18 Eco-friendly Grocery Shopping Tips — Terra Movement

It is becoming increasingly hard to reduce our waste since everywhere even fruit seems to be wrapped in plastic. But everyone needs to put in an effort to reduce their waste. Especially their plastic waste. This list of eco-friendly grocery hacks will help you start your sustainable journey.

Think about how many plastic bags you use every time you go to the grocery shop. Think about how much of what you buy is wrapped in plastic. Now, think about how many people are on this planet. That’s a lot of waste that in most cases, could be avoided.

I am a firm believer that everyone should do what they can for the environment because we can’t wait for large corporations to act. It will too late by then. When we shop, we make countless decisions unconsciously, without even realizing it. But we need to break away from our habits and strive to find a more sustainable way to live.

One of the ways you can be kinder to the planet is by changing your shopping habits with these 18 eco-friendly grocery tips. Not everyone has access to bulk stores but that doesn’t mean that you can’t be more eco-friendly when shopping. So, let’s get started.

1. Buy less

This is the easiest way to be more eco-friendly. Simply buy less stuff. In the USA, a shocking 30–40% of food gets wasted (This includes food wasted before it reaches the retail store). Nonetheless, consumers throw away food daily because it’s out of date or because they just don’t want it anymore.

The problem is, as we have access to so much food at a very cheap price, we don’t appreciate it anymore. This poses problems for the planet but also to the hunger crises of the world.

With a growing population, it’s becoming increasingly hard to grow food for everyone. However, if we were smarter about the way we buy and use food, it could solve many of our problems.

2. Buy locally grown food

Don’t buy food that came across the world in order to lower your carbon footprint. Buy food that was grown locally which has 0 or at least fewer air miles. Going to local markets is often a good and easy way to do this and it also supports your local community.

3. Seasonal food

If something is not in season in your area, it has to be flown in from other countries. That is why we are able to have access to nearly all types of food all year round. But that’s not a good thing. Try to only buy, seasonal fruit and veg to reduce carbon emissions. We need to stop being greedy and think about the planet more.

4. Check the label

This is another easy eco-friendly tip for your grocery shopping. Check the label of food before you buy it. Simple as that. There are several things you could check for:

1. Where it was grown/produced?
2. What ingredients it has? (for example, if it has palm oil, was it sustainably made?)
3. Was it sustainably made?
4. Is it organic?
5. Is it fair-trade?

There are of course many other logos that you can look for to ensure the product did not do (too much) harm to the environment.

Being aware of your purchases is important. We need to know what we are buying.

5. Buy ‘wonky’ food

Just because it’s ‘imperfect’, it doesn’t mean it is any less good. I don’t understand our obsession with everything being perfect. Besides fruit and veg is not meant to be perfectly straight or perfectly round. It tastes better when food isn’t modified. Natural has the best flavour.

I remember before moving to the UK, seeing a straight cucumber was the funniest thing to me because all the cucumbers I had seen were bent. Now in the UK, I only see straight cucumbers. Something is not right.

6. Avoid vegetables wrapped in packaging

Another way to become more eco-friendly is by choosing the ones which are loose so you can put them in your own produce bag. Fruit and vegetables already have a protective layer. They don’t need to be further protected with plastic. It’s totally useless.

7. Bring a bag

Always, always bring your own bag wherever you go. You should already be doing this and if you aren’t, what are you waiting for? Plastic pollution won’t solve itself.

It’s nice to see people with reusable bags, caring about the environment. There is no reason to be using one-use plastic bags anymore. In my opinion, it was one of the worst inventions and now we need to phase them out of our society.

8. Take your own produce bag

Taking your own bag also includes taking your own produce bag. More supermarkets are offering reusable produce bags to tackle our plastic problem. Even if they don’t, any bag will do.

This is something that people often forget about. They bring their normal reusable shopping bag but they forget about the plastic produce bags. Don’t forget next time!

9. Avoid pre-washed and pre-cut food

The reason you shouldn’t buy these is because they come in unneeded plastic packaging whereas you could buy the same thing without the useless packaging. Have we really become that lazy, that we can’t wash or cut our food anymore? It’s getting out of hand.

10. Say no to impulse buys

This might be one of the hardest eco-friendly grocery tip for some. Sometimes when we are at the shop, we see something that looks goods and can’t resist the temptation. However, these are often items that we don’t actually need. So next time fight the temptation and only get what you went to the shop in the first place. Remember, shop with purpose. You don’t need excess stuff.

11. Don’t get processed food

This is something that can save you a lot of money in the course of a year too. But the primary reason you should stop buying so much processed food is because of all the packaging it comes in. As it is processed, it also has a higher carbon footprint than natural food.

Okay, it might be hard in this day and age to boycott all packaged food but reduce the amount of processed food you get.

12. Avoid ready-made meals.

That’s just more packaging that you don’t need. You could make your own meals which are better for your health too. I know it’s tempting to buy these when you are too tired to cook anything but try to limit yourself as much as possible.

13. Get your meat from the butchers

Instead of getting pre-packed meat from the supermarket, go to your local butchers so you can put the meat in your own container or eco packaging. This is yet another you can do to reduce your plastic waste.

14. More plants, less meat

Buy more fruit, veg and pulses and less meat. This is one of the best ways to reduce your environmental impact. I’m not saying, never eat any animal products for the rest of your life, but at least reduce when you can. The animal farming industry is one of the most harmful industries on the planet. It causes mass deforestation, produces greenhouse gases, takes up land… The list goes on.

Also read: Plant-Based Diet. Everything you need to know.

15. Go by bike

We can’t forget about how you go to the store. That emits carbon emissions too. So if it’s close by, walk or take the bike. It’s also good exercise. Generally, whenever you can, choose to walk or bike instead of taking the car. We don’t need any more vehicles on our roads.

16. Don’t order food online

Technology has made our life much easier by enabling us to shop without even getting out of bed but just because it’s better for you it doesn’t ‘t mean it’s better for the planet. The food needs to be transported which emits carbon dioxide and comes wrapped with excess packaging that could have been avoided.

17. Natural products

Get food that hasn’t been genetically modified or that has had chemicals added to it. My motto is: if it’s bad for you, it’s bad for the environment. Eating food filled with pesticides and other chemicals can’t be any good for anyone.

18. Recycled packaging

Look for products that promote their recycled packaging. It still might be plastic but at least it’s not new plastic. Obviously it’s hard to find many products like this but I’ve seen more brands recently that do this because companies are realizing the impact they are having on the environment. It’ just something to look out for.

Conclusion

Now that you have learned my 18 eco-friendly grocery tips, you need to implement them. Next time you go shopping, be more mindful of what you are buying.

It might be hard. Yes, you will have to make some small sacrifices and might need to look a bit more to find sustainable products but I believe, and I hope you do too, that it’s worth it. We need to look out for our planet even when it seems like no one is. Your actions count.

Originally published at https://www.terramovement.com on September 17, 2020.