To keep yourself healthy and strong, you have to go grocery shopping. But to help keep the world around you healthy and strong, too, you might want to think twice about how much waste you’re creating through the grocery shopping you do.
For most people, there is a lot of room for improvement in this area. So to help you see how you might make some positive changes, here are three tips for more sustainable grocery shopping.
Commit To Wasting Less Food
It’s almost scary to think about how much food the average person wastes. Especially when you consider how many people around the world are struggling to just get enough to eat, it can seem shameful to throw away the amount of food that doesn’t get eaten in more developed countries. To combat this problem, you and your family should try to commit to wasting less food.
This commitment starts when you’re at the grocery store. As a good place to start, try shopping for less food each time you go to the grocery store or market. If you plan to get food that will only last you for two or three days, there’s a much smaller chance that you’ll waste that food.
In addition to being better at shopping as a way to waste less food, you can also be more conscious of how you’re storing your food once you get home from the grocery store. This can help your food keep for longer so you’re not having to throw it out before you get around to eating it.
Bring Reusable Bags
In many places, you now can’t get plastic grocery bags to carry your purchase home unless you pay extra for them. So with this in mind, you should try to always remember to bring reusable grocery bags or totes with you to the grocery store.
Along with reusable grocery bags to carry out everything you’ve purchased from the store, you can also get reusable bags for things like produce or bulk grain so that you’re not having to buy as much disposable plastic in other areas, too.
Purchase Biodegradable Or Compostable Products
If you are going to purchase something that comes in a plastic container or has plastic in the packaging, try to find plastic that is biodegradable or compostable so that you don’t have to just throw that time in the garbage. Especially if you already have a compost pile at home, it can be very helpful to have these types of products put into your mix, along with things like egg cartons and other brown materials.
If you’ve realized that you come home from the grocery store with a lot of waste, consider using the tips mentioned above to help you discover ways that you can make your shopping experiences more sustainable.
