Peanut Butter Jelly Time!
Photo by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources
(Part of my Green This House program.)
Because the hub and I have blinders on when it comes to grocery shopping (and not straying from our list … we have it down to a science), we only just noticed the self-serve peanut butter grinder in our organic supermarket’s refillable-food section. Though electrically powered1, the machine oozes smooth organic peanut butter, freshly ground from shelled peanuts in the attached stainless steel hopper. And at $3.99 a pound, it comes up to about a dollar cheaper than most commercial organic peanut butter. Plus, no preservatives or additives we don’t know about—just peanut butter in its pure, unadulterated state like Vishnu and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir intended.
And wouldn’t you know, if you tote along the same reusable plastic container for future dollops of that nutty butter, you’ll also be saving the energy used to manufacture the packaging store-stocked peanut butter comes in. (That includes the glass jar, the lid that screws on, the paper label, and even the fuel that factors into shipping all those raw resources to a manufacturing plant and then to the distribution centers.)
I also recommend fighting the urge to do the Peanut Butter Jelly Time dance while you’re still in the store. Because the cashiers might call in local law enforcement for backup. Don’t ask me how I know this. I just KNOW.
1I’m always happy to hand-grind our coffee beans because I just can’t get over how turning a crank transforms whole beans into a delicate brown powder. It’s like magic! (Also, I use the time to read trashy celeb gossip on E! Online because I love me some bitchy Ted Casablanca. Can Scarlett Johanson multitask like I do? I don’t think so.)
Katherine said,
May 17, 2006 at 11:05 am
That’s pretty cool. I’m on the look-out for a store that will re-fill my shampoo/lotion/handsoap bottles. It drives me nuts that I have to buy some new plastic thing every time (even the large “refill” bottles bug me). Sadly, I have not yet found it. Oh well. There’s always peanut butter.
Amber said,
May 18, 2006 at 10:59 am
Nice! And tell me, since you mentioned in the fine print that you hand-grind your coffee, where did you get your hand-grinder? We actually have one, but we’re looking for a second to use as a spices-only spice grinder. The little kitchen store “spice-grinders” are a carpal-tunnel inducing joke.