Down side to buying in bulk

Even though Zac's doing it... and despite having posted an article previously touting the benefits of shopping at wholesale places like Costco or BJs, I still wanted to share the following article with you as it presents an interesting, although contradictory view to buying bulk vs. conserving resources (money): Worst Stuff to Buy at BJ's Club and Costco

Personal finance gurus Ken and Daria Dolan weigh in on what you really shouldn't
buy at warehouse clubs like BJ's and Costco.

Their list, from a WalletPop post, includes gasoline (which they say is quicker to increase prices than other gas stations), fresh produce (which probably costs or less the same at a local grocery store if we're talking about in-season fruits and veggies), toilet paper and paper towels (just not that cheap at these stores), and jewelry and designer clothes (the poor quality often doesn't justify the "discounted" price).

Frankly, I question the gas thing. We belong to BJ's, and at least in my experience, the gasoline prices there are always substantially cheaper than stations down the highway. I've always assumed the store uses a cheap gas price as a ploy to get shoppers to come in—and it works. It's the same reason that eggs and milk are cheaper at these stores. BJ's attracts shoppers to come in and buy these items for less than they'd pay at a standard grocery store. It's no coincidence that the items being discounted are things that people need regularly. Therefore BJ's gets these shoppers in the door regularly, hoping that they'll look around and buy more stuff that they probably don't need. You're already there, right? Why not browse a few aisles? That's exactly what stores want you to do.

The Dolans also bring up the question of big versus many:

What's the better deal?

Just because an item is three times the size of the one you'd find in the supermarket, doesn't necessarily mean it's a bargain at the warehouse. In fact, many times that massive one gallon container of ketchup costs more than the shrink-wrapped bundle of six smaller ketchup bottles.

Not only can the multi-packs be the real bargain, they can also be much more
convenient. Those smaller containers can be much easier to use, to store and to
finish before they go bad.

Very true. One thing not on their list: stuff you really don't need. Go to the store with a shopping list—and stick to the list. Otherwise, you'll come home with an odd assortment of items you had no intention or need to buy. And that is the worst stuff to buy at BJ's, Costco, or anywhere
else for that matter.

The dark side to online shopping

A few years ago when I was working on creating new advertising ideas for Comcast, I had my heart set on a whole “green” themed campaign. I was so psyched for it, and although I now forget whatever witty headlines I had came up, the gist of the campaign would be that with Comcast’s services, a family could live a full life without necessarily leaving their house, thereby drastically cutting back their gas usage and CO2 emissions caused from driving all over.

My reasoning was that with the fancy cable package du jour, you could have all sorts of unique experiences in the comfort of your own living room. The phone package would enable you to “visit” with friends and family across the country whenever you wanted, and the Internet connection (amongst other benefits) could allow you to shop away to your heart’s content while remaining in your pj’s and avoiding all annoying sales associates. To me, the idea that individual people could significantly reduce their carbon foot-print by cutting back on their amount of required driving was crux to helping better the environment. Every little bit does help, but oh, how naïve I was…

True—a phone call to California is less demanding on all resources than a plan ride there, and a Miley concert viewed OnDemand is easier to palate than a real life concert (kids are happy, parents can avoid tween nightmares by secluding themselves in another room), but through further consideration it became clear to me that online shopping is absolutely no gift to the environment.

It made me feel a little bit better to know that I was not the only one previously duped by the “green” online shopping mirage. "Consumers aren't used to thinking about e-commerce having any environmental impact," H. Scott Matthews, the research director of Carnegie Mellon's Green Design Initiative says. "When people buy things online, they're not necessarily thinking about what's happening; it's almost like the item is being teleported from the warehouse to their doorstep. The fact that you aren't going to the store doesn't mean there's no environmental impact. In some cases, it's much worse."

The dark side of online shopping was recently rubbed in my face so painfully it makes me cringe just thinking about it.

A few months ago, it was decided that my sister was going to have a summer destination wedding. In preparation, she went hog-wild buying bikinis for her honeymoon online at Victoria’s Secret. Since bathing suits are tricky when it comes to fit, her plan of attack was to just buy every bathing suit that she liked-- and then send back whatever didn't fit.

Once the order was placed, (some $700 later,) she began receiving notifications that some of the pieces were back-ordered and wouldn’t come for another few weeks. Since the wedding was months away at that point, a few weeks didn’t matter to her and she didn’t really think anything more of it.

Until... the packages started arriving. At first it was exciting to get packages, a top one day, a pair of bottoms two days later. However, the excitement quickly transitioned into annoyance when it became obvious that her order had been splintered up into oblivion, with the poor UPS man being forced to make unknown amounts of trips down our driveway to drop off her bikini bits and pieces.

A month later, she is still receiving forgotten parcels here and there.

The inefficiency and waste that occurred with this drove me nuts, and made me start to think about online shopping in a much grander scheme. Things that we buy do not just magically appear at our doors-- a lot of stuff goes on behind the scenes that we don’t even know or think about, which are in turn responsible for creating a ton of waste and pollution. Maybe shopping at a brick and mortar store is better?

The alleged beauty of online shopping, from an environmental perspective, is that it is supposed to be super efficient. Instead of separate cars driving back and forth to do individual household shopping, one UPS truck with a well-planned delivery schedule can drop off dozens of packages along its one daily route. Obviously, if deliveries go according to this plan a lot of things are happily reduced; like fuel, time, and pollution. Unfortunately, life is not like a delivery van, and does not always follow its desired course-- as witnessed with my sister and her 1 order that came in 20 separate pieces.

In addition to the pollution created by all modes of shipping transportation, (and I’m not even going to fully delve into the effects of airplane pollution, as there are so many variables to consider, but for brevity’s sake-- the pollution caused by airplanes for shipping purposes totally negates any environmental good the most perfect of perfect perfect delivery van system might produce.) there is also the waste that is produced from the accumulated packaging materials that are required for shipping. The added weight of the packaging adds up, and thus requires inflated gas needs for transportation, in order to ultimately end up in a trash-can after reaching its final destination. In the end, my sister could have covered more of her body with Victoria Secret packaging than Victoria Secret swim-wear.

Obviously, this entire online shopping ordeal would be a lot better if everything had come all at once—one trip to our house, one box for everything. However, considering the diaspora of a delivery situation that arose, Mother Nature would have been far better off had my sister just gone to the good old fashioned mall.

In an ideal world, online shopping, where one person essentially delivers the goods, is better than droves of people driving all around. In a realistic world, buying in bulk, walking (if you can), and carrying reusable bags are all good ways to green up your shopping. Save the online shopping for the really important things in life, like killer Jimmy Choos on eBay.

BJ’s: the source for loads so big, it’s hard to swallow

Always in the mood for BJs

Whenever I find myself with some time to kill, whether (weather?) it be a rainy evening, or a fun day Sunday, my go-to easiest, most satisfying, green option is always the same: BJ’s.

Hold on though (perv)-- before your questionable thought process goes down (no pun intended) the that's-what-she-said path (it's a slippery slope, I know), I'm not talking about Bill Clinton’s favorite past-time. Instead, when I say whole-heartedly that I LOVE BJ’s, I am referring to the bulk warehouse wonderstore that is BJ's Wholesale.

If you have not heard of BJ's, perhaps you've heard of Costco? If you have not heard of either, perhaps you have been living under a rock? BJ's and Costco are stores that, for a low yearly membership fee, sell bulk amounts of your favorite every day necessities. Basically, and I am not exaggerating—if you can think it, they probably sell it; in bulk, and cheap. (Prescription druges, fresh and frozen foods, DVDs, cards, pet supplies, electronics, Fendi purses, engagement rings... you name it.) Think CVS meets Superfresh meets Best Buy meets eBay, supersized and with an order of fries. That's BJ's.

BJs? That’s my favorite!

BJ's has been a wonder to me ever since my first trip there about four years ago. I was just a young, impressionable twenty year old, and the large warehouse seemed like some sort of playground with its vast aisles stacked to the soaring ceiling with oversized items.

BJs Expert

During my most recent trip, I stocked up on a two month's supply of toothpaste, deodorant (even though I naturally smell like roses), face soap, razor blades, kitty litter and kitty food (hey, times are rough), cereal, frozen vegetables and chicken, and a handful of delicious perishable foods including peppers, spinach, milk, deli meats and sushi. (I even found three simple white tank tops for $10!) With my over-sized shopping cart all but over-flowing with newly bought goodies, the total on my receipt came to a cool $90. I love things that are great, I love things that are buys, and this is one reason I love BJ's; as it combines two of my most favorite things with innumerable great buys.

Get a load of from BJ’s

Buying your usual household necessities at stores like BJ’s has many redeeming green qualities. For starters, stocking up on the things you need saves you numerous trips to the store, which will add up to a lot of conserved gas and time. And, since you know there are certain things you'll always need -- laundry detergent, shampoo and conditioner, paper towels, lotion, you get the drift-- you can't really have too much of these things around since they don't tend to go bad. In one trip to BJ's you can buy a bottle of shampoo big enough for Paul Bunyon (and his Babe, too) that will last throughout the sweaty lumberjacking summer months!

Another way BJ's shows their green side is by disposing of the idea of using plastic bags. (Just think of how wasteful it would be to bag each oversized item in an equally oversized plastic bag!) They simply load up your cart without the earth un-friendly plastic bags and send you on your merry (fully stocked) way.

BJ's has been making even more efforts to be eco-friendly and energy efficient. You might ask, "what about all the cardboard from the packaging, and all the cardboard they use to box the products in the warehouse?" They recycle it! BJ's website explains how the company recycles a huge portion of the cardboard used in the warehouse, along with reducing the lighting in the warehouse up to as much as 50% in the summer, and they are even switching to LED lights in some areas of the stores. The company is even tapping into natural energy by installing solar panels on the roofs of some of their warehouses and using skylights to decrease the need for in-store lighting.

Are you as in love with BJ's as I am, yet?!

I mean, who doesn't like getting more for less? While saving money and gas? Not to mention that shopping is always fun, and, if you're like me and don't mind letting loose sometimes, careening down aisles of economy-sized products with both feet on your shopping cart is an added bonus. (Weeee!)

So anyway, now you know why I love BJs so much. If you get a chance, please feel free to share with my neighbors? (They always give me funny looks when I’m done screaming this sentiment off the rooftop of my building after a particularly successful shopping trip. Right, like I’m the weird one?)