Reduce Packaging, Eat Better, and Save Money
”There is no such thing as “away'“; when we throw something away, it must go somewhere.” - Annie Leonard
The Environmental Impact of food Packaging
Around half of all solid waste that goes into landfills originates as food packaging. It pollutes our air, rivers, lakes, and oceans, harming both humans and wildlife. The production of packaging materials involves the use of harmful chemicals (many of which never break down), unnecessary air pollution, and a staggering volume of water waste. Plastics in our environment are becoming a growing concern as they break down very slowly (if at all), leaching toxic substances or becoming microplastics which cause a plethora of problems for life on our planet. In the interest of sustainability, it’s imperative that we reduce or eliminate food packaging.
The Solutions
The good news is that there are many simple ways to reduce, reuse, or eliminate food packaging that save money and improve our diet.
Be Mindful of Purchases
Vote with your dollars by passing up items that are needlessly wasteful. Instead, opt for the choice with the least amount of packaging, packaging that is reusable, or zero packaging (farmers markets and bulk bins).
Reuse packaging
Instead of purchasing disposable products for food storage, reuse your packaging. Glass jars are perfect for storing bulk bin ingredients and they also help fresh produce like berries keep longer. Ingredients can be layered into reusable glass jars for easy and convenient ready made salads, grain bowls, overnight oats, yogurt parfaits, or smoothies. Resealable bags that once held seeds, nuts, grains, cacao, nutritional yeast, or legumes are perfect for packing lunches or for use as freezer bags for saving veggie trimmings for stock. Yogurt tubs and other larger containers can be used for holding compostable kitchen scraps, organizing kitchen tools, or organizing supplies for crafts or gardening. Repurposing containers will save you money as well as reducing your environmental impact.
Eat More Real Food
Fresh fruits, fresh veggies, bulk bin items like beans, legumes, nuts, spices, oats, and minimally packaged meats and seafood require little to no packaging. Having some simple and healthy recipes in your repertoire and a plan for eating more whole foods can improve your health and well being as well as reducing the amount of food packaging you’re contributing to landfills and the environment. Eating this way can also be more frugal than purchasing prepackaged processed food.
Eat Local
We don’t typically see the additional packaging required to ship food all over the country. Eating local is less wasteful on every level.
Make or Purchase Your Own Produce Bags and Shopping Bags
It is possible to drastically reduce (or even eliminate packaging) by using reusable bags made from recycled fabric and sticking with farmers markets, local farms, bulk bin purchases, and other vendors that allow you to package your own purchases.
Reduce your packaging to zero!
For a ready made sustainable eating plan that includes a guide for sourcing local ingredients, an adaptable menu, healthy recipes, a shopping list, and more, see the Local Organic Sustainable menu on the Sustainable Chef Julia shop page.