How do you buy groceries in an eco-minimalist and budget-friendly way? I'm about to tell you. But first, let me get this out of the way. This is not about "zero waste" shopping.
In case you didn't know, zero waste was a term developed for industrial purposes in the 1970s specifically an electronics company. It's since been adopted by other businesses and consumers, but in reality, no consumer can be zero waste. By virtue, a consumer will create waste due to their consumption because each item they buy comes from an organization that produces waste. Also, zero waste is a term I've seen influencers and brands use incorrectly for what they were actually doing. For example, someone did a zero waste "grocery haul" but then bought several of food products that I know for a fact are not compostable or recyclable. That isn't zero waste!
I also want to add that if you're in a food desert or food-insecure, please check out this link for the U.S., this link for Canada, this website for the UK. For any different countries, try searching for food banks in ____ (enter country or city).
Anyway, here's the index for this article.
- Resources
- Origins
- Time of year
- Beyond the packaging
1. Resources
Here in the U.S., Litterless has a zero-waste grocery guide by state. Check on the "nationwide" link for companies that ship to the U.S. if there's nothing local on the list. If possible, find out which of these companies use carbon-neutral/carbon-negative shipping, or buy your own carbon offsets.
However, I have a few problems with the Litterless resource. For example, not every state is listed. I noticed right away that Idaho doesn't have a link. Then as I mentioned, there's the whole zero-waste thing. If a company doesn't want to be associated with that term or feel (maybe incorrectly) that they don't meet the requirements, then they won't be on the list. But that doesn't mean that at least some of their business practices are not low-waste or eco-minimalist. I think you can work with just about any store out there to limit your waste when shopping.
For example, I like to shop at a place called Winco. They have low prices and a great bulk food section, but you're supposedly not allowed to bring your own containers. For nut butter and some liquids, they have plastic containers that are probably new plastic and the tops are not recyclable. For everything else in bulk, they offer plastic bags that they say are recyclable, but it's sometimes difficult to find a place to do that. They are also made from new plastic. I've snuck in my reusable produce bags for things like pasta and rice in bulk, and the cashiers never say anything to me. They already don't subtract the weight of the containers, so I don't see that I'm really losing any money by doing this. A quick comparison tells me that the bulk prices are often cheaper than the prices of pre-packaged options. Bulk foods are not waste-free, but the volume of food to the ratio of packaging is different than buying individual packages.
One thing I don't like about Winco is that they don't compost their food waste or seem to have any arrangements to give stock to food banks or shelters. I feel like this is something that every business in the foodservice industry should be doing in this day and age.
Another issue I have is how around Thanksgiving, Winco gives a "free" turkey to anyone who purchases at least $100 worth of groceries. We don't eat turkey, we asked if they could donate it to a food bank instead. Nope. Well, could we get a free large bag of rice or potatoes instead? Nope--even though these things are probably cheaper than a turkey. Not very inclusive. It's nice for some people, but not everyone celebrates Thanksgiving or even eats turkey. It also makes me wonder how many of those frozen turkeys get thrown in the dumpster every year because people don't spend $100 per visit and/or don't buy them.
Some estimates are that food waste composes as much as 50% of the waste that goes into the landfill. There's a misconception that it will just compost in a landfill, which it doesn't. It breaks down in a way that releases methane gas into the atmosphere, which is the last thing we need more of.
Businesses that sell food certainly create a large portion of this food waste, but what households produce adds up in a collective way. There are simple and free things you can do at home to reduce your food waste:
- Know what you have on hand before you shop and when it will expire
- Plan out your meals and create a list so that you only buy what you need
- Learn the best way to store items to keep them from going bad
- Freeze foods before they rot if you know you won't have time to eat them first
- Find out how to arrange your refrigerator to keep food fresh
- Buy only exactly what you need 95% of the time. For example, did you know that cooking with oil is generally not necessary? It's also expensive and usually, the containers are very wasteful, I use vegetable broth, a little water with spices, or nothing to cook my food, and it comes out just as well. Growing crops that result in cooking oils can lead to soil erosion, endangering native plants with pesticides, adding more toxic residues to your diet, high water usage, and native forest/plant/rainforest deforestation. Also, farmers from both this country and developing countries are often mistreated and under-compensated in general, but oil production is big business. So mistreatment is more likely to happen in farmers aligned with agro-corps like cooking oil usually is.
- For more tips, I found this blog post that includes tips about a 5-minute meal plan, composting, food prep, and more. She even has links to tips about composting when you live in an apartment.
Speaking of composting, that's something I recently started doing. I didn't do it in my apartment, because I didn't know how to work with my lack of outdoor space. But since I moved into my partner's house, we got a scrap container for the kitchen (thrifted) and one of those tumbler composters (free from Craigslist!). Since we eat plant-based, all our food scraps go in there and I'm proud to say that we no longer put any food into the landfill. We also buy some products that have home-compostable packaging and put that into our composter as well. We're still learning, but so far it's been really easy to maintain composting as a part of our routine.
While we're on the topic of home waste, think about the non-food waste left by any products you buy, and make sure you're clear about how to dispose of them. Don't be a wishcycler!
Other options for eco-minimalist groceries are:
- imperfect food boxes, where they deliver you perfectly good food that doesn't look pretty enough to go to the store
- shopping for clearance items if you know you'll eat something soon or can freeze it--this stuff often gets thrown away
- restaurant supply stores open to the public, which sometimes have bulk foods at lower prices
- farm co-ops and farmer's markets
- mom & pop stores that want to please their customers by catering to people who care about the environment
If you have any other resources, please comment down below so other people can use them as well!
Origins
Find out where your food is coming from. If you live in the far northern hemisphere and you're buying something that originated in the far southern hemisphere, that food is probably going to be more expensive, not as fresh, and have created a lot of pollution to get to you. Even if it's a banana with no packaging, that doesn't mean it's the most eco-minimalist choice. If your store doesn't have clear labeling about the origins of the food they sell, then ask. While you're at it, try to advocate for a systemic mandate for your area.
I'm sure many people are balking at the thought of giving up a beloved food because it came from the opposite side of the world. But I can tell you from personal experience that people are creatures of habit. I have switched out items that I really liked for ones that I liked less, whether for health reasons or due to food shortages. I just kept eating it and with time, found that I had a new habit of liking that food! Give yourself credit for having the discipline to change your food habits, and reserve less sustainable foods for rare occasions. You got this!
Time of year
People talk about eating in-season, but I doubt many actually follow through on this. A quick internet search should tell you what's actually ripe and fresh for your area and time of year.
I've seen and heard about some weird things even at farmer's markets, like farms selling things way outside of the normal growing season. In states warmer than mine, I guess there aren't really "seasons" and some things are grown year-round, even though they probably don't taste as good. For example, I read that ruby red grapefruit is supposed to be in season from October to May. It's November right now, and the ones at my local store are pale and have weird spots on them--not ruby-colored at all! But to be fair, I doubt grapefruits grow well where I live anyway. What was my point? Don't rely on your stores or farmer's markets to provide in-season foods. They're going to sell what makes them money. Do your research.
Beyond the packaging
Most packaged foods have websites these days. I don't just care about the packaging, I care about the business practices of the company. If the website doesn't have a page outlining their sustainability practices, I email them and ask them why and request they send me that info. I believe every business with a website should discuss its sustainability efforts. This shouldn't even be optional any longer, because at this point it's critical that everyone and every company is thinking about how their actions impact the planet's future.
It's important that a company is transparent about the entire supply chain involved in every product, not just the packaging it ends up in. They should also be using eco-conscious vendors as well as incorporating sustainable practices in places like their offices and break rooms.
But of course, they could be lying about how sustainable things really are. At least a few of the larger companies have been caught out on that. They put out statements that say "our goal is to do X by 2020" but don't explain how. Then 2020 ends and they never update their website to report that they've actually done X.
This is why I try to avoid packaging as much as possible. It's just easier than trying to research a million different items to try to find the best option. That way, I can focus on just a few brands that I know are doing a good job.
I also try to make things myself as much as possible. This is easier than it sounds because I do things that only take a few minutes but go a long way toward making my meals filling and healthy. I use a pressure cooker, so making rice takes less than 60 seconds of my time. Beans take about 2 minutes (because of soaking), or maybe 10 minutes if I want to puree them (e.g. hummus or not-refried beans). The pressure cooker does the bulk of the work for me and they come out perfectly cooked every time. I use this same tool to make potatoes in bulk, cook ears of corn, artichokes, or spaghetti squash. I think this is a great option for people who either don't want to spend a lot of time in the kitchen or are intimidated by cooking from scratch.
In conclusion, you don't have to go to fancy stores like Whole Foods to be an eco-minimalist grocery shopper. You can do it on a budget and without spending all your time working on food-related issues.
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