I get giddy whenever my lotion bottle is nearly empty because that means it is time to go to the Community Pharmacy and decide which lovely non-toxic lotion I will refill it with. I save ~$5-$10 on each refill!

I buy a few food products in bulk, such as rice and other grains.

chocolate covered raisins in bulk from whole foods. YUM. honestly, that's as far as i've gotten. i did notice last time i was there that there was a (little tiny not very noticeable) sign saying that you could bring your own containers for the bulk foods and have them weighed before you fill them. next time, i'm going to do that.

I buy my laundry soap in bulk as we have some chemically sensitive peeps in the household and it's just way cheaper to buy the scent free stuff in bulk.
I also buy most of my grains, dried fruits and even some great organic cereal mixes in bulk too. Oh and organic jelly beans as a special treat for the kiddies. (mostly ;)

Draught beer from Bierkraft in Brooklyn. They offer 64-ounce growler jugs that they'll fill up with delicious micro brews. Some of it's wonderful beer from Oregon, which isn't so fossil-fuel nice, but some of it's from the wonderful Six Points brewery in Redhook Brooklyn. Yum. Bottled beer is dead to me.

We buy all beans (chickpeas, lentils, black, pinto), flour (whole wheat, pasty, cornmeal), and grains (quinoa, bulgar, brown rice, and millet) and a few other staples like peanut butter, tofu, and nutritional yeast in bulk from our local food co-op. Of course I live in a co-op with 17 people which makes it really easy, but even before I lived in the co-op my parents would buy nearly everything in bulk. They order it from some place in Ohio and had it shipped to West Virginia. From there every month the core group of about 6 families would gather around scales with proper containers and portion everything out. I can’t stress enough how buying in bulk can draw people together. It was extremely simple then and I’m sure with the net it would be even easier to rally people now. All you have to do is get people to pony up money and agree upon which items they will buy, order it, and break it up. Maybe craigslist and a good e-mail list severe could facilitate this.

usually rice, beans, grains, nuts from the whole food store or co-op. just put them in paper or plastic bags and bring them home. not sure of tips on how to make this easier?! can't see how it could ever be hard for these things.

Dr. Bronner's, olive oil, honet, nutritional yeast, trail mix, granola--all from our wonderful co-op that also has reusable containers for liquids.

BANANA CHIPS!!!
Nut, Beans, Seeds, grains, flour, sugar!!!

Flour, grain (for grinding flour, along with stuff like quinoa and steel cut oats), beans, lentils, maple syrup, honey (straight from the beekeeper in 5 gallon buckets for making mead).

And something no one else has mentioned so far: spices (definitely the best cost-savings of all of the bulk food).

I don't buy cereal bulk -- I find that for the brands my wife and I eat, buying things bulk at Whole Foods is actually about 50% more expensive than buying boxes of the same stuff at Trader Joe's.

I started purchasing yogurt and apple sauce in the large containters and then filling up small tupperware containers (reuseable) to bring to work. I save $5 a week (which means one more beer at the bar on Friday), and I just recycle the big containers when I'm done (my office has no recycling for the little guys).

I have reusable produce/bulk bags that I take with me to the local natural food store and fill them up with nuts,seeds, grains, or fruit. I love them. It saves me money and I don't have to use any plastic produce bags at all. I make my own stuff when I can so I don't have to buy pre-made foods. I have a pretty good system down, and I really enjoy shopping this way. If you go to reusablebags.com you can find the cloth produce/grain bags there to buy.

Bulk rice, nutritional yeast (reuse that overpriced container we bought several years ago), bulk TVP for pennies a serving, bulk vegan snacks (carob-coconut "haystacks", seaseme sticks, cracker mix), bulk soy-bacon bits (TVP, coloring, smokey flavor, YUM!).

I purchase steel cut oatmeal, some grains, spices, nuts, coffee and raisins in bulk. The products are organic, far cheaper than pre-packaged, and allow me to stock up. I can buy spices in exact amounts for a recipe without worrying about expensive leftover spices getting old and stale. I also store my spices in the freezer. Organic spices have a superb flavor.

Aveda stores - you can buy, in bulk, some of their most popular shampoos and conditioners. The jumbo bottles have great pumps so you can fill regular and travel size bottles, so you don't have to have to store the jumbo ones in the shower.

I started buying in bulk in the 1970's. I shop health food stores that sell foods in bins. I bring my purchases home and put into my glass or plastic (yes, plastic) I prefer glass. It is getting harder to find. I carry my own plastic cups to fast food. I recycle everything I can. I hate styrofoam. I economize on gasoline by grouping errands and limiting my errands to one day a week. I used to make my own bread (without a breadmaker) and make my own pasteries, cookies, cakes and deserts to keep away from additives. I'm not as whole foods as I used to be but it's worth it. I have a wonderful hot bed of compost for sad food, and it grows great potatoes. I haven't had a vegetable garden for a while but have great berry bushes.

If it's available in bulk I don't buy it any other way: grains, dried fruit, legumes, etc. I don't reuse the bags...shame on me, but I will start. I do use a reusable tote bag for schleping everything home though. After reading a previous comment and a little quick googling I found ecobags.com that sells organic, reusable produce bags. Also I have found in some ethnic grocers they sell their spices in cellophane bags rather than little plastic of glass jars, and the spices tend to be better too.

Unfortunately, living in a one-bedroom apartment leaves us no place to store bulk goods. We'd like to buy that way, but it just doesn't work.

Just an idea. It is very easy to do and faster than knitting with needles. You can make your own yarn produce bags and knit scarves and hats, etc. buy a Rake knitter. very convenient for the bus or during ads on tv/radio.

I buy cereal, grains, things for trailmix & tea (when I can find decent, fresh stuff) in bulk. My soap is getting low so I will probably take my huge Alba bottle to the Co-Op & fill it with something.
I will almost always avoid bins that are 4' or lower, because I have seen little kids run their fingers through them - or worse pick something out, not like the taste, & put it back. Gross!

I buy foods like rice in bulk packs. I think I probably do more for the environment not by the size of the packs I buy, but by doing a 2-3 monthly bulk shop in a borrowed car, and doing my regular shopping by bike.

pearlandopal, buying bulk doesn't mean buying a lot. in fact, you can just as easily buy less. you certainly have room for a refillable jar of rice if you have room for a prepackaged box of rice. i buy all my grains, beans, cereal and spices in bulk and live in a very small apartment.

Dug, thanks for that clarification. I misread the original post and saw refillable AND giant-sized rather than NOT giant-sized.

We buy spices in bulk in winter (I try to grow as many as I can in summer) and things like trail mix, nuts and some snack foods.

oatmeal, brown sugar, local honey, nuts, flour, whole wheat pasta, spices. spices are SO much cheaper in (small quantities) bulk than pre-packaged at the grocery store!

i use cloth re-useable carrying bags to carry groceries. when i finish unpacking, i stick some bags and a container or two in the cloth bag so i am ready to go next time. that i never forget my own bags and containers and have to use new ones!

U people are really twisted. You think you really can make a diff. to the planet? When it's ready for a change it's gonna do it whether you like it or not. Ha Ha Ha