this post was submitted on 12 Oct 2023
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I'd love to see someone bring a shopping cart amount of groceries on a bus or train
You don't. If you live where cars are not needed, e.g. Tokyo, you'll just walk to your nearest small grocer and get the ingredients you need. That's what I did when I stayed in Japan for work.
The reason you haul entire shopping carts at once is because the trip to the grocery store is a big planned deal. Thatβs also the reason people buy bulk items and then let half of them expire.
The βidealβ for bikers and train riders would be easier, quicker trips to small stores to get ingredients for the next few days. I find Iβm able to fit most of my needs into one pannier.
This changes sharply if you're buying for more people than just yourself.
The reason I haul entire shopping carts at once is because I don't want to waste time shopping every day. A big 2-hour haul per month vs. 1-2 20-minute trips to the local corner konbini every day. Plus some of the bigger bulk stores deliver (this is Hinode, Tokyo; rural ones probably don't).
Buying in bulk is far less expensive: you pay less (duh), but you spend a lot less time on it too. If I'm buying groceries just-in-time and the nearest shop doesn't have the ingredient I need that day, I have to go to a different shop for that one item. Lots of time wasted, and a lot of stress on top. You can't change your mind later either, because you've already bought ingredients for that one meal. So I prefer to have things buffered in stock, and resupply in advance. You also use far less plastic packaging that way, e.g. buying a 25-liter premix syrup canister instead of hundreds of coke bottles.
Not to mention that the grocery stores that are well located are usually more expensive. The cheaper options exist in less number and so it makes it less convenient or sometimes not possible at all to get to on a normal work day.
You can save a lot of money that way.
And Iβm in Europe FYI.
There are ways to do this in a walkable city.
If a grocery store is within walking distance why not make a trip of it with the whole family? Many hands make light work. Or, just because a city is human focused instead of car focused doesn't mean no cars at all (at least in the way I would implement it) you could rent a car for a few hours every couple of weeks.
Obviously these ideas won't work for everyone but they're just off the top of my head, and unfortunately there is no system that will work for everyone. We just have to try for works better.
I've done that. You just bring something appropriate to carry it in.
Although now that I live closer to a smaller grocer, I just walk twice.
I mean the idea is that good urban planning would enable shorter and more frequent grocery store trips. Rather than a supercenter supplying everyone within 30 miles, requiring long drives, you'd have things distributed by need, i.e. general food stores every couple miles, more specialist places potentially farther away. Our current layout and shopping habits are contingent on car infrastructure and massive federal subsidies.
Would also decrease waste and increase general health, since fresher, less processed food could be purchased.
I will say that I've been able to bring 3-4 grocery bags onto a bus, which is enough to last me around 2 weeks. I've done this fairly consistently (basically whenever it's too cold/snowy to bike) for the last couple years. It might not be possible for a family without more than one person making the trip, but for an individual it can definitely work.
I don't mean this the way it's going to sound, but...
I'm happy it works for you, and you're happy with it. It doesn't work for everyone.
I completely understand that, and I know that's why a lot of people need cars. I was primarily responding to the parent comment claiming that it wouldn't work for anyone because it'd be impossible to bring enough groceries with you on the bus/train.
Oh, I see now. Sorry about that. Yes it's possible to use public transport in cases where you don't need much and the time necessary isn't outlandish. I think I was conflating several messages in my head when I responded to yours. Glad to see some people are able to be civil here.
Three or four bags of groceries is totally doable on a bus or train.
Two weeks worth of shopping for a family would be a lot more than three or four bags.
A week's worth for my family of four is generally two bags. Shopping for more than that just leaves a bunch of rotten produce.
This is ok though, going once per 14days for that 90% of stuff and having your car for that is ok. Otherwise if you run out of something, hop to your nearest store. Also here some of my friends and family are not reachable via public transport so I use car for that. But dont use it for commute every day, going to the beach/mountains every weekend, going to the store every other day, taking kids to school and back etc. For many this is completely doable but people are lazy
In civilized countries, it's common. Even on bicycles, by the way.
yeah I do that all the time you bring a bag with you
Buses where I live have a cargo rack at the front. If you had four bags of shopping (though that's really quite a lot - the bags are big) you would tie the tops closed and leave them in one of the racks until you reached your destination