[PRACTICE] Grocery Shopping 101

"Much of our waste problem is to be accounted for by the intentional flimsiness and unrepairability of the labor-savers and gadgets that we have become addicted to."

– Wendell Berry

Let me help you so that you never run into an uncomfortable situation like the above. Please. Once you reach the bottom of this newsletter, you would have become an expert eco-shopper.

Here is a concern worth raising before we talk about grocery shopping. Our pursuit of convenience has caused a tremendous amount of damages to the environment. Ever-growing technology equals greater convenience more so than ever before. How much waste are we generating and costing the environment by making our lives more and more effortless? One of the conveniences we abuse is online shopping. Literally everything is available for purchase at our fingertips nowadays, including a box of whole wheat thin spaghetti, a pound of ground beef, and a jar of marinara sauce.

Surprisingly, relatively little research has been done to illustrate the effects of online shopping on environment. Also, many studies cannot necessarily prove that online shopping is harmful to the environment due to so many variable factors, such as carbon emission, wastes produced when bought in bulk, etc. However, take a look at some big numbers.

Between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day in 2017, United States Postal Service was scheduled to deliver more than 850 million packages. That means a lot of carbon emissions, traffic, and packaging wastes in less than 2 months. In 2013, 80 million tons of plastic foam waste were generated in the United States. Only 5,000 tons of this were recycled.

Numbers are just numbers scribbled on paper for a lot of people. Then, think about how much packaging comes with one order to Amazon delivered to your door. Nick Bilton, correspondent for Vanity Fair, once wrote for the New York Times, "half a dozen large green plastic AmazonFresh bags arrived at our front door. When we opened the first bag, we found a large box of plastic foam. Inside that enclosure were five frozen plastic bottles used to keep the box cold. And finally, sitting at the bottom of this environmentally unfriendly cacophony was a single lemon." He quit AmazonFresh deliveries after receiving a bulk of waste and a bonus lemon.

It's not just Nick Bilton who's had such experience. It happens after 3-clicks on Amazon to order a thumb drive. Imagine the amount of plastic foam, plastic bags, cardboard boxes to wrap the thumb drive. Imagine the amount of gas emission for a truck that drives around and around to deliver the orders. You got the idea.

Online shopping is definitely a convenience we can take less advantage of in order to help the environment. It takes a bit of individual consumer efforts of remembering to stop by a store to grab a toiletry or walking to a nearest farmers' market. If us, the consumers do not change our habits, the companies will not change theirs to keep the environment safe and safely pass it on to our future generations.

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GROCERY 101

Level 1: Travel to the grocery store

A+ if you walk A- if you bike B if you use public transportation C+ if you drive, but make an efficient stop to grocery store in between destinations C- if you drive, just to go to a grocery store

Being at the store and hand-picking the produce are the first critical steps to accomplish. Not only will you reduce carbon footprints, but also will you have more power and control as a consumer. You will not be able to achieve the steps listed below if you bail out going to the store.

Extra credit for choosing farmers' market over supermarkets! In fact, there are more pros and cons at farmers' market because you will save money, have more access to organic and fresh produce, and support local community.

Level 2: BYOB: Bring Your Own Bag

This is an easy way to earn A+. I reuse reusable bags I received from stores or campaigns, which saved money for me. Sometimes, I use a cute tote bag to farmers' market because fashion. :) Stores like Whole Foods Market and Trader Joe's use paper bags to reduce plastic waste, but why make waste in the first place? You will also get $0.50 to $0.80 discounts for bringing your own bags to stores. Below are some affordable and environmentally-conscious bags if you need to purchase bags. They are foldable and therefore, portable. I usually carry one with me in my purse, so that I am always ready to go grocery shopping.

ChicoBag compact reusable totes - various sizes and types Baggu reusable bag - various patterns and designs

Level 3: BYOPB: Bring Your Own Produce Bag

This is like accomplishing algebra in third grade. Completely doable, but excellently over-achieving. DO NOT THOUGHTLESSLY PULL OUT PLASTIC BAGS FOR FRESH PRODUCE! Even eco-friendly supermarkets that provide paper bags still have plastic bags for produce and that plastic takes centuries to decompose. Please refer to below links to view purchase options.

ChicoBag Produce Bag Cotton Produce Bag from Package Free Shop

Level 4: Buy locals and seasonals

Easiest to accomplish if you visit farmers' market. Support your local community by purchasing from farmers and be able to easily source what you end up eating. Seasonal ingredients tend to cost less, but also tastier and better for the environment, as it requires less artificial energy to grow.

Level 5: Buy in bulk vs. Shop small Should you buy in bulk to avoid individually-wrapped food products and reduce waste OR should you shop small to avoid throwing out food waste? The answer to this question depends on the number of household members and/or how you store your ingredients.

If you have a single or a couple, buying in bulks may generate lots of waste. If you are a family of more than 3 members, shopping often in small portion may not be a great idea since small portions require lots of packaging. It is important for you, as a consumer, to plan ahead and reduce waste as much as possible. You can find ways to sustainably store food or freeze when you buy ingredients in bulk. Thinking you will not each at home as much this week? Shop small and make no food waste!

Level 6: Refuse receipts

Literally. Refuse. Receipts. Receipts from grocery stores tend to be longggg because of the number of items. Receive them electrically via email when you can. If possible, tell your cashier in advance so that he/she doesn't print them, wasting paper and ink.

Have fun joining #zerowaste #sustainable #environmentalfriendly #consumerchoice project everyone!