How to Create Less Waste in Your Grocery Haul

We are in a climate crisis and our choices as consumers have a greater impact than you might believe on the state of our environment. It is easy to take the stance that our choices as individuals don’t really matter when it comes to the environment and all the blame lies in big business and politicians, but the truth of the matter is we impact the environment with every choice we make; we vote with our dollar and every piece of trash you create still ends up in a landfill. There are many factors that go into how we decide to spend our money and sometimes purchasing wasteful products is difficult to avoid. It is important to acknowledge the time commitment and financial resources necessary to live a zero-waste lifestyle, but almost everyone can make the time to make one or two small changes in the way they live their life. 

Take a second to think about your last grocery haul. If you’re like the average shopper, you purchased lots of plastic covered products and put them in plastic bags to take home from the store. You’ve probably realized that there is a shocking amount of plastic that goes into your grocery haul. While this may seem difficult to avoid or a necessary evil, there are lots of simple changes you as an individual can make to reduce your waste!

Buying in bulk is super easy and oftentimes saves you money too. Venturing into the bulk aisle of your local grocery store may seem scary and confusing, but once you try it you will realize how easy it is and how much waste you can reduce. First, check with your local grocery store about their policies, but many stores with bulk aisles allow you to bring your own containers to use (and sometimes even give you a discount). Nuts, seeds, flour, rice, and beans are all common staples that can be easily purchased in bulk. The Willy St. Co-op in Madison is a great place to shop as they have a wide variety of products that can be purchased in bulk.  And you don’t need any fancy containers to buy in bulk, actually, it’s best to repurpose what you already have! Clean out an old pasta sauce jar and get filling! 

Another simple way to reduce your waste, that takes a little less forethought, is choosing to buy products that have recyclable packaging. Buying things in glass or cardboard creates less waste and it’s also easy to repurpose these containers. Glass jars can be used for storage or buying things in bulk. I also like to paint pieces of old cardboard which gives the cardboard a new life and saves money on canvases. One downfall to choosing products that come in recyclable packaging is that they tend to be a little more pricey. If you have the cash to spend (surprisingly only an extra 60 cents on salsa in a glass jar) it is absolutely worth it, but for some people struggling financially this isn’t realistic and that’s also okay! However, by supporting companies that take the time to carefully package their products, we send the message as consumers that we want environmentally conscious products. So it is truly important to thoughtfully purchase products if you have the luxury! 

    At this point, bringing your own reusable bags should be a given, but if you haven’t already purchased your own bags now’s the time! Many stores now offer discounts to those who bring their own bags, so in time they will actually pay for themselves. However, if you have yet to purchase reusable bags, make sure the bags are made from recyclable materials. Oftentimes they are made out of plastic, so if possible try to opt for cotton, canvas, or hemp bags. Additionally, you can purchase, make or repurpose produce bags so you don’t need to use plastic bags for your produce. Also, watch out for produce packaged in plastic, this is a very wasteful practice and it is so easy to avoid! 

    Lastly, many things that come wrapped in plastic are so easy to make yourself! Homemade food often tastes so much better, is better for you, is rewarding to make and saves you money. This is not to say you should make all of your food homemade, that is not realistic, but if you find yourself purchasing a particular product that comes in plastic a lot, look into making it yourself. One super simple example is making your own hummus. Homemade hummus is so easy and cheap to make yourself and tastes so much better. Also, homemade flour tortillas are so much better than store-bought and way easier than you might think to make. 

Being low waste isn’t an easy choice, but it’s an important one. What’s important is that we all make little efforts to do better. Your spending with your money will decide the kind of world you want to see. While little individual efforts don’t feel like they do much,  they add up when everyone contributes!  

• grocery shopping
• sustainability