How to take action- Buy in bulk. Bulk foods generally have less initial packaging, putting the onus on the buyer to select appropriate containers. You save even more packaging when you use your own reusable bulk jars or bags. Old pillowcases cut and sewn into smaller bags with drawstring tops make great bulk food carriers for most things, except perhaps flour.
- Join or create a food buying club. Get together with a group of people and order bulk quantities of dry goods. Club members will save money, as well as packaging and shopping time.
- Refill your suds. There are a number of companies around B.C. that sell natural soaps, cleansers, and detergents in bulk. You generally pay a deposit on your initial container and then refill it as needed. Sometimes local health food stores offer this service.
- Choose wisely. Make product choices based on which has less packaging or packaging made of material that is easier to recycle.
- Take your own reusable shopping bags with you. Keep some by the door, in your car, at the office, so you always have them when you are out. This reduces that final layer of packaging, one we can each control.
- Eat food, not food products. Fresh food tends to have less packaging than canned, frozen or manufactured items. And it's almost always healthier.
- "Can" your own food. Preserving your own food in reusable glass jars saves packaging and is a rewarding way to eat local food year round. When you can your own foods, you can control the amount of sugar and salt added, potentially making it healthier than store bought options. Gathering people together for canning bees lessens the work and builds community. Gather with some friends, or attend a bee that's already organized.
- Locally made items are often wrapped in less packaging. If they aren't, let the producer know that this is something that is important to you.
Why it makes a difference- Plastic accounts for a large percentage of food packaging. All plastics are somewhat toxic to manufacture and they persist in the environment for millennia, littering streets, clogging landfills, and eventually building up in our oceans. Recent studies show that plastics in the oceans are breaking down into smaller and smaller pieces. But that doesn't mean they are going away. It means they are becoming more numerous and are being taken up by progressively smaller creatures, as the tiny pieces resemble zooplankton. The plastics then bio-accumulate up through the food web. Cutting your plastic use down – or out – is essential to help stop this deadly cycle.
- Globally, almost half of beach debris is plastic. According to oceanographer Dr. Curtis Ebbesmeyer plastic is actually more toxic in the ocean than an oil spill. He points out that "oil is harmful but eventually biodegrades, while plastic remains forever."
- Paper packaging is most often made from trees. Trees create oxygen, make their own food, and provide food, shade, shelter, and nutrients for other creatures. Cutting them for one-time use as boxboard or packing material is not appreciating the full value of these incredible plants. In addition, a lot of paper is bleached, which is an energy intensive process that involves toxic chemicals. Using minimal packaging and reusing or recycling what you use will help reduce deforestation and the accompanying environmental impacts.
- All packaging contains embedded energy, the energy required to create it. By choosing products with minimal packaging, you are not only reducing use of the resource materials themselves, but also the energy use involved in manufacture.
- The embedded energy in most metals is very high, factoring in exploration, active mining, separating the ore, shipping, and manufacture. Ensure you recycle any metal you use. And reduce your use to help save energy and other resources.
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