Reduce Your Grocery Shopping Waste

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By now we all know to bring our reusable bags with us when we go to the store. However, you can take other action to reduce the waste your shopping trips create. Even refusing a few pieces of plastic during your next shopping trip will start you on a path to more sustainable shopping habits. Remember, the plastic you refuse is plastic that does not end up in a landfill or in the environment.

Make a List

Many people create shopping lists and meal plans, so next time you get out your shopping list think about the kind of trash your family generates and how you can reduce it at the store. Do you frequently buy things you only use half of? Are you gravitating towards a disposable product (e.g. parchment paper) when a reusable option exists (like washable baking mats)? You don’t have to change your list all at once. Make it a goal to reduce one piece of waste with each shopping trip.

Refuse Extra Packaging

Produce and veggies can go directly into your cart. No need for those extra plastic bags, especially since you’ll be washing everything off when you get home. Avoid pre-cut, plastic-wrapped produce when possible. If you truly feel like you need protection for your produce while you shop, invest in some reusable produce bags.

Avoid Packaging Within Packaging

This one is easier said than done, but try to avoid products that are layered in packaging. This means instead of buying a pack of four individual yogurts all of the same flavor, buy a larger tub of yogurt and portion it out on your own. This isn’t always possible considering the challenge of sending things in lunchboxes to school with kids. But if part of your family happens to be working or learning from home right now, take the opportunity to cut some of that extra packaging out of your life.

Choose Eco-Friendly Products

You’ve heard this one before, but it bears repeating. If there’s a choice between sustainable packaging and unsustainable packaging for similar products, always choose the sustainable option. If you’d like to go a step further, speak to the management at your favorite grocery store and let them know you’re interested in seeing more eco-friendly options. Encourage your friends to do the same.

Recycle Your Plastic Bags at the Store

Many grocery stories have places where you can return your plastic shopping bags. If yours end up in the trash as soon as you’ve put away your food, consider bundling them into your trunk and taking them with you for recycling the next time you shop.

Changing your shopping habits won’t happen in a day. With some careful consideration, however, you can reduce the amount of waste each grocery trip produces and contribute to a more sustainable household and community. Stopping waste before it reaches our environment is essential to protecting valuable natural habitats and watersheds from consumer-based debris.

If you’d like to take even more steps to eliminating plastic packaging from your life, we’ve got you covered. KPB is excited to announce a partnership with 4R World, a mobile refillery stocked with all the basics. Bring your reusable containers to the KPB parking lot on Thursday, November 19th or Friday, December 11th, and stock up on cleaning and body products!