Precycling

Precyclers are people who come prepared for shopping and seek out shops where they can buy only what they need, without all that extra packaging which they have to pay for and then dispose of. Most packaging which we throw away each week comes from food, so precyclers have to be most prepared when they go shopping for food (in the UK, 4.7m tonnes out of 5.9m tonnes of packaging waste is food related). Most shops don’t give you the option, you just have to buy the packaging as well as what you want to buy, so precyclers collect information about which shops meet their needs.
The precycling movement began in Berkley, California in 1988. It is just that much better than recycling. Also known as “wombles”, precyclers refuse junk mail, carry precycling kits including sandwich bags and cutlery, and read on the internet, refusing paper pulp news sources.
Buying unpackaged is initially inconvenient, until you know all the different suppliers. A shop in North London called Unpackaged even gives a discount if you bring your own container.
People practise precycling for ecological and economic reasons. Those who prefer to eat organic food already pay a premium, so paying for extra packaging as well makes no sense. In times of economic difficulties, where the budget has to be rationalised, it is preferable to precycle organic food instead of buying dearer packaged organics, rather than substituting cheaper packaged non-organic food from a supermarket and throwing your money away.