Refill your dry goods into jars you already own
Bring your own jars to a refill or bulk store, fill up on pasta, oats, rice and more, and pay for the food instead of the packaging it usually comes wrapped in.
Most of what we pay for in a packet of pasta or porridge is, well, the packet — plus the marketing, the multi-layer film and the bin trip it ends in. Refill shops flip that around: the food sits in big gravity bins or tubs, and you bring the container. You leave with the same oats, just without the wrapper destined for landfill within the hour.
It works because dry staples don’t need protecting the way fresh food does. Pasta, rice, lentils, flour, sugar, nuts, coffee and even oils and cleaning liquids keep perfectly well in a sealed glass jar — often better than in a flimsy bag clipped shut with a peg. Buying loose also lets you take just a handful of an unfamiliar spice instead of a whole jar you’ll never finish.
The honest nuance is convenience and price. A dedicated refill trip takes a little more planning than grabbing a packet, and not every item beats the supermarket on cost — bulk basics usually do, niche goods sometimes don’t. So treat it as a swap for your steady staples rather than an all-or-nothing mission. Even refilling your pasta and oats turns a weekly stream of plastic into a row of tidy, reusable jars.
How to do it
- Find your nearest refill shop ('Unverpackt' stores are common across Germany) or a bulk-bin section in a wholefood shop or larger supermarket.
- Gather clean, dry jars, bottles and cloth bags from home — old jam jars, passata bottles and takeaway tubs all work.
- Weigh your empty containers first (the shop has scales) and note the tare weight, or use their pre-weighed paper bags if you forgot yours.
- Fill up only what you'll get through — start with fast-movers like pasta, rice, oats, lentils, nuts, coffee and washing-up liquid.
- Pay by final weight minus the tare, so you're charged for the food and nothing else.
- Label and date each jar at home, and store them airtight so nothing goes stale before you reach the bottom.
Pro tips & pitfalls
- Take a photo of your pantry before you go so you don't come home with a third bag of red lentils and no oats.
- Wide-mouth jars are far easier to fill from a gravity bin or scoop than narrow bottles — save the bottles for oils, vinegar and syrups.
- Refill prices vary: staples like oats and pasta are often competitive, while fancier items can cost more, so compare before you commit your whole shop.
What it's good for
Good for the planet
- Beats plastic Every refill skips a plastic pasta bag, rice sack or oat pouch — a regular refiller avoids dozens of single-use wrappers a year.
- Cuts waste You buy the exact amount you need, so there's no half-used 1kg bag going stale, and the packaging waste drops to roughly nothing.
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