Calories of consumption
Tips on reducing your waste size
Carley Friesen
Grocery shopping — it’s a standard day-to-day activity that we often do without thinking: toss anything into the cart that looks tasty, collect the airmiles, double bag the frozen stuff and head home.
Since groceries are such a normal part of our routine, we take for granted the conveniences of modern grocery shopping. We are also turning our backs on one of the biggest sources of waste in our landfills. Food garbage accounts for the highest tonnage of all waste, above even plastic and wood garbage. But this can be avoided by making smarter choices in the grocery aisle.
Here are some simple ways you can cut down on the waste produced by your food, choices that may even save you money.
When you are shopping for fruits and vegetables, check the labels and choose the brand grown the closest to you. This means they have not been transported as far to get to you, and that means not as much energy has been invested.
Pay attention to packaging. Buy muffin mix rather than granola bars and make your own lunchbox snacks. These mixes are simple — add water and mix, that’s it! If you’re feeling even more adventurous, make your snacks from scratch! Rice Crispie squares, trail mix and unbaked cookies are simple to prepare, which means you are saving on the invested energy of processing and packaging.
Speaking of packaging, let’s talk about plastic bags. Currently, plastic bags are not recyclable. The average household uses upwards of 350 plastic bags per year. Plastic stays around for 450 years. 450 years! In the city of Winnipeg there are 650,000 people; at an average of four per household, that’s 162,500 households. If each one uses 350 bags a year, that’s 56,875,000 plastic bags that end up in the landfill each year. And that’s in Winnipeg alone.
You can re-use containers for bulk products rather than taking a new bag. When you buy vegetables think first about whether or not you really need a bag. Just put them in the cart as is, or re-use old grocery bags. And who needs pre-packaged vegetables? Canned vegetables take less energy in processing and storage than frozen, and you can recycle the tin rather than throwing away another plastic bag. By the way, a simple TV dinner container takes about five times more energy to make than you receive from the food that it contains.
When going through the checkout, have your own bags ready. If you find that old grocery bags are not strong enough, use cloth bags. There are other creative ways you can package your groceries, like boxes, clothes hampers — even a duffel bag or backpack can serve as a grocery bag.
Converting to a vegetarian diet is simply out of the question for many of us. However, when you are grocery shopping, keep your eyes open for alternatives. It’s easy to replace ground meat in a meat pie recipe with beans or lentils. It takes 100,000 litres of water to produce one kilogram of beef, but only 900 for a kilogram of wheat and 500 for a kilogram of potatoes.
In the last few years many convenience stores have varied their choices of snacks and introduced better choices. These include unpackaged fruits and store-made sandwiches. If the convenience store doesn’t carry these items, milk products and ice cream rate as better choices. They have lower input processing energies than chocolate and soft drinks.
One of the biggest and most obvious sources of daily waste is your morning coffee. If you buy your coffee on the go, remember to bring your own cup! Using a travel mug will save on the thousands of coffee cups thrown away every day. If you don’t have a travel mug, at least ask them NOT to double cup your drink. Coffee cups are often waxed paper, which doesn’t recycle well, and they usually end up in the garbage even if they are recyclable. Bring a mug, or relax and enjoy your coffee in the mugs provided.
After eating or preparing a meal, decide what of the waste is recyclable; don’t just assume it all goes in the garbage. Most takeout containers, drink cans and bottles, cardboard plates and even your paper napkin are recyclable.
As much as I have emphasized recycling, it is most important to recognize the concept of reducing. Recycling is very important, although it is not the entire answer.
These simple changes can lead to differences in the waste we produce and the amount of energy we consume. Don’t take what we have for granted; it will not last forever.
