Reducing My Impact: A Year Long Adventure. Month 7- Reducing Packaging

November is already underway, but I haven't had a chance to blog about my November goals for my reducing my impact project yet. November's focus will be to reduce the amount of packaging my family consumes. Some aspects of this have already been tackled (or, at least, I have started to tackle them) in previous months. For example, reducing my use of plastics has also helped to reduce packaging (I have been using package-free bar shampoo and buying more items in bulk). Supporting local has also helped, as local items often have little or no packaging because they are not being shipped far. But, this month, I will try to reduce even more of the packaging that I seem to be met with on a daily basis.
Some of my specific goals are to become even better friends with the bulk section at my store, making sure to either bring my own bags or to reuse the bags the store provides. I do really well with beans, lentils and rice, but I oftentimes opt for the prepackaged bags of flour, sugar, etc. because they seem to be less messy in my kitchen. I am just going to deal with the mess and get more organized. I have a bunch of containers for these baking items, so really, I just need to start putting them to better use. I am also going to focus on  buying more used goods, which usually have zero packaging (in fact, I just picked up a used bike for Finn's upcoming birthday present! Don't tell!). And, as the season of consumption is nearing, I am trying hard to make as many of my holiday presents as possible (yarn and fabric have very little packaging involved!). However,  I know that I don't have nearly enough time to make something for each person on my list, so I will have to do some store shopping as well.
I am also going to try to buy less packaged snacks, crackers, and bread, which means making more of my own (yum!) but which is also way more time consuming. And I have no idea how to make crackers. However, I know there is a limit to what I am able to give up due to time constraints and bodily cravings (aka, there is no way I am giving up my red hot blues addiction. Sorry Earth). But, I can do better. I never buy pre-packaged cookies or muffins, so I think making a batch of crackers and some loaves of bread every couple weeks should be manageable. Anyone have any great cracker recipes?
 
Do you have any great tips on how to reduce packaging? Pin It Now!