Is using canned beans more environmentally friendly than using dried ones?
Is using canned beans more environmentally friendly than using dried ones?
Hey all,
Lately I've been working on going vegan, which has meant that I've been using beans as an ingredient a lot more in my cooking. I use just about any beans for hummus, I've made roasted chickpeas with my air fryer and want to start making falafel, I want to start adding black beans to my tacos, I use mung beans for omelettes, you get the drift.
Anyway, I was recently thinking about the packaging the beans come in. This came to mind since I've been re-evaluating the products I purchase and how to put my dollar where my heart is, and in looking at where my canned beans come from, I started thinking about the packaging of the dried beans I have.
While not all the dried beans I have include info about the ability to recycle the packaging, Walmart for all their flaws made things easy with some dried beans I got in the past and has the "Not yet recyclable" label from how2recycle.info, and I can guess that the other brands I have are in the same boat as they all appear to have the same packaging.
In comparison, I already know for certain that the cans for canned beans can be recycled, and the labels are just paper, meaning the same case for them. Now reading things from what I know it appears as if using canned beans is more environmentally suitable than dried, assuming both are sourced domestically, but I want to ask if there's anything I might be forgetting here that could also factor into things that I may not be aware of. On top of this, some recipes specifically call for dried beans, and I'd have trouble substituting them with canned product, namely with falafel and my vegan omelettes.
Should I make the switch? Any and all input is greatly appreciated.
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Don't necessarily know the packaging for dried beans in your area, but I know where I live the packaging is plastic. Metal packaging like cans are always going to be more environmentally friendly compared to plastic packaging. From my experience canned beans can be used for recipes that require dried, but they just take less cook time
Cans have a plastic lining. Considering how much larger of a quantity of beans fit in a 1 pound bag, I'm not actually convinced that cans uses less plastic.
The low waste solution would be for OP to grow their own beans and dehydrate them or jar them.
That level of purism starts becoming onerous though.
Sorry, I should have made it clear. Yes they appear to be a non-recyclable plastic package for the brands sold at the grocers I visit.
When shipping and transporting most products are wrapped in a ton of plastic film så it's not really that simple, i have no idea of how they were packaged when shipped.
Right, thanks for noting that. I remember working in grocery they'd often receive product in plastic wrap to keep it stable on the skids.
Mind you with my experience in the back of the store, while I never worked receiving, I'm fairly certain both the canned and dried beans both arrived to the store the same way, as it was usually an assortment of boxes rather than a skid purely of one product unless it was a feature or display.
Go cans then. A neat way to reuse cans is you can turn them into little flower pots. Use them to grow your own mini spice garden in a window seal or something
Where I live, some beans come bulk. There is a large bin filled with beans that arrive in a cloth sack and you get as much or as little as you like. You can even bring your own reusable bags. But it is only for pinto, Anasazi, and sometimes garbanzo. Ask of any of the stores have something like that.