Its easy to keep your vegetarian kitchen eco-friendly!
The problem: According to Earth Eats, America throws away 1.4 billion pounds of trash every day. Almost half of that (40 percent) is single-use packaging material. Much of that waste comes from plastic bags. About 1 million plastic bags are used every minute, and a single plastic bag can take up to 1,000 years to degrade.
Photo Credit: SurprisePally
One solution: Across the country, initiatives are being implemented to reduce plastic bag usage, but one grocery store in Austin, TX is going a few steps further. Scheduled to open in October, in.gredients will be the first of its kind, package-free grocery store. Customers won’t just be asked to bring their own shopping bags. They’ll also be asked to bring their own containers, whether they be jugs for milk and beer or cardboard boxes for bread and eggs.
Reducing grocery store packaging waste may be a growing trend across the country. West of Austin in Los Angeles, a plastic grocery bag ban began on July 1 and is estimated to affect 1.1 million people in the county. Other areas have implemented fees and other restrictions for plastic bags and other avoidable waste items.
The DiscoverVeggie Challenge: Upon your reading this, we challenge you to go one entire day without throwing anything away. Can you do it? Great, go two days, three days, as long as you can. See what kinds of things you toss out. Ask your self how you could cut your package waste to a minimum.
Reuse, Reduce, Recycle: Why wait for city-wide plastic bag bans or package-free grocery stores? You can reduce your own plastic bag use and cut the amount of one-time use packaging no matter where you live or shop. Here are a few of our tips for doing so.
1. Enforce your own personal ban on plastic bags. Why wait for your grocery store to ban plastic bags? Most grocery stores sell reusable tote bags, but any type of canvas or cloth bag will work. Keep some in your car or in your desk at work incase an impromptu grocery trip comes up.
2. Buy local. If you buy from a farmers market or farm stand, chances are farmers will welcome you to bring your own plastic containers for their fresh produce sales.
3. Compost! Composting is great for many reasons, but it relates here because if you compost you save a lot of room in your trash can, ultimately saving trash bags.
Photo Credit: Todd Baker << technowannabe
4. Avoid processed foods. Most processed foods come in a bag within a box or a tray within a bag. Avoid the excess packaging and unwanted preservatives by avoiding processed foods all together. You’ll be improving your health and your environmental footprint.
5. If you do find you need to use a plastic bag, don’t just throw it away. Collect the plastic bags you bring home and return them at your closest grocery store.
Extra, Extra – Arm Your Kitchen
Since the kitchen is typically the most difficult place to make waste-free, investing in some reusable kitchen accessories can go a long way. Veg Kitchen has some great advice for doing so, which can be found here. The group recommends you stock up on things like cloth napkins, durable plastic plates and cups, water filter pitchers, travel mugs, reusable lunch containers and more.
—————————————————————————————————————————————
Have any other tips for reducing the packaging you use? Let us know below, on Facebook or on Twitter.