When we walk into a grocery store, plastic surrounds us. Even on the most unnecessary items, things are packaged in plastic. This can easily bum out anyone who strives to consume less, or even start to. As a consumer we can make conscious decisions based on what options we have around us. Just remember, more people are opening their eyes to sustainable alternatives , this means big corporations who choose not to switch their items to a more sustainable packaging are only losing future and present customers! Below are some pretty simple tips I’ve used for a couple of years now to shop as ecofriendly as possible, pretty much stress free!
1. Reusable Tare Bags
Before buying tare weight bags I just did loose produce or brought really small cloth bags. The tare bags are much easier to handle the produce with and quicker to move around in the shopping cart to belt to car routine. I’m glad I invested in quality, sustainable organic ones. Be careful with the cheap brands, some can actually be made out of plastic and not be as durable as promised. I suggest buying from a local zero waste store. If none is in your area, there are so many online! Low waste stores usually order from other small business brands or guarantee durability. If you have mini pillow cases, small tote bags or even the cloth bags beddings are bought in, I suggest you use them as well. You can always take them out when its your turn in line to place the items on the belt and place them right back in after the cashier weighs your fruit.
2. Organic & Fairtrade
I feel like so many people strive to buy organic, that they forget about Fairtrade as well. This is extremely important when buying spices, coffee and chocolate. Just to start off organic foods help promote great farming practices but they are so much healthier for your body and the environment the food is grown around it. Pesticides that are sprayed onto crops, travel through the air and throughout the environment its grown. With Organic farming you don’t have to worry about any of the nasty things inside your food and know that organic material is going to breakdown in your body like its suppose to. Second, Fairtrade is such an important factor in buying food I’m actually appalled its not designed or at least given the opportunity for loose produce to have that label as well. It is well known avocados are not Fairtrade, I only purchase them through farmers markets now. The ones I buy from the farmers market may or may not be organic, but its much better than buying an organic avocado from farmers who are taken advantage of. This is why I pay attention to both labels when buying products that should be able to obtain both of the certifications. This is also why I purchase so much of my groceries from farmers markets!
3. Buy Glass Jars Instead
No I am not a drinker but that picture is onto something. Buying anything in glass jars rather than plastic can reduce an insane amount of waste. How? By reusing the glass jars when your done with them we avoid throwing away waste in the landfill where it wont be able to properly breakdown . By reusing or upcycling we create a close loop production. I wrote an article that describes some ways to reuse your glass jars, found below!
12 Ideas to Reuse Empty Jars – Living In Zero
4. Less Meat
Buying meat is usually never packaged without plastic or Styrofoam. We can always bring our containers and have the deli line add it in but they still have to use a small amount of plastic on the weight machine in order to get your price for the pound. On top of that meat production is on the excess, rainforests are being plowed down in order to make room for livestock. Add diseases and meat being linked to many illnesses, meat is not something to celebrate. People always use the argument how our ancestors needed meat and lived off it for years. This is really not true, depending on where they are from, most civilizations lived off of a vegetarian diet, and game was a treat. Many of those early settlers had short life spans, now people live to be way past 80 years old. We have access to modern medicine, many food options at an ample, easy access and choices far beyond what people in the early ages had. If we simply just cut meat out even by once a week we are saving not only money but water. Gallons of water are used to grow the corn crop which in turn feeds the cow, and water is used in order to produce the cow into the meat we eat. Speaking of money, meat prices are soaring! We waste half our grocery bill on animal products without stopping and understanding what it does to the body or the earth. I will be doing a future article that will go more in depth on the subject stay tuned!
5. Drinks In Powder Form
If you go to the grocery stores and buy Lemonade, Ice tea or Gatorade, your basically overpaying, All these drinks come in powder form that you can do yourself. Instead of the lemonade drink you buy that may last you a week, powder form drinks can last months. A great way to reduce plastic but still buy Gatorade is to buy its powder form. Yes you will just have to take a few moments to prep yourself and add water to powder in a reusable bottle, but again it saves you money and plastic all in one. Usually these powder drinks come in bulk, a great way to stock up for emergencies as well!
