Let's go Naked
You are about to head to the supermarket. You have your bags for the checkout because you are awesome. You know you will get some wonderful fresh produce from your local supermarket.
But before you leave, you remember, “James told me to go naken the next time I visit the local supermarket!”
Did you know that of all the supermarket categories, Fresh Produce is the number 1 source of plastic by total components? [1] It is also the area that can be most improved in a short time, with a few simple changes. Fresh Produce is where the most improvements can be achieved in the next 2 years.
There are 3 easy steps:
- Go Naked
- Loose is Best
- Don’t keep it on your pant(rie)s
I guess I better explain myself before I get in trouble.
Go Naked
This one is on you. Next time you are buying produce, grab the loose items. Grab only what you need, and stick it straight in your trolley or basket. Don’t grab the plastic (or biodegradable plastic bag, either). They are absolute rubbish. Take them to the register. It will take only a few seconds more. Aldi assistants have NEVER complained in the last 2 years.
If you are a little self-conscious about going naked, or you do not want your bananas and apples cavorting in your basket, then get some of these fantastic cotton bags:
Little Miss Eco: Mesh Produce Bags
A good friend of mine runs this store. I only recently found out she is also passionate about finding alternatives to plastic products. The best thing of all is that after the bags can no longer serve their purpose, you can stick them straight in the compost bin or worm farm!
Loose is best
Along site plastic waste, FOOD waste greatly impacts our CO2 emissions. Wrap.org.uk, an organisation committed to reducing problematic plastics, states:
If all apples, bananas and potatoes were sold loose, it could save 60,000 tonnes of food waste and could reduce plastic packaging by 8,800 tonnes per year. Combined, this is saving more than 80,000 tonnes of CO2 e. [2]
These figures are from the UK, and I have not spent time converting this to the potential impacts on Australia… HOWEVER.
If we could buy potatoes loose from the supermarket, it would mean we are likely to return to the supermarket sooner to buy more. And more frequent visits are what supermarkets want!
Don’t keep it in your pant(rie)s
Ok. this joke is a bit of a stretch. The same report from wrap.org.uk mentioned above stated one of the best ways to reduce food waste in the home was for produce to be stored at the correct temperature. The supermarkets know this. Their massive warehouses cooled to 2-4 degrees Celsius to store their produce. Even during transport, supermarkets mandate precise temperature tolerances to ensure produce remains in its prime before it is sold. So, why do we stick produce in our pantries when we bring it home? Your fridge is the best location for most fresh produce.
I will look at getting some better data over the next few weeks; however, here are some tables from the “Department of Agriculture and Fisheries” in Queensland, Australia. [3]
Up Next
Next week, we will bring you our first REVIEW episode. We have been trying bar soaps, plastic feel detergent sheets, and steel cycling bidons (bottles), among other things. We are excited to share our findings.
And for you, next time you go to the supermarket, please go naked!