It can be challenging to know precisely how to grocery shop in the way that is most beneficial to the environment. The best part is often shopping to save the planet also saves you money. Isn’t that just a happy coincidence?
Only about 10% of the plastic that is disposed of is recycled. Being mindful of how you shop can help in solving this problem.
Bring Your Own Bags
The #1 way to avoid using plastics is to bring your own bag to the store. If you need a tip on how to remember to do this, keep them in the trunk of your car! That way, they are always with you.
Beyond that, often, stores will play you to bring your bags. Whole Foods, in particular, usually has these types of incentives. Research your local grocery stores & co-ops to find out how much you can save!
Buy As Many Vegetables As You Can Eat
A more plant-based diet is excellent for both your wallet and the environment. It just takes more resources to produce meat than it does vegetables, hence the higher cost & more significant environmental impact.
It is essential, however, to remember to use reusable produce bags! Otherwise, your use of plastics is going to skyrocket with each trip you take to the grocery stores.
Use Raw Ingredients
On average, the more plastic a product has on it, the more processed it is. Therefore, it’s in your best interest from a health and environmental perspective to use the raw ingredients and make your food instead of picking up the processed counterparts.
This may seem like a lot of work, and to some degree, you’re correct in making that assumption. But, the quality of the food you will eat will be so much better you’ll likely forget the work it took you to make it. Not to mention the considerable amount of money you’ll save over time utilizing this method of consumption.
Buy Less
Food waste is a massive problem for the environment. If food waste were a country, it would be the third-largest emitter of greenhouse gasses in the world. Not to mention, it’s a complete waste of money.
We’re prone to overbuy most often because of forgetting our list, impulse buying, or sales on the food we don’t eat too often or as often as the quantity sold calls for.
We also forget to account for the meals we won’t be eating in a lot of the time. It’s a good idea to track your eating in vs. eating out ratio so you can better predict your behavior & buy more appropriately.
More so than that, adopting a mindset of simply being conservative with the amount you buy and knowing you’re likely to overpredict will help you massively reduce your food waste.
Shop As Local & In Season As Possible
The more distance a food had to travel to get to your plate, the more emissions it causes. Also, eat foods that are in season! If you’re curious about what food is in season near you, you can check out this database here.
One of the best ways to know for sure if the food you’re eating is in season and local is to buy as much as you can from your farmer’s market! Also, these can serve as great fun outings for couples and families alike.
Read The Labels
There are many different certificates and logos that you can opt for like fair-trade, organic, non-gmo, social association, safe catch, etc. Doing your research about these labels, what they mean, and then making sure you’re mindful of them can make a big difference.
How ECS Geothermal Can Help You
If you’re interested in helping the environment outside of your food consumption, you should consider geothermal energy. It dramatically reduces your carbon footprint and saves you money at the same time.
Please contact us if you have any questions, or are ready to install a geothermal unit in your home!
Installing ground source heat pumps since 1993
Phone: 816-532-8334
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