Six Months of “Refillification” – Part 2
Thank you, Peter, for coining the term. I love that looking back on this time in our lives we will be able to refer to it as the Refillification, our own era if you will. Anyway, I have enjoyed the first phase of my experiment in paring down on packaging and other throwaways and it has given me better peace of mind and an avenue to regular engagement with small business shopkeepers. I learn new ways and means almost everyday and would like to share a couple of addendums:
Bagless Bread - Our Daily Bread’s ciabatta cuadro makes a perfectly good nest for veggie burgers, and since they are also offered in bagless, bulk supply, I no longer buy burger buns at the grocery store. Once I stumbled in on a day the bakers made hotdog style challah buns which were yummy and bag free too. And now there’s a new loaf in town; Crazy Good Bread Company just opened their retail location in Carp and they offer naked artisan loaves of all sorts. We like the Orange Chocolate round and pretzel sticks best.
Refillable Moo Juice - I already wrote that Broguiere’s milk which comes in returnable/refillable bottles can be had at six Santa Barbara area stores: Gelson’s, Lazy Acres, Montecito Village Grocery, Ralph’s on Carrillo, Tri-County Produce, and Whole Foods. Now that I am again shopping in the dairy case rather than on the almond milk shelves, I have noticed that Straus Family Creamery also supplies our neck of the woods. They have various dairy products in different volume sizes (also in returnable, refillable glass containers) available at Gelson’s, Isla Vista Co-op, Lassen’s, Lazy Acres, Tri-County Produce, and Whole Foods. I choose Broguiere’s because it’s produced at least three times closer than Straus and because their quart size best suits our needs (mostly I see Straus half-gallons around town).
DIY Yogurt - Once I got around to giving it a try and figuring out the timing, making my own yogurt was pretty easy. I used low-fat milk which made the yogurt more liquidy than what we are used to, but since we really only use it for smoothies and granola, I would rather make an imperfect batch myself than continue to buy store bought in plastic containers.
DIY “Yogurt”- After I wrote about fro-yo in this Edhat article, I was informed that by and large this frozen dessert is not the real deal and mostly filled with additives. Bummer. But rumor has it a new store is opening soon in downtown Carp that will have a natural ingredients only soft serve. We look forward to bringing our own container and giving it a (s)whirl.
Olive Oil - Thanks to the readers of my article on Edhat, I have been informed that Il Fustino on Upper State in Santa Barbara also does olive oil and balsamic refills. We will give them a try next time we’re needy.