5 ways to reduce shopping waste

Food shopping can be a massive source of waste, starting with buying more than we need, to all the packaging. We have five useful tips you can use to help reduce your food packaging and waste.

1. Prepare before you go to the shop

Writing out a shopping list is a great way to reduce overbuying and impulse buying. When you write your list it’s also a good idea to: Check your fridge, freezer and cupboards to see what’s left and to make sure you’ve used up anything that is going out of date, this can help to reduce duplicate purchases. Start thinking about meals you’d like over the next few days then work out what ingredients you are going to need on your list.

Keep a running list as you finish or get low on items, and add notes about quantities to help save you time when you shop. Take a look at #WasteNothing Challenge meal and shopping planner

This is designed to help you plan your meals for the week and create a shopping list of all the items you need. It can help you manage the food you already have and reduce overbuying. We also suggest organising your lists by shop, so you know what you want to buy from where.

2. Put together a kit of useful reusable items

There are a few really useful items you can take with you when you do your shopping to reduce your waste from the very beginning: Use reusable bags – taking bags for life, stashed carrier bags, fabric bags and rucksacks to the shops will save unnecessary plastic and also stop you from having to buy more bags. Smaller bags can also be used to bag up loose items, such as fruit and vegetables, which means you will not have to use single-use produce bags. Tupperware, Containers, empty glass jars, old ice-cream tubs, empty take away containers – all of these are a great help in cutting down on unnecessary packaging when shopping. Shops like butchers, fishmongers and deli/ fresh counters at supermarkets are often willing to fill reusable containers, just ask. They can also be weighed and refilled at zero waste shops. Just make sure you have cleaned and dried containers before taking them to a shop. It’s recommend to get organised before you go to the shops. Keep a bag of bags and containers handy for spontaneous shopping trips. This could be kept by the door or in a car, depending on how you travel.

3. Go packaging free!

There’s a huge range of places where you can find food without excess packaging, why not have a look around your local area and see what is available to you. This might include:

• Bakers • Bulk buy/zero waste shops • Butchers • Cheesemongers • Delicatessens • Farmers’ markets • Fishmongers • Greengrocers • Supermarkets some have better loose/ packaging-free options than others

Its a good idea chatting to staff at Zero Waste shops like Bloop and scoop whole foods. They have so much knowledge and will have done lots of research about their products so it’s a great chance to learn more about making sustainable choices.

Refill App

To find more local businesses providing refill and packaging-free options you can download the Refill app from City to Sea. You can search by location on the app to find your nearest options.

4. What packaging options are available?

If it’s not possible to buy something packaging-free then start thinking about the materials which are available. Choosing recyclable packaging can help reduce how much you need to throw away. Tins, glass, card and plastic pots and trays are all collected for recycling by your regular waste collection service. Set yourself the challenge of only buying items if the packaging is recyclable. If you can’t find something loose or in recyclable packaging, don’t buy it and looked for alternatives instead e.g. make your own.

5. Local delivery services

There are also a growing number of delivery options using reusable or plastic-free packaging.

Milk delivery – there are several dairy and non-dairy milk delivery companies operating in Bristol that use returnable bottles.

Some veg box and grocery delivery schemes have plastic-free options and encourage their packaging boxes to be returned for reuse.

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