8 Ways to Green Your Shopping

This story is part of Earth911’s “Green Eight” series, where we showcase eight ways to green your life in various areas.

Depending on the size of your family, you may hit up the grocery store once a week. Maybe even multiple times a week. Consider that 32 percent of the waste we produce is packaging, and you’ll understand how important it is to shop with a green frame of mind.

Here’s some easy steps to keep the environment in mind at the checkout line.

1. Make a List, Check it Twice

Keep a list of supplies you need attached to the refrigerator. Supermarkets are huge and easily disorienting. Driving all the way back to the store because you forgot something means more energy consumed.

Make sure you recycle your shopping list with the rest of your paper (and your receipt). Better yet, write it on a dry-erase board or in your Blackberry to create no waste.

2. Make it an Outing

The grocery store is a great place to meet singles, but that doesn’t mean you need to shop for just one person. If you have roommates, make one trip for the whole house and split costs. Invite a friend who you rarely see to go shopping with you. Carpooling to the grocery store is very green.

3. Buy Local

The idea of a “world market” sounds cool until you think about how the products arrived there. Have you ever checked labels to see where some of your favorite products are from? One option is to frequent the farmers market for things like produce. You’re reducing the environmental impact of shopping while supporting the local economy.

4. Check the Ingredients

This doesn’t mean check for trans fats and carbohydrates. The grocery store has plenty of products with harmful ingredients that affect their environmental impact. This includes:

• Batteries
• Car fluids
• Fluorescent lightbulbs
• Household cleaners
• Pesticides

Know before you buy these products that they should be recycled/properly disposed when you’re done with them. Recycle household items using Earth 911.

5. Close the Loop

The recycling symbol has two major purposes: it tells you what can be recycled and also points out what is made of recycled content. Look for grocery items where either the product itself or packaging is made of recycled content.

In some cases you may be purchasing recycled content without even knowing it (products like glass bottles are made largely of recycled aluminum and glass). Buying recycled is how you close the loop; it creates a market for recycling.

6. Buy in Bulk

Over 10 percent of the cost of groceries is for packaging. That’s a big reason why you save money buying in bulk. Another benefit is it will reduce your waste. Choose large quantities over individually-wrapped products. You can always put food in the freezer so it doesn’t go bad.

7. Choose to Reuse

We’ve all heard the line “Paper or plastic?” Well guess what? A new competitor has entered the field: reusable canvas. Your favorite grocery store may sell these bags, which you can then keep in the car. They’re more durable than your typical grocery bag and can hold more items.

If you decide to stick with paper and plastic, see if your grocery store has a take back program for them. If not, use Earth 911’s recycling locator to find a recycler in your area.

8. Know Your Curbside Program

If your curbside recycling program only accepts #1 plastic, it will be more difficult to recycle yogurt containers made of #5 plastic. The more you can recycle, the less waste you will produce. Use Earth 911’s recycling locator to find out what is accepted in your curbside program, and buy more items that feature this packaging.