Zero Waste Living - When You Shop

Find waste reduction tips below that you can incorporate when you shop!

Reusable Shopping Bags

Make the switch to reusable shopping bags instead of disposable ones. In the US, we use around 100 billion disposable bags each year. Your acts do make a difference! Don’t just use them at the grocery store: take them to anywhere you shop like the hardware store, department store, coffee shop, or restaurants. Having a hard time remembering to bring them with you? Here’s a tip: keep a few in your car, work bag or in a stash next to the front door.

Buy from Bulk Bins

Waste generated from food packaging accounts for an alarming percentage of what goes to the landfill – according to the EPA, it is more than 23% in the U.S. Purchasing grains, coffee beans, pasta, and legumes from bulk bins and bringing your own reusable containers is one simple action that makes a BIG difference.

Purchase Items with less packaging

Look for produce items that are sold without packaging like apples with no plastic bag, mushrooms that don’t have a clamshell, and oranges that don’t have a plastic net. Also, bring a reusable produce bag instead of putting them in disposable bags. While shopping, look for other types of products that use less packaging as well.

Purchase bulk-sized products

Decreasing the purchase of single serving items like coffee pods, six pack of yogurts, and assortment packed chip bags can add up to big waste savings over time. For example, choose the family size chip bag with reusable snack pouches instead of those assortment packs of single serving chip bags.

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