From food waste to chemical pollution and from packaging waste to transportation pollution, you might be surprised at the number of ways grocery shopping routines are impacting the environment.
Studies have shown one can greatly reduce food waste with just a little forethought, like planning meals that use an item from the previous day’s meal in the next day’s meal. Today’s roast chicken can be tomorrow’s soup and sandwiches.
Packaging waste is fairly straightforward as well. Consider buying in bulk to reduce packaging waste. If you do have to buy an item in packaging, check to ensure it is recyclable or biodegradable. Think about it this way, the less packaging you buy, the fewer times you’ll need to bring out the trash.
Pollution may seem to be harder to tackle, but buying local and in season produce reduces travel distance, hence transportation pollution, and also eliminates chemicals and genetic modifications used to make produce survive long distance travel. Consider buying at your local farmers market. Did you know keeping a running grocery list and a well stocked pantry help you shop less often and thus prevents overbuying and food waste? Consider these opportunities in your own shopping routines where you can easily reduce, reuse, and recycle:
Reduce: Shop organic foods to reduce not only your consumption of but the manufacturing of pesticides and herbicides that harm our environment in every step of its lifecycle. The biodiversity in our fields and farms and streams have been devastated by their use.
Reuse: Now may be the time to consider using reusable shopping bags to reduce consumption of fossil fuels. Did you know Americans use over a 100 billion plastic bags a year, which requires 12 million barrels of oil to manufacture?
Recycle: Have you considered bringing in your own produce and bulk item bags or containers to help eliminate your use of the store’s flimsy not-recyclable plastic bags? It not only reduces packaging waste but is also safer due to less contact for you and your food with surfaces many people are touching.