where to shop bulk while I was in town.

For those who don't know me that well yet: I've taken on the zero-waste lifestyle since 2016, co-created the Zero Waste Basel group and when living in Basel managed to have very little waste: I would bring out my small trash-bag (17 liters) every 1 or 1.5 years (yes, years). The rest was compost brought to the Bioklappe collector for biogas and a little bit of recycled items, but recycling is also a big reduction when going 'zero-waste'. If you want to know more about 'zero-waste' means and how I do it, let me know!

Shopping bulk instructions:

1. Weigh your empty jar or container and note the weight on a little sticker (picture above)
2. Fill your container with the product (peanut butter for example!) 
3. Note down the code of the product and proceed to cash register when done shopping, they do the rest

Last time I shopped for bulk peanut butter, it was 2 years ago on a business trip to Cambridge/Boston. I knew that the Harvest cooperative (sadly now closed) had a peanut butter grinder, so I specifically brought an empty jar to fill and come back home with freshly ground peanut butter. I happily packed it in my small carry-on suitcase to bring back home, but, when passing security at the airport, I was stopped and asked: 'Miss, are you carrying peanut butter in your bag?' 'Yes, why?' 'It is considered a liquid/paste/gel so you cannot take it in a jar bigger than 100mL, please throw it out.' I thought 'What???' Yes, sad but true. The security guard obviously saw my pain and offered me to step aside and eat it first. Which I did, and stood there with a very dry mouth eating as much as I could of my peanut butter while people where rushing by through the security lanes. Why did I not have honey and bread as well in my bag?! But I didn't and sadly couldn't finish and gave it up to the trash... tragic moment for a zero-waster. Moral of the story: check-in your suitcase if it contains a jar of peanut butter!

Step 2: fill your container

Laura demonstrating as well

Shopping in bulk is definitely one of my simple pleasures in life, and even better with a fun cousin