I recently bought a few things that I could easily just carry in my hands, so I said, “I don’t need a bag, thank you” and the cashier ROLLED HER EYES at me and said, “SaVInG tHe PlAnEt?” 😒 I just laughed and said, “Yeah” 😂
Exactly! I read a quote on Instagram that I absolutely loved. It said “we don’t need a few people living perfectly zero waste, we need a million people living zero waste imperfectly”
I shop at Aldi because of the savings... and we don't have many grocery stores by us... but our Aldi has basically nothing that isnt packaged, even the damn lettuce heads are in plastic.
Laura Nadel I’ve commented on Aldi’s Facebook posts and the corporate team has responded. I would encourage everyone to keep complaining and publicly shaming them. They said that they are aiming to go toward zero waste which is good to hear!
Aldi is the cheapest store and honestly I wouldn’t be able to survive without it right now so I love them but even if I had more money then I do right now I would still show there because it’s nice
@@marinavivian9383 I live in Florida where it is ridiculously hot most of the year, as a red head I avoid extended sun exposure whenever possible. Also work full time and have a 4 year old, any additional work to my already heavy load is very unlikely to happen. Would be nice is supermarkets would just go back to how they used to provide products, no plastic.
I’m literally the biggest consumer of all time and just realized I need to make some SERIOUS changes and your channel has been such a great way to get started. First to make the changes I can now and use what I have already 💃🏼
Here are the sustainability goals ALDI plans to achieve in the near future: By 2025, packaging material of all ALDI-exclusive products to be reduced by at least 15% By 2020, 100% of ALDI-exclusive consumable packaging to include How2Recycle label By 2020, implement an initiative to make private-label product packaging easier for customers to reuse Guide continuous improvement of product packaging by internal expertise and external evaluations.
I love that aldi charges for bags but keeps their boxes available for customers to uses. Yay for up-cycling! Aldi is the bomb. 💕. Aldi also takes customer feedback seriously so I encourage everyone to communicate with them!
That kind of chile is called "Poblano" pepper. Named after a state in Mexico. Chile relleno is the name of the most famous recipe with that pepper :) I like your videos. Thanks for the ideas.
The reason Aldi doesn't have a lot of things unpackaged is because they put it on the shelves the way it comes off the truck, or as close to it as possible. This helps to keep the prices low by not needing to use as much labor. A lot of places it will have packaging and then they take it out to sell it.
Its also that aldi's decides to stock their stores with items that are pre-packaged so you dont need to weight things as much, which would waste time and raise costs.
When I found out that in USA this was only done in Aldi I was shook. This is what they've done on every single supermarket in Europe for at least 20 years! I thought this was the standard.
Totally agree with your little speech at the start. It's easy to be zero waste in a big city with several zero waste shops or farmers market. So I love that you show Aldi, etc... It's not always 100% zero waste but definitely better than many people usually shop :-)
I had to smile. I'm from Germany and I was living in Chicago for a year when my host mum took me to shop at Aldi. Aldi is a primary grocery store here in Germany but the products are quite different compared to the US. The bag thing and Quarter in the cart are quite common here but my host mum was quite offended that she had to "pay" for a cart. :) In Germany I would consider Aldi a not so good zero waste store option. Most produce is in plastic, quite often packaging is bigger than it needs to be and the food options are very basic.
Just wanted to let you know that because of your videos I've decided to go back to school and study environmental science. Is that a creepy thing to say? haha. But all the little nuggets of information you give in all of your videos are so fascinating and I just want to learn more and learn how to better help the environment. You (and Madison) are doing amazing things and are very inspirational.
hey girl! can you do a vlog on clothing that is eco friendly that isn’t thrifted? like what companies out there are responsible in how they manufacture clothing.
those places overall aren’t really zero waste bc they force you to buy bulk and sometimes it’s great but the point if bulk stores have you buy only what you need.
Costco sells rice in woven reusable bags. With a zipper on top! Also lots of jarred items. Metal coffee cans that can be reused. I even reuse plastic coffee cans. Their instant coffee can be found in glass reusable containers. Sometimes cream cheese and butter in cardboard (I dont know if the cardboard is plastic mix though). Big paper corn chip bags (small plastic window) may of may not be mixed with plastic. Camping products that can be used for kitchen, everyday ware.
I do love Aldi, but I feel like a lot of their produce is packaged and it doesn't need to be which makes it difficult! Thanks so much for showing us your shopping haul at Aldi! Definitely inspires me for the next time I go shopping 🎉
At least in germany they are starting to heavily reduce the plastic wrapping of produce. I'm guessing if it works out here, they're gonna expand that practice to other countries.
I've been vegan for almost 5 years now, and I've been shopping at aldi for a couple of years. I've always loved it there because they have alot of vegan friendly items and good prices! But now trying to live more sustainable i only buy the produce, canned items, oil, spices, and vegan speciality items. I love the glass jar garlic because you can always reuse the tiny jars. I just discovered ralphs has a bulk section with low waste toilet paper maybe try that one next 😊
Fountain drinks in a reusable tumbler, jerky sheets if you eat meat, Pringles, and most have food they make there so take a reuseable container and fill it up.
Just so you know, chile rellenos is a dish made with those peppers, that’s a poblano pepper hahaha❤️ This series is great, I’d love to see you do a Kroger store! (AKA Smith’s, Fry’s, etc.) ALSO! In the US at least, all produce stickers are legally supposed to be edible. However, that butternut squash sticker doesn’t look the same as a regular sticker on an apple or banana. I eat produce stickers but I definitely wouldn’t eat that one haha
modernfarmer.com/2018/03/little-produce-stickers-are-big-waste-problem/ "Those stickers can be made of various products, though vinyl and plastic are the most common. They’re regulated by most countries as an indirect food additive, meaning that they have to pass certain tests to prove that they’re not dangerous if accidentally consumed. The stickers aren’t supposed to be edible, and they’re definitely not nutritious, but they’re unlikely to cause any bodily damage."
@@raining_trees since our body can't break down vinyl and plastic, I assume they would just pass through you in your waste and end up in waterways or god only knows where else
@@raining_trees You know how plastic accumulate in fish's stomach until they starve? So some might be chilling in there still. I wouldn't recommend eating plastic stickers. But paper is probably ok.
Ah! Youre from Texas! Youre my new favorite youtuber from how you approach sustainability and acknowledge that it is not all 100% available to everyone.
Canned potatoes are the best for smashed potatoes. Drain the can and bake at 375 for 15 min then press each one down and bake another 10 min! You can also do it with mini potatoes but those always come in plastic and you have to peel and boil them first
YOU ARE EVERYTHING!!! I cant tell you enough how amazing your content is because you show the more realistic side of "zero waste" living. In my opinion people are more willing to make smaller changes in their life instead of diving in full force but you always encourage every little change people try to do! Thankyou for this! Keep it up ❤❤❤
I just realized that a lot of Mexican grocery stores have a lot of zero waste things like rice and beans also a lot of veggies even spinach which I haven’t seen in a lot of other stores I’m Hispanic and never realized this even tho I mostly only ever shop at these places u should check them out idk if they have any where u live tho but should totally check. where I live there’s El Super,Ranch Market, and Food City which are the most common around here
We have global food & lottee here, which is predominantly Asian, amd its fkn bomb. Lots of things in plastic, however, produce isn't (woot!), big 'ol sacs of rice, all sorts of DELICIOUS DELICIOUS GOODIES THAT ARE REASONABLY PRICED
There's a carniceria like 1 minute form my house and I buy SO MUCH stuff there because none of the produce (except lettuce) comes with any packaging and they sell a lot of dry goods in bulk!
I always buy minced garlic in jars because I have chronic pain, but I recently got a food processor so I will probably go back to whole garlic (once I use up this giant container Lol)
Your kitty is so sweet, he’s hanging back just happy to be near you 🥰 The garlic in the jar is life, I hate mincing or chopping garlic but I love to cook with it alllll the time
I love aldi so much! They are my go to store because of the price and the quality of the food. It has saved me so much money and allowed me to be able to afford to eat healthy.
Canned potatoes are pretty common. I keep a few cans on hand. The kids love green beans with potatoes cooked together. And that cooked bacon is more like a thin beef jerky. It doesn’t need to be refrigerated until it’s open. My mom used to buy it.
This aligns with my experience at Aldi. I get ridiculously frustrated by the amount of packaging on all the vegetables. When I went the only veggies or fruits that were plastic free were butternut squash and watermelon. That was it. Based on that I just don’t shop there- (if only other stores started the bring your own bag or pay for ours policy!!!) I can’t stand Walmart but even Walmart is waaay better in the produce section regarding packaging, compared to Aldi. The pepper you bought is also called a poblano pepper. And yes, they have whole tinned potatoes at Winn Dixie for sure. When I shop I basically only choose from what doesn’t have packaging. Occasionally I get lazy and buy some celery or something that’s in a bag, but I go out of my way every couple of weeks and go to the health food store that is 20 minutes away and stock up on loose mushrooms, celery, and Brussel sprouts that are sold with plastic packaging everywhere else in my area: Publix, Walmart, Aldi, Winn Dixie, and Target. Appreciate you and this series, keep it up!
100% my experience. I have Aldi and Walmart next to each other and I go to Aldi is just couple things (and one of them is cheapest non-dairy milk you can find because I have not made the change yet - I need fortification for vitamin D deficiency in addition to a supplement according to my dietitian), and I was excited to see kinda cheap spices, I will get these next time. But veggies is Walmart all the way when I am not shopping in my co-op (their veggies are expensive :( )
Hey! I'm wondering if I could message you about a project I'm doing. I'm a design student, focusing on designing reuseable and returnable packaging for grocery stores and I'd love to get feedback and insights from low waste shoppers
THANK YOU for making these videos. People are intimidated by zero waste but this definitely makes it more approachable for anyone! :) I enjoy watching these videos so much.
It is always entertaining to see someone shop at Aldi the first time, it's so different than other US supermarkets - all of the brands are exclusive to Aldi. And I loled about the bacon wrapped dates because they're often hour devours at weddings and the like (they're really good).
I love shopping at Aldi. I grew up eating canned potatoes 🤣 my mom would add them to roasts or she would do a big crock pot full of green beans, potatoes and smoked sausage.
Hey there I'm from the UK and canned potatoes/carrots etc are staples for many people. Just like beans the veg is collected fresh and preserved in the can.
In Germany where Aldi is from (as am I) dates wrapped in bacon isn't uncommon at all. It's is sometimes used as a starter or as a topping for salads, mostly when hosting or on special occasions Edit: we also have 'canned' potatoes here in every grocery store however here they come in glasses for the most part. My grandma used to can them herself to make them last
One way Aldi's business model keeps their stuff cheaper is by having very few staff who are trained to do most jobs, so they don't mess about bagging groceries for able-bodied people. Tinned whole potatoes are fairly common in the UK. I don't buy them, but it's the sort of thing you'd have in your cupboard for lazy times.
Rach H for the smell i just use baking soda and water paste spread around the jar let sit till dry and then wash in vinegar and hot water and let it sit for a day or so in the window. For glue. A old towel and heat. I just melt it off and use hella elbow grease. 😂
I love that you tried this at Aldi. I live in an area that I don't have access to bulk stores or farmer's markets year round. We only have a Wal-Mart and Aldi. Thank you!!
Pablano pepper, garbanzo is the same as chickpeas, instant rice is just parboiled so it takes less time to cook, and potatoes definitely come in cans, but the quality and flavor is not great. I would recommend ethnic stores for reduced waste rice, spices, and other things. Their prices are definitely better and you can find new and exciting produce.
The only meat alternative at Aldi that doesn’t have plastic packaging wrappers are the chicken patties. Even the ground beefless crumbles and chik’n strips have plastic bags inside the plastic bag!
My mom always used to use the pre minced garlic because touching garlic made her hands smell bad. But now, she LITERALLY buys fresh garlic cloves already peeled in a plastic bag!! I can’t believe it!
Aldi is a german Store, there are a lot of people from turkey and the Middle East, which is why there were bacon covered dates. These things and other German things are very common at Aldi. Ich habe es geschafft!
I love the thing you said about zero waste and what it means to you! I live in a small village during summer where we don't have bulk stores and these series helps me out a lot! You are inspiring and amazing!:D
You inspired me to go grocery shopping and build my meals around what I can find unpackaged. I struggle a lot with some foods but I try to reduce at least snacks and unhealthy foods. If it's in packaging but I need it in my diet I will for sure buy it nonetheless :( although here I have none of USA grocery shops (lol) it's still a fun and interesting series to watch, keep it up! ❤p.s. never seen canned potatoes here in Italy but for someone might be convenient I guess
i just moved from Italy a year ago and depending where you are, there are plenty of seasonal markets from local farmers and stuff. also supermercato a&o and CosìComodo Emisfero Drive are great options for produce if you live in the vicenza area. those were my favorite places to walk to after getting my allowance for the month lol. the fruits from a&o are amazing
@@jayden4021 yeah ofc! I get most of my food unpackaged at places like Coop and Poli but I can't find many options for legumes so I usualy buy canned. it's just hard to find yogurt in glass, ya know😂 let alone plant-based alternatives. I'm lucky to have an independent bulk store nearby but sometimes as a student I don't have much time and I go for convenience. hopefully I'm gonna get better this year!
I grew up in a family that did food storage a lot. My mom always made sure it was reused or Recycle the big cans. We would plant the seeds for the garden in them. But you can also do it with the cans. Super cute and fun idea to do with family and friends.
Regarding canned potatoes. Never saw them before I moved to Denmark. But it's a really convenient alternative for elderly to just fry up on the pan to a good meal. AND the most important! Brown potatoes in the Danish kitchen is delicious! Theese preboiled canned small potatoes. Fried in butter and sugar to get brown and caramelized. We eat it at Christmas dinner and other holidays.
I liked how you clarified the title. I've always believed it's better that more people make small changes rather than a few people go zero waste (or insert any other positive movement). Because once a person feels comfortable with the small changes they've made, it's natural process to want to improve and find other ways to reduce their waste. We don't have Aldi where I live, but I've seen from other hauls that they seemed to carry most produce in plastic. I suppose that's how they can keep their cost low. I've definitely seen whole canned potatoes in stores but was never sure what people do with them. And personally, I don't like using minced garlic as the flavor isn't usually as strong, but it can be convenient if you don't have much time or have difficulty using your hand /wrist. It's like those prechopped veggies or squash. Yes, they come in plastic but some people have chronic pain and it may be their only way to consume those fresh veggies.
Also if everyone cut their waste by 25% think about how big the impact would be or even only 10%. Rather than a small minority cutting 80-90%. Plus if company's realise the market want eco friendly products that is what they will produce.
So excited about this video!! Also, some of the vegan patties have plastic and some don't. (I think the chickenless patties don't) One thing that really annoys me about my local aldi is that they sell 3 zucchini saran wrapped on a Styrofoam tray. What the heck??
I buy chopped garlic from Aldi (but the blue lid in water). I love cooking and never buy pretty much any other prepared produce item. But when I'm already chopping several things for a meal, it's nice to just take a little scoop or two of minced garlic when it calls for X number of cloves rather than get my fingers sticky and deal with the paper, etc. I'm also more about the budget right now, so I do the majority of my shopping at Aldi, and try to eliminate food waste at least. Enjoyed this!
If all else fails & I can't avoid it, I reuse plastic netting for scrubbing pots and pans. I also put a drawstring in them to reuse as mesh veggie bags when shopping. They can be used to wash delicates in too.
We eat bacon wrapped dates a lot here in Florida. They are great. Im sure there is a vegan version that could be similar. The combo salty sweet is delicious.
I live a 10 minutes walk away from a organic store. They sell a lot of fruits and veggies, coffee beans, rice, pasta, bread, oils, vinegars, nuts, wines, ... all package free. And it’s not even expensive ! If you come to Brussels, Belgium one day you should definitely go there.
Awesome videos. So approachable and friendly. Lidl (at least in Denmark) really started listening to customers and have cut plastic grocery bags complete, they sell paper ones instead now. They also sell a lot of produce without packaging and you can even buy reusable produce bags in the shore. So awesome.
CANNED POTATOES!! girl, every where in IL. Walmart, Jewel, Aldies and pretty good tasting ! There is no plastic bag in the cans either, I remember you talking about that and I have yet to come across it so far. Keep it up I love your videos.
My favorite no-plastic meal: Baked potatoes, a can of beans, chickpeas, lentils, whatever you like (those than come in metal cans), a can of corn, and fresh veggies. Super easy, cheap, and no plastic wasted!
“Instant” rice is parboiled, I think. So energy was used to pre cook it. And the garlic being processed (minced and put in oil) used some amount of energy. I’m sewing that it’s sometimes a trade off between buying things that involved energy use outside of your home or things that have some plastic but you have more control over the energy use.
I find it intriguing that You said you were confused when the person who served you on the till didn't pack your groceries. I'm from England and I find it weird that people pack for you. All the big shops here like Tesco, asda (walmart), Morrisons etc you have to pack your own bags at the end of the till. And 'smaller' brand shops lile Aldi and Lidl you are supposed pack your own things away from the till. So you put all your stuff into your trolley and then go to a counter by windows and pack your items up. It cuts down on time spent at the till which in turn saves them money and staff. I didn't realise in America that you even had someone pack your shopping for you.
Great video! Your Aldi had way more produce that wasn't prepackaged than the Aldi where I live. It's nice to see someone shopping at places that I have available to me, and looking at the zero waste options.
Cool thing abt aldi!! They put on most of the packaging if it is recyclable or not, or what parts are! Super helpful and not something I’ve seen anywhere else really! Love this. Will have to give it a try 😊
About the canned potatoes: Here in Greenland and in Denmark we use the canned potatoes to make caramelized potatoes in which we roast the potatoes with brown sugar until the brown sugar is melted into caramel. Here on youtube you can look up how to make caramelized potatoes, there are a lot of videos and they taste really good tbh.
My mom is what she affectionately calls a lazy home cook. She always uses canned whole potatoes (sometimes called "new potatoes") in stews and soups because they are usually peeled and don't take long to cook without getting overdone.
If everyone did half as much as you the world would be a much much better place! I hate that people put you down for trying to encourage people. Keep keeping on!
I’m so glad you made this video, Shelby! I also made a video about sustainable grocery shopping for students, and Aldi was on my list. I’m a grad student so I don’t really have the funds to always buy bulk bins and I try as much as possible. I always end up going to multiple places to get groceries because every store has different things that come with more sustainable packaging.
My local supermarket has just about all veg in plastic. All the pasta and rice comes in plastic too, they don't do anything in cardboard. You can't really avoid it. I don't have access to any kind of bulk store, or zero waste store so it's not possible to get anything from there. It sucks, but unless I moved to a major city (not happening, I love living where I do) there's little I can do about it.
Strange Kat Hey, thats a really annoying situation to be in, if you care about something but your environment just doesnt have the options. Maybe you want to check out some online bulk stores. There are some online shops that ship large amounts of dry food in paper packaging. So you buy big quantities because that way you dont have to order so often and bigger packages is of course better. 😅🙈
@@janini1232 Maybe if I had space in my kitchen for 5 kilos of rice or whatever, the only place I could store stuff like that is my shed, and that's a recipe for a rat infestation. Also, I can't seem to find a UK based company that does that. Bulk just isn't really a thing over here for some reason.
@@Rennie212 I live in a small town in rural Yorkshire. Most places will deliver in London, but not up here. Supermarkets are basically my only option for food, and most stuff comes wrapped in plastic.
I’m really loving this “I tried Zero Waste Grocery Shopping at ...” series! I’d really like to see Trader Joe’s next. (I really just want to see you shame them for their excessive use of plastic.) I was reminded this weekend how lucky I am here in the PNW to have a food co-op and a year round farmer’s market. We got at least a foot of snow here which closed both of them down and I was forced to shop at a Safeway. I was actually pleasantly surprised with their produce section. I was able to get everything we needed without plastic (even mushrooms!). Also when you were talking about recycling the Can compared to plastic, it reminded me of a documentary I came across the other day from a British news channel. It’s a behind the scenes look at what really has been happening to our recycling since the Chinese ban at the beginning of 2018. It’s 45 minutes, but very informative! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-oRQLilXLAIU.html
This is an awesome series keep up the great work. I’d love to see you try a small local/mom and pop grocery store. I like supporting small businesses in my area but they often have limited low waste options.
You can get grocery bags at my Aldi here in Oklahoma. You can buy paper or plastic. If I have to get bags( because I forgot mine🤦🏽♀️) I use the paper (large recyclable paper bags). They do charge you 3-6 cents per bag depending on paper or plastic but you can definitely get bags ( they are under the conveyor belts as you check out.) A HUGE PLUS in my opinion is our aldi also encourages and leaves boxes for customers to use. Banana boxes are the best! You could leave them in the back of your car and use several times (VERY STRONG/sturdy)
I thoroughly enjoy Aldi, there are some hidden gems. My mom, who has cut garlic all my life, has recently, within the last year, been, buying that same garlic, but with the blue lid, and it's been fine. You can get bag's at Aldi if you pay for them. Where I'm from, a lot of the people will use the store boxes. The store even sometimes just has a metal cart type container with boxes in the middle of it. Kind of like Sam's Club. They definitely try to make people conscious of waste though, so it's a stan.
