Produce less waste and opt for an alternative to the ‘shop today, throw away tomorrow’ approach- become a smart shopper!
We are now throwing away more rubbish than ever before and are running out of places to put it. Most of our rubbish is buried in the ground, in 'landfill' sites, but these are filling up fast and new ones are hard to find.
Shopping is the UK's number one pastime- by following a few simple steps, you do not have to clog up your bin with all of that extra packaging. In fact you can reduce the amount of rubbish you create, and save money too!
Smart Shopping is about choosing items that are better for the environment by reducing waste and buying smarter products that can be reused or recycled.
Food Waste
Each person in the UK wastes £424 worth of food each year, that’s £1696 for a family of 4. To reduce the amount of food you throw away plan your meals before shopping- do a list!
Be realistic, if your family hates salad don’t buy it in the forlorn hope that they may eat it this
week, you’ll only end up throwing it away. Try to find an equally healthy long life alternative that they will eat, such as dried fruit nuts and seeds
Shops are careful to arrange the most recent deliveries at the back of the shelf, so that the oldest items are sold first. Use the same principle in your cupboards and fridge
Use left over food up quickly in a curry or bubble and squeak. Don’t let it go mouldy at the back of the fridge. Remember lots of recipes granny used to rely on presenting yesterdays left overs as today’s cordon bleu!
Left over wine? Freeze it to add to dishes at a later stage.
Choose Less Packaging
Up to a quarter of the rubbish we throw away is packaging. Some packaging is necessary to protect goods. By choosing products with less packaging we can reduce the amount of rubbish we throw away, and often save money too.
Less waste…more taste! Buy fruit and vegetables loose rather than pre-packaged! It may seem easier to buy fruit and veg pre-wrapped in a pack of four or six. But it’s a fact – they taste better when you buy them loose. It also avoids all that packaging that helps to clog up our dustbins.
Choose refills for items like washing powder, beauty products, and fabric conditioner, which can be put into the original container.
Buy non perishable products such as cleaning and beauty products in bulk. Less packaging!
Reuse
Most bags are used only once for carrying goods between the shops and home, which is such a waste, especially when you consider that the majority of free carriers are made from oil - an increasingly valuable commodity. When dropped, they are an eyesore and can pose a danger to wildlife. And when thrown away, they are likely to end up in landfill where they can take around 100 years to decompose.
The good news is - it’s easy to play your part in reducing carrier bag waste:
- Use your shopping bag as many times as possible.
- Remember to take bags with you every time you go shopping.
- Keep spare bags in your car or at work so you’re never without.
- Invest in stronger reusable bags, sometimes known as bags for life. Asda, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and other supermarkets all offer their customers bags for life.
- Let the check-out staff know you’ve brought your own before they pack for you!
- Recycle your old carrier bags at the large supermarkets.
Disposable Everything
Pens, razors, batteries, tissues, nappies - all kinds of stuff designed to be thrown away when you've finished with it. And sometimes you only use it once... Disposable nappies alone account for 4% of the UK's household waste.
Try to avoid buying disposable products and opt for longer-lasting, harder-wearing products that are either, re-usable, refillable or rechargeable.
Buy Recycled
Paper, plastic and other products can all be made from recycled materials, without the price going up or the quality going down. If we buy more recycled goods we’ll encourage manufacturers to demand more recycled materials to make them from. In the long run this will reduce the amount of rubbish we bury in the ground. We can help this process by choosing recycled products such as tissues, toilet rolls, kitchen towels, writing paper, pens, rulers and plant pots and looking out for the recycling symbol and the Buy Recycled logo.
Food for Thought
Most everyday items have the minimum packaging necessary to meet retailer and consumer needs. The leaders of the retail industry are making a great deal of progress in reducing over packaging in products. Most of the developments are taking place in the design stage by altering the way the products are delivered and presented.
Don’t Feel Guilty!
- The reluctant cook can justify eating out at a restaurant because food is cooked in large quantities saving on packaging!
- Don’t feel guilty about buying prepared foods sometimes- it doesn’t just save you time but it also generates less waste despite the packaging!
