This week, I took my compost to Whole Foods for the first time, and it did not go as well as planned. When I had originally asked about composting, the women working at customer service told me just to put my compost in a bag and than place it in the designated compost bin near the customer service counter- so that is what I did. Later, I spoke to a manager, who explained that some people bring fish and other stinky items and it is not pleasant for the folks working customer service. She let me know that Whole Foods prefers that I use biodegradable compost bags and she even gave me a free box! Thank you, Julia from Whole Foods Arlington, Tx!
Another interesting tid-bit of information: Whole Foods composts meat, the packaging from the meat they sell at Wole Foods, fish (apparently), and juice boxes. Yes, juice boxes- you know those containers that most recycling center do not recycle and they usually end up in a landfill.
I had a great conversation with the produce guy at Whole Foods. He made a few suggestions on what companies I should try to buy my produce from. He was explaining that so many companies now grow organic and conventional (mostly GMO) fruits and veggies and there is a lot of cross contamination. It made me think more about where my food is coming from and what companies I want to support. He told me a great apple company is Daisy Girl right here in the USA.
1-PURCHASES
Whole Foods
- 2 pints of blueberries
- 2 bunches of celery
- Apples (5.03 lbs)
- 6 fair trade eppers (2.07 lbs)
- Carrots in bulk (4.90 lbs)
- Oranges in bulk (3.53 lbs)
- 3 bunches of fair trade banana’s (6.4 lbs)
- 2 packages of tempeh
- Cashews in bulk (1.63 lbs)
- Popcorn in bulk (3.97 lbs)
- Organic almond extract
- 3 bags of sprouted pita’s
- 4 glass bottles of kombucha
- Dates in bulk (1.17 lbs)
- Pickles in a glass jar
- Apple cider vinegar in a glass jar
Sub-total: 131.00
Non-food items
- Compostable bags Free
Restaurants
- Wednesday: J.P had his weekly lunch at Chipotle (he treated his friend because he paid for him a few weeks ago) 17.21
- Friday: We went to Chipotle for lunch 16.83
Sub-Total: 34.04
Total: 165.04
2-COMPOSTING
I will continue to bring my compost to Whole Foods because they pretty much compost anything, and this will keep many items out of our landfills!
The total weight of our compost was 12 lbs. Looking at our compost I most definitely juiced a lot this past week!
3-RECYCLING
We only purchased 2 pints of blueberries this past week that of course came pre-packaged in plastic. At first, I thought I was going to recycle all the blueberry containers, but instead I fished out all the old and new containers from my recycling. I am going to give them to my farmer to reuse for berries and such when he starts to grow them. This way he doesn't have to go out and buy containers he will already have some!
4-TRASH
The trash this week comprised of: receipts, plastic from Kombucha bottles, plastic wrap from the tempeh and some random pieces of plastic. We did a clean-up and I had to throw out some plastic!
I would like to note that the bananas I am buying now have no plastic wrap. YAY! They are certified fair-trade and eco-friendly. They are not certified organic, but I am pretty confident the farmers are not using pesticides and are probably still using horses instead of tractors.
Also, last week I mentioned making a sticker album for my daughter and that is what I did. I went through my recycling and found 2 magazines that I will be using as her album. I will be sticking all my produce stickers and any other stickers from food! You are going to have to wait for pictures- I am going to jazz up the cover first!
5-TRAVEL
This week, we travelled to the little gym, whole foods, Chipotle (it was raining) and to the nature center to go hiking. We didn't travel that much this week, and I am confident we reduced our gas emissions, even if it was a just a small amount.
The total distance traveled on the TDI was 184.1 km (114 mi). We filled up 51.56 liters (13.62 gallons) for 50.00.
[Photo used under Creative Commons from Marijn de Vries Hoogerwerff's/Flickr
We compost and recycle nearly everything we consume. Our trash output isn’t much at all anymore, and we have some great compost for our garden too. It’s amazing how a little effort can really make an impact on the amount of garbage we create.
Peace. 😉
I agree! Sometimes a little effort goes a long way! 🙂
How interesting that you can bring your compost to Whole Foods! I wonder if my local WF offers that – I’ll have to call them. We have our own compost pile but I would certainly refer others to WF if they take compost.
The cross-contamination issue is scary. I bet we’ll start hearing more and more about that in the news.
I think most WF’s take compost, I just don’t think they advertise it. Yes, the whole cross contamination thing is scary to me. Thanks for reading Micaela! 🙂
Thanks, Candice! I am going to miss Whole Foods when we finally move back to Montreal 🙁
Your grocery list sounds so yummy. I love the way you eat!
Thank you! I really try to only buy unprocessed foods!
Interesting! And can I just tell you how expensive those compostable plastic bags are? We buy them at our food co-op and… ouch! A free box is quite a gift.
Really? I have no idea how much they cost! They told me they give them out to anyone that wants to compost at WF’s!
And juice boxes and the paper the meat and fish is wrapped in! The produce guy at my store was crazy knowledgeable and some others not so much. Depends who you talk to! I avoid GMO’s as well!