After taking a long, hard look at the disgusting amount of garbage I produce with just one measly trip to the store, I headed out in an attempt to change my ways. I wanted to try to buy everything completely waste-free, including things that I would usually recycle, which ended up being way harder than it sounds.

The first step was changing my grocery store. The closest market to my apartment is a Key Foods, but I also like to shop at Trader Joe's. However, neither offers bulk dry items, which I knew was the easiest place to start. Plus, both stores package a lot of their produce and proteins in plastic containers, plastic wrap, and even styrofoam, so that was an automatic no-go.

I started at Whole Foods, because they're in most major cities across the U.S. and it was the only place I could think of off the top of my head that offers bulk items. I set out armed with reusable tote bags and Mason jars for my bulk goods, and I quickly learned that I had no idea what I was doing.

First of all, most of the produce at Whole Foods still has stickers and rubber bands, in fact the amount of unavoidable waste I saw just making one lap was anxiety-inducing. In order to avoid stickers, I would have to go to the farmers' market, which meant spending more on produce than I'd generally like to and being forced to eat a largely local and seasonal diet, which while admirable, isn't necessarily the point of this exercise.

Meat was a whole other problem. Everything is prepackaged. And even if you try to order at the counter — and make a complete fool of yourself asking if you can put said meat or fish in a tupperware instead of in the paper they wrap it in — they still have to weigh the protein on a piece of paper on a scale. Plus, that inevitably prints out a price sticker that you have to use to purchase it. Even farmers' market stalls typically wrap their meats, fish, and cheese inside some kind of paper or plastic. So then my shopping trip suddenly turned vegetarian, another twist I was completely unprepared for.

The experience wasn't a total bust. I was able to buy bulk dry items like quinoa and lentils, which is cheaper in the long run. You can even buy bulk snacks package-free, like granola, trail mix, and nuts. And there's peanut butter, which you can grind yourself. Plus, after speaking to an employee, I found out that I could write down the code numbers of whatever I was purchasing and tell them to the cashier instead of getting stickers printed out — score!

After checking out (I hold up the line with all my bulk codes and learn that it's pretty impossible to avoid a receipt unless you just don't take it, but it still gets trashed), I head to the farmers' market. I drop way more money than I usually do on just produce and dairy, but I grab sticker-free fruits and veggies and I'm able to get milk in a glass bottle that I can exchange once it's empty, and an egg carton that I can also bring back. Plus, if I come back next week, I can bring any compost that I've accumulated, instead of throwing it away.

At the end of my shopping, I've spent more than I'd like, but I've got a similar haul to what I'd normally grab, including grains, dairy, and produce. I'm missing meat and any sauces, butter, oil, or spices I'd need to make certain recipes, but I don't buy those things on a weekly basis, anyway.