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It’s National Bulk Foods Week. And we LOVE the bulk bins. So I thought it was a good time to resurface Alison’s post lauding the benefits of bulk.

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Yesteryear’s dusty, dim co-ops have evolved into clean, brightly lit–even chic–health-food supermarkets. Along with everything else in the natural foods market, bulk bins have gone upscale, baby. If you have tended to avoid the bulk bins in the past, here are four good reasons to give them another try:

You’ll save money. That’s the biggest appeal for budget-conscious shoppers. The retailer saves money by purchasing in bulk, so you save too–up to 60%, according to the Bulk is Green Council. For example, quinoa flour–a notoriously pricey ingredient used in gluten-free baking–is $4.99 a pound in the bulk bins vs. $7 (or more) in its packaged form.

You can buy as much–or as little–as you like. This is my favorite feature of the bulk bins. I can load up on the stuff I use frequently–white whole wheat flour and various other grains–and buy less of items I only use occasionally. And it’s a low-risk way to try new-to-you ingredients … including spices for mere pennies.

There’s an amazing variety of stuff! It seems like something new turns up at the bulk bins every time I go to my local health-food store. There are bins of specialty flours (buckwheat, spelt, quinoa, and brown rice, to name a few), fun salts (Peruvian and Himalayan pink!), and groovy rices, like Indonesian Volcano, Madagascar Pink, and Bhutanese Red.

It’s more sustainable. Bulk bins mean less packaging, which translates into lower transportation costs. You can boost the sustainability by bringing reusable fine-mesh produce bags to tote your finds. I’ve used these for grains, like rice and pearled barley, as well as bulkier items like nuts.

In fact, you can save on several of this week’s Nourish Weekly Menus recipes by buying in bulk–lentils, walnuts and pearled barley to name just a few. So browse the bulk bins this week!