MOM’s, My Organic Market, currently has 12 stores between Virginia and Pennsylvania. The owner started providing organic produce out of his mom’s garage in the 1980s. They’re very focused on protecting and restoring the environment. For example, the stores use 100% wind energy, LED bulbs, and recycle just about everything including Christmas tree lights. Instead of selling bottled water, they sell reverse-osmosis filtered water by the gallon, tap water filters, and reusable bottles.
Here are pictures of the beautiful, clean, and wide well-lit aisles at MOM’s. You can always bring in your own containers and buy food, herbs, spices, and coffee in bulk if you want to save money and packaging.
Part of ‘getting real’ has extended to paying attention to what we are consuming our food IN. For example, we started filling reusable, stainless steel water bottles with tap water for lunches instead of using disposable juice boxes or plastic. We watched a special on ABC (I don’t remember what it was called) showing the thick, disgusting, plastic soup out in the ocean. It reminded us that the stuff that you’re going to be using for the shortest amount of time often gets packaged in material that will take the longest to decompose. Find a stainless water bottle or thermos that the kids can open and close easily; it took some practice for us to find one they could always completely close so they’re not consistently soaking their lunch bags. Everyone should have a reusable lunch bag by now instead of wasting another bag every day. One purchased lunch bag each has lasted our kids three years. Every couple of months we turn it inside out and run it through the washer, then set it somewhere to dry before turning right-side out.
About half way to MOM’s after our weekly coffee stop, I realized we forgot to bring our own travel mugs and were drinking out of the single-use mugs from the cafe. It’s so hard to change old habits. “Like trying to turn a ship, babe,” Tony says. Just like any digression from the plan: nothing gained in feeling bad about it, just remember next time.
Here is my happy car charging away for free while I’m in the store shopping.
