The Farmer's Market

Getting produce without packaging is at least relatively painless. It annoys me that Trader Joe's sells all that produce in plastic. Yes, some of the plastic packaging they use is compostable, but the fact is that it is only compostable in commercial composting systems. If you put 'compostable' plastic in your home bin it will be there for years. So most of this packaging ends up in the landfill anyway. But, at most grocery stores you can bring your own bags for produce.
I grow some of my own fruits and vegetables and supplement this with the local Farmer's Market. No one blinks an eye if you bring your own bags to the FM. Once in a while I'll get a couple of items at the market down the street. Mostly items I can't live without, like onions, garlic and bananas. And you can't get bananas at the FM.
Another great thing about the Farmer's Market is I can bring back my egg carton for eggs. Not only are the eggs local, free range and not from poor chickens crammed into battery cages, but they taste awesome. Our egg consumption has risen considerably during this challenge. They are quick and easy to prepare and filling. I have one egg carton and I just bring it back over and over again. I have been reusing a lot of containers designed for one time use.
The thing is so many of these items are quite durable. I reuse take out containers, plastic bags, glass jars, whatever. These are handy storage items that can be used over and over again. It seems like such a waste just to throw out something so useful. And many of these items I can eventually recycle, but I can give them a longer life by reusing them first.