There are lots of things you can do in order to make our day to day shopping more sustainable. Today I have 5 easy tips for you to get started:
1. Buy regional products
Does it make sense to ship products around the world and sell them cheaper than products that are cultivated around the corner? Not really, right? But this is what often happens in the supermarkets.
We don’t have to go and buy those products, though. Pay attention where the food comes from and pick the one that come from your region or at least country whenever possible. Especially when you are living in smaller villages there are often farmers that sell their fruits and vegetables directly on their farm or on a weekly market.
It is even possible to get those goods delivered. To give you an example, we have discovered an association that delivers ecological products from local farmers directly to our home. Like this, we have high quality seasonal food from our region without any plastic packaging and don’t even have to leave our home. This is especially ideal as one of the biggest pain points when not buying everything in the supermarket is having to go to different stores which results very time-consuming.
2. Use a water filter instead of buying bottled water
Especially here in Spain it is almost impossible to buy water that is not sold in plastic bottles. And even if you are able to buy glass bottles, there is no return system that allows you to return the empty bottles to the shop, so you would basically end up throwing those glass bottles away as well.
A great alternative is to buy a water filter and filter the tap water. This is not only cheaper but will also save you an immense amount of plastic bottles.
3. Bring your own shopping bags
Take your cloth bags and shopping nets with you for shopping. There are also bags that allow you to put in fruits and vegetables so you don’t have to take the plastic bags in the shop. When possible, take even your own containers (tuppers,…), for example when shopping at the weekly market.
More and more, especially in the bigger cities, you can find zero waste shops that offer only products without any plastic packaging, often also ecological food, so why not have a look there when you have one near you?
4. Avoid wrapped products
Double-check which products come without plastic and choose those over the ones that are heavily wrapped. Do you need to buy the peppers that come individually wrapped or wouldn’t it be better to chose the ones that have no plastic at all?
5. Mind the quantity and quality
Be mindful about what and how much you buy. When we go shopping we often end up buying too many things and in the end we have to throw food away because we were not able to eat it all.
Reducing meat, sweets and unhealthy snacks is a good way to start. Don’t go shopping when you’re hungry. Make a list first and buy what is needed. Establishing a weekly menu can help you plan even better. Have a good look at the labels and the ingredients. It makes sense to check on the brands you buy most often to see how they are set up in terms of sustainability, and if there might be an alternative around.
Which ideas do you have regarding sustainable grocery shopping? I am looking forward to hearing your inputs!
