Going Green Challenge: Greening Your Groceries
Happy Monday everyone, and welcome to our newest installment here on LaurenConrad.com: our Going Green Challenge series. With Earth Day coming up, greening our routines has been at the forefront of our minds. From our beauty regimens to our closets and household cleaning products, we’re always looking for ways to swap everyday products with natural and eco-friendly options. Believe it or not, the more aware of it you are, the easier it is to find ways to leave a smaller carbon footprint. That being said, today’s post includes a few more ways for you to reduce waste in your day-to-day schedule.
Ladies, let’s talk grocery shopping. Taking a stroll through the produce section alone can leave you with multiple plastic bags of fruits and veggies. It’s amazing that something as simple as grocery shopping can rack up an unwanted amount of waste! Since we’ve been consciously working to green our own grocery shopping routine, we thought it would be beneficial to share with all of our readers what we’ve learned along the way. Keep scrolling to learn how to maximize your next shopping trip while minimizing the waste you produce…
Buy Bulk
The bulk aisle at the store is the perfect place to start your green grocery journey. If you haven’t ventured into it before, the bulk section has bins upon bins of everything from baking ingredients to grains and nuts and everything in between. Usually this aisle has paper or plastic bags to scoop your items into, but the best way to completely reduce waste is by bringing your own containers. Glass jars that you can store in your kitchen or pantry are the way to go. Not only will your food will stay fresher longer, but you’ll eliminate any trash you would have accumulated by buying boxed or bagged items.
Choose Fair Trade
Buying fair trade products at the grocery store ensures so much more than quality food. By buying fair trade coffee, chocolate, and other goods, you know that each product was sustainably sourced and fair wages were paid to the producers. As the consumer, you are making a positive difference in the lives that produce the good you’re purchasing. That sounds like a win-win in our book!
Bring Your Own Bags
We’ve touched on this subject a few times, but we could all use a little reminder! In some cities it’s mandatory to bring your own reusable shopping bags, but we encourage it no matter where you live. Large grocery hauls yield just as many plastic bags, so why not cut single use bags out of your trips altogether? If you didn’t already know, The Little Market has an array of adorable reusable shopping bags on their website that we’re pretty obsessed with. Aside from bringing reusable bags to check out with, shopping with reusable produce bags can make your grocery trip even greener. Because we all know how easy it is to grab way too many of the small plastic produce bags they have available in the produce section…
Avoid Plastic Packaging
In a perfect world all product packaging would be 100 percent recyclable, but unfortunately that just isn’t the case. If you’re really looking to bring down the amount of waste caused by grocery shopping, consider buying whole fruits and veggies from the produce section instead of pre-chopped produce in plastic containers.
Opt for Organic
Harmful chemicals should remain as far away from our food as possible. Buying organic ensures that sustainable methods were used while farming, less damage was done to local ecosystems, and that harsh pesticides were not introduced to the food you’re ingesting.
We’re confident that with these simple ways to green your grocery shopping, you’ll be well on your way to being more aware of reducing waste in other areas of your life too. Stay tuned, because we have more Going Green Challenges for you later this week!
How do you green your grocery shopping?
Let us know your tips and tricks in the comments!
XO Team LC
Photos: The Little Market
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