Plastic-Free Shopping Guide

In our modern world, it is easy to get stuck in a fast-paced lifestyle that offers immediate convenience with single-use items, such as plastic bags, plastic straws, or takeout cups.  Every year, 1 trillion plastic bags are consumed worldwide; this means 2 million plastic bags are used each minute (Earth Policy Institute).  Almost every shop we visit provides some kinds of mass-produced plastic products that can be effortlessly thrown away after one use.  Imagine the other side of the picture, where do all of these single-use items go if they can't be recycled: landfills.  Sadly, this makes many of us hard to believe that our world was once plastic-free.


But here is the good news, WE, as consumers, have great power and impact on what products we choose and how we want the future industries to change (in term of the waste putting into the waste stream).  These disposable items and plastic packagings can be totally avoided by ONE simple step: Prepare the shopping trip ahead of time before leaving the house!
Zero waste shopping is absolutely doable!  Please scroll down for further breakdowns of tips and tricks that will help you navigate the path to reduce waste going to landfills. 

To plan your shopping trip, you will simply need to prepare:

1. Reusable Bags: Bring your own reusable bags and refuse to take single-use bags will tremendously help the environment to cut down the amount of plastic bags that take 1,000 years to break down.  There are 2 types of reusable bags that I always carry with me when I go shopping: reusable shopping bags and reusable produce bags.  I especially need my reusable produce bags when I go grocery shopping or visit the farmers market.  The small reusable produce bags are used for filling bulk items such as beans, vegetables, and fruits.  Try your best to avoid packaged food and buy fresh and local ingredients! 
   
2. Glass Jars or Containers: I always bring at least 2 mason jars with me in case I want to buy liquid or powder items in bulk (such as olive oil, liquid castile soap, spices, and flour).  If I want to purchase a drink, such as coffee, tea, or juice, I also request the store to fill my drink in my own mason jar instead of a togo cup - that most likely will end up in a landfill.  BONUS, if you dine out and have leftover, use your own jar/container to save the food instead of taking the restaurant's disposable containers! 
   
3. Reusable Water Bottle: Carry your own reusable water bottle wherever you go!  Please refuse to buy single-use bottled water.  Think about the resources taken to manufacture, bottle, and ship those packages of single-use bottled water - considering that a lot of their source and processes are unknown.  And most importantly, the waste management of single-use bottled water still remains an enormous problem.  According to IBIS World analyst Nate Gelman, only 30 percent of the 6 billion pounds of plastic bottles are actually recycled.  Even though many plastic and glass bottles are recyclable, most of them still end up in landfills.  
   

Note: When checking out, try to ask for email or text receipts instead of taking the printouts. 

If anyone asks questions when you shop package free, please take this chance to spread the word positively!  

Please take action and be the leaders for a greener and less wasteful future.  It is unnecessary to produce a massive amount of trash when we have the capacity to control and cut it down.  These small changes will not only be beneficial for the environment, but also for your own lifestyle.  You create less waste = buy less stuff= create more economical budget = take out the trash less frequently. (:

I hope that you found this zero waste shopping guide helpful and that the post inspired you to reduce, and soon eliminate, the use of plastic and unsustainable packagings when you shop for products or foods.  Soon, I believe that more stores and shoppers will be inspired by this zero waste movement.  Thank you, as always, for being interested - and interesting - readers!

♥ The Rosemary Life ♥

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