Let's be honest: it has happened to even the most advanced zero wasters to have to shop at a supermarket at some point or another.
Whatever the reason: busy week, finished too late for the organic or farm store opening times, away during the weekly farmers market, emergency shop.. If this is you, whether just once in a while or more often, firstly take a deep breath and forgive yourself. These things happen! Then you can consider making your shop the more zero waste friendly as possible following some simple steps, and if you have more I would love to hear them
1) packaging: try to reduce the amount of plastic you consume might be harder in the supermarket, but try buy loose produces and don’t bag them unless absolutely necessary ( like if it is something really small...) and even then try bag multiple together if you can weigh them yourself and print the labels. Choose glass jars (reusable) instead of plastic and choose recyclable cardboard cartons of milk/yoghurt instead of the more plasticky alternatives (it is often written on the side how to recycle - not all cartons are made equal!) 2) origin: as always, try shop local as much as you can. Buy in season, read the labels! 3) no waste to help cut on waste most supermarkets nowadays have a reduced section. This not only should save you some hard earn cash, but will also prevent food from going to the bins and being wasted! So at least you can feel a little positive about whatever it is you are getting... 4) make sure to bring a reusable bag to put your shopping in. Here is a great list with the pros and cons of all types of reusable grocery bags to help you with the best decisions! And if you are looking for more advice.. this post by 'an eco and thrifty lifestyle' has some more.. so go ahead and do a guilt-free shop!
6 Comments
5/7/2019 07:22:43 pm
Totally agree sometimes life just gets in the way with the best planning. I try and focus on what I am doing not what I can't. The world need everyone making some change rather than a small number of people making all the changes! #GoingGreenLinky
Reply
5/22/2019 08:40:23 am
I don't have any zero waste shops near me so have to rely on supermarkets to a certain degree (I am also a big market lover!) - but I can still keep down my supermarket waste in the ways you outline in this post. Thanks for adding it to #GoingGreen 💚
Reply
5/22/2019 08:49:01 am
Glad you find it useful ;) I do my best to shop at farms on saturdays but there are times when i just can't and by the time i get home from work all i have is supermarkets as the organic shop also shuts down early.. so i found some ways to offset it the best i can ;)
Reply
Hi,
Reply
6/30/2019 01:16:33 pm
Sadly where we live it's not feasible to shop at local stores for fruit, veg, meat etc. They have been outpriced by supermarkets and closed, and the farmers market near us is great and we do use it occasionally, but it's not cheap so it's more for occasional purchases for us. The supermarkets really do need to do better, though, some of them are going less waste and more green.
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
Disclaimer: some posts may contain affiliate links. At no extra costs to you, buying through the link will help me in this blogging journey!
Archives
November 2020
Categories
All
|