A new and car-light approach to shopping

Not using my car has caused me to change the way I shop for pretty much everything.

Before I used to make lots of trips, going to whatever store I needed on any given day. I didn't think twice about running to a store one night, and then the next night driving back to the same shopping area for another errand (either to the same place or one nearby). Each store was viewed as a separate element.

Not so anymore. For example, now my food shopping trips are smaller, more frequent. I also buy less and smaller sizes knowing I have to carry it home myself. I still do the "stocking up" kind of shopping, but in smaller batches. I'll stock up on pasta one trip, and on cereal/grains the next time. It's just more staggered now.

I'm also doing my grocery shopping in different places, places closer to home or convenient to biking/public transit. I do the bulk of my fresh fruit and vegetable shopping at the farmers' market, which is walking distance from home. Things I can't get there (admittedly, there's not much...I even get beans, pasta, milk, meat, cheese and yogurt at the Clark Park farmers' market because it's all kinds of awesome), I get from my neighborhood store (biking and walking distance!) or by taking the trolley down to Trader Joe's.

It's actually impacting my approach to eating as well. It's no longer easy to stock up on frozen meals/ice-cream/anything (they'd never make it home in the humid Philly summer heat!), so I'm being forced to eat only fresh or make my own frozen meals. Refrigerated goods travel in a soft sided insulated bag. I talked about the general shift I've made to eating fresh foods in this post, but the having to make changes to how and when I shop has only solidified my shift to primarily fresh and homemade foods. Ice cream I'm making myself, thanks to the Christmas gift from my grandmother of the ice cream bowl for my KitchenAid stand mixer (which rocks, FYI). Frozen dinners are now portioned out and frozen servings of homemade soups, stews and other meals. And believe you me, it all tastes SO much better when it's homemade.

Frankly, shifting the way I shop for food was easy. I was already half way there thanks to my CSA (I signed up for a summer 1/2 share) and the close proximity of the farmers' market.

The challenges I'm finding to this new approach to shopping are things that I have to buy in larger quantities, such as cat litter, and bulky items, such as paper towels. I'm also having to plan trips more. No longer am I running to the same shopping area more than once in a week. Now I'm waiting until I have a major list of things before I hit the stores. Now I'm planning so I go to multiple places at once. And making lists so I don't forget anything. There's no just hopping back in the car to retrieve what I forgot. Shopping trips are no longer viewed as a individual elements (each store individually), but rather one big trip with multiple pieces.

I'm coming up on the need to run errands for cat food, cat litter, and other such items that require a trip farther away than my bike can take me (and for not really bike friendly purchases) and not really accessible by public transit. Since I've never done this before, I'm planning my trip for Sunday and will most likely grossly overestimate the amount of time I'll need. Ah well. It's a learning process, right?