It is seemingly getting harder and harder to go to the supermarket and avoid packaged foods. We have put together a few ideas to help you get on top of your waste!
Greening up your kitchen is easier than you think we just need to make a few key changes that in the long run will save you time and money.
- Cut the packaging. There is a couple of ways to reduce your packaging footprint. Today most things such as oats, cereals and flours can be bought in larger quantities. If you cannot find it at your local supermarket I suggest you head straight to your local Health food or Organic store. Collecting your own containers and taking them along to be filled at your ‘local’ has a certain self satisfaction about it.
- Compost. It is possible to have no organic matter going into your bins however this is also dependent on where you live and how much space you have. So even a little compost bin is better than none at all. There are a few options for a compost bin, the worm compost, build you’re own or these days you can buy them from your local hardware or nursery. The best thing about the compost is that once it’s all broken down it becomes a fantastic fertilizer for your organic garden.
- Farmers markets make it your mission. Not all of us are lucky enough to have great markets selling local produce close by. But if you can get to a market make it your weekend mission. Chat with the growers, learn about what’s in season and support your local farmers as we need to encourage people away from the big food chains to limit the control they are developing over our food supply.
You will find the food is fresher, tastes better and keeps longer when you get it home.
- Buy organic or grow your own. It’s hard to stomach that Organic food still has it’s sceptics despite the fact that it is well documented the amount of chemicals that are sprayed all over our food everyday. Organic food just tastes better, and it is said to have higher vitamins and minerals in it. The down side is that organic food can be expensive, which gets us back to shopping locally or an incentive to start your own chemical free garden maybe.
- Choose Greener Cleaners. Clean it out. Eco cleaners have come along way in the past 10 years. Working just as well, better in some cases than the conventional brands you find in the supermarket. More often than not, these products are concentrated, as they do not contain any fillers or additives. Meaning you use less every time, saving your family money.
- Reusable drink bottles and lunch boxes. Lunch boxes often end up filled with packaging. A solution to this is to get yourself an ECO lunchbox, a few on the market these days they have sections that you can pack all your goodies in without plastic wrapping. Then they seal so that nothing spills out. Brilliant. Now if you haven’t already you better get yourself out and buy a reusable drink bottle. Special note with when choosing your water bottle be sure to check the imprint on the bottom, you are looking to purchase a BPA free plastic. Generally speaking but not always if a number 7 is on the bottom of the bottle then it is a polycarbonate plastic bottle which is said to be a source of the BPA that can leach into our bodies. There are BPA free drink bottles out there, just a matter of being aware and checking before we buy.
How do you feel about the use of polycarbonates in plastics?
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