Fix Our Earth: Sustainable Grocery Shopping
BY: STEPHANIE LICCIARDI, GROUP FOR THE EAST END ENVIRONMENTAL ASSOCIATE
FIX OUR EARTH
Reusable bag photo from EarthSunflower Etsy Page
Group for the East End environmental associate Stephanie Licciardi has adapted some of her sustainable living tips from her blog, Fix Our Earth. Follow to find amazing tips on living a more eco-friendly lifestyle!
According to a study published by the University of Michigan, food accounts for 10-30% of a household's carbon footprint. This percentage includes emissions related to food transportation, meat consumption, and agricultural practices. We must also consider the impact of the packaging of our food, the way we carry it home, and our food waste. There is a lot we cannot control individually in the climate crisis, but we have specific control over our actions in the grocery store.
1. Bring Your Own Bags
This is one of the simplest and most impactful habits to adopt when shopping. Plastic bags are very difficult to recycle because they clog the machines in the recycling facilities. They can easily be mistaken as a jellyfish for hungry marine life. Plastic bags are made of dangerous fossil fuels. Thankfully, New York has banned some plastic bags, which will largely benefit the East End environment. These bans are proven to work, with Washington, DC seeing a 72% reduction in plastic bags found during river cleanup events.
Look into purchasing sturdy reusable grocery bags and produce bags. It’s important to note that plastic produce bags are not part of the NYS ban, so we have to make a personal effort to stop using those. Go a step further and purchase reusable canvas bags from your favorite East End stores. Most sell bags with their art designs and logos!
2. Observe Your Packaging
Pay attention to the packaging of the items you are buying. Choose items sold in glass, aluminum, paper, and cardboard. Avoid items sold in plastic bags. Some stores, like Trader Joe’s and Target, sell most of their produce in non-recyclable plastic bags. If you grocery shop in stores with those practices, it's even more of a reason to reduce plastic in the other items you purchase. It can be as simple as buying soda in a 12 pack of aluminum cans that come in cardboard packaging vs. soda in a plastic bottle.
3. Consider Alternatives
Have you noticed that most vegetables in the supermarket look exactly the same? This is because grocery store produce has certain aesthetic standards leading to about 25% of produce to either be thrown out or fed to cattle before it even hits the grocery stores.
Misfits Market is a service that collects those rejected, ugly fruits and vegetables from organic farms so you can buy them and reduce food waste! It’s an affordable subscription service that allows you to customize the frequency of delivery and amount of produce in the box. This is a fun option for all sized households because it challenges you to use all the fruits and veggies you receive in your box, even the ones you may have never tried before.
It can be aggravating to grocery shop for a small household when your produce options come prepackaged in enormous quantities. You end up spending extra money to have a bag of vegetables go bad before you can eat them.
At farmers markets and local farm stands, you can typically buy the exact quantity you need of any available vegetable while also supporting our local farmers. This directory will help you find which farmers market is closest to you. The East End is so special because when we buy from farms, we have the chance to speak directly with the people who grew our food. In many cases, the fruits and vegetables were harvested the same day, maximizing freshness and nutritional value!
Veggies photo from Misfits Website
I hope these tips inspire you to be a sustainable grocery shopper. Sustainability doesn't have to be expensive. Practicing simple thoughtfulness during everyday actions will lead to this impactful lifestyle change. Let’s encourage others to do the same.