Habits are those tendencies that are engrained in your daily life and typically without your knowledge.
For most this includes many untenable activities that take you deeper down the rabbit hole of wasteful and gluttonous practices.
With that being said, I assume you are here to mitigate some of these formed habits. So these are Tips for: Living More Sustainable Lifestyle: Grocery Shopping Edition
What is sustainability?
It is almost impossible to practice something you do not fully understand so we will touch on the basics. The textbook definition is not what you need in regards to living more sustainably, however the basic concept that directly correlates with lifestyle is and that is simple.
Sustainability- Meet your daily needs today without compromising the needs of others tomorrow.
In other words try to lessen the impact you make taking from the resources the world provides while giving back equal or more back to the world for you and others to use tomorrow. This will be the focus of the article. You don’t need to join green pace and stop oil companies from drilling but you do need to live your life habitually making sure there is enough left for you to live again the following day.
Circle of Waste
I know it seems so simple but we all consume so much and everything we consume is packaged up, wrapped tight and preserved to maintain freshness. This is where the problems arise. You buy groceries and your groceries come in plastic bags. Your veggies are in thinner plastics bags inside that bag with all of your processed food items (cereal, pasta, crackers, cookies etc) typically coming in a cardboard box with a sealed plastic bag inside of the box and maybe a packet of seasoning in another sealed packet. You get your meat and fish on a styrofoam tray on top of a paper and plastic pad that soaks up fluids from the meat and all of this is wrapped in plastic. You grab some food for your pet this is either aluminum cans wrapped with paper for labeling or a plastic infused paper bag sometimes stitched at the top with the a cloth string. you get your grains in either cardboard boxes, plastics bags or both. Then you grab a couple of waters in large plastic containers, a tray of smaller plastic water bottles all wrapped together in plastic and a couple of bottles of wine, fermented juices wrapped in colored glass.
If you step back and take a look it’s crazy how much refuse is acquired in a simple grocery run. In weight the garbage is almost positively heavier than the food consumed and if it all goes into a landfill this would mean that you took much more from the world than you gave it. It is the simple fact. This does not include the resources used to get to and from the store for your or your delivery service, the pollution the use of the resources demands etc.
When you did these things millions of others did the same concurrently. At the same time the manufacturers of everything you bought produced more and shelves were immediately refilled for it to happen again. This is the circle of waste.
1. Recycle More
This may all seem a bit depressing at first glance but there is an easy way out, you just have to recycle. This is the simple act of allowing waste to be reused again in a effort to limit the creation of new waste. It is a simple first step.
Every time you buy items that are packaged in some form you take the contents out and recycle everything else. This doesn’t mean throwing everything in the recycling bin although you can also take them down to a recycling center yourself and get a bit of money for your efforts. You can save glass bottles/jars and metal lids for reuse in your home so you don’t have to buy those plastic containers with the plastic lids to store your food or you can repurpose items using jars as pots and plant starters etc.
The key is to prevent all of this excess from going into a landfill that is how you live more sustainably.
2. Consume less
This will be more difficult than recycling for most as it has to deal with a level of self control most haven’t had to implement since they were toddlers. the idea is quite simple, the less you consume the less waste you will produce. However, I know most people don’t appreciate living under those conditions so if you can’t consume less by actually eating less food we will start with an easier method.
Lower your consumption by going to the store less. If you typically go to the store twice a week go once if you go four times go two. You want to cut your trips and half at minimum. On top of that try to use absolutely everything you have in your house before going to resupply. Most of you have items that have been siting in your pantry for years untouched while you go and get different versions of that same item every week. For example picking up sourdough bread when you have wheat bread sitting in the fridge or buying a bag of wild rice when you have eight pounds of white rice at home. Yes i know they taste different and are used in different recipes but this is about sustainability not being a guest chef on chopped. You will find yourself not having to go to the store nearly as often as you think when you consume absolutely everything in your pantry and fridge. You will also find you have less food going bad.
3. Combat Against Plastics (Use Your Own Bags)
This is simple, when you go shopping bring the plastic bags you have used originally or better yet buy some reusable bags for every trip you take to the store. This will negate the necessity to recycle those plastic grocery bags since you won’t be using them anymore. This is fool proof and just takes reminding yourself to bring them with you or make a habit of leaving them in the car after you unload the groceries.
You can also set a few burlap type shopping bags aside for your vegetables and fruits so those thin plastic bags will not be required either. The burlap bags are a simple choice, it’s breathable and easily rinsable. You can also just put the vegetables in the cart without bags since you should be washing them anyway and load them in whatever bag you see fit at check out.
4. Compost Your Perishables
This ties directly to consuming less and recycling. Composting is natures version of recycling. Waste like molding bread, dinner leftovers (no bones), vegetable skins, juice that was left out etc can all be composted.
Compost in itself is organic matter that has decayed to a point that it can be reused as a soil. Now I know some of you are thinking I don’t have any plants so i have no use for compost but remember this is about being more sustainable. You can add the compost to your yard, give it away to someone who does have plants, get a few small herbs to further limit your need to go to the store multiple times. The possibilities are endless.
Keep in mind you can only compost organic matter, plastics, most paper etc are not permissible in your compost bin. If you want more information on composting at home follow the link.
Easy Does It
Don’t feel the need to do everything at once. Your goal should be moving in the right direction. To recap the 4 Steps for: Living More Sustainable Lifestyle: Grocery Shopping Edition
- Recycle More- Recycle everything you possibly can. Upcycle when possible and be sure to limit your role in the circle of waste
- Consume Less- Go to the store less and try and consume every bit of food you have before restocking your fridge and pantry. Those freezers are time capsules
- Combat Against Plastics (Use Your Own Bags)- stop using bags for your fruits and vegetables and bring your own shopping bags to the store for reuse vs the ones they provide.
- Compost- Do this to all your organic food scraps and things that have gone bad. Earth’s recycling method is fool proof.
Make these healthy habits and start making a more sustainable future. Let me know how you feel about my 4 steps in the comment section below!!
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