Sustainability (ecological shopping) #1
How to reduce plastic doing your daily shopping - Part #1.
A German lifestyle
In Germany sustainability and an ecological lifestyle is important. That is also a reason why our waste separation is quite complicated (to learn more visit our module - household matters)
Best of all would be to reduce our waste altogether, which takes some re-thinking of our habits.
In this article, I want to show you how everyone of us can do a little in reducing plastic - and it is not difficult or a big influence on your shopping habits.
It does not take a lot
Take your own bags, when you go shopping (this is also saves you some money, as plastic bags costs 10-20 cents in every shop now - even in clothes stores). Take reusable and foldable bags and you wont even know you are carrying them around.
Shopping fruit and vegetable in little stores or a market gives you the opportunity to put them directly in your own basket or bag. Some supermarkets offer paper bags, which is a good alternative. But no bags are even better. Instead you could use little cotton sacs (refer to the green ones on the pictures), which are reusable and washable.
Even bread can be bought without the extra paper bag, if you use a cotton bag or a bread bag (refer to the grey one on the picture). Unfortunately not all bakeries offer this service, as this is also a health regulation issue.
Again depending on the butcher you can also bring your own tupperware if you buy meat and sausages. Just ask.
Coffee cups - take your own
Last but not least - this concerns one of my favorites - I love a coffee to go - a habit I adapted in Japan.
In Germany 320.000 to go cups are used and disposed EVERY HOUR. 2,8 billions cups per year. They consists of a mix of materials, which is impossible to recycle. Just buy yourself your favorite reusable coffee-to-go mug. Much prettier than the disposable ones and much better for our environment.
October 2018 Kira Neumann
This blog post is a personal recommendation and based on personal experience. It has been prepared with the greatest possible care and does not claim to be correct, complete or up-to-date.“ Picture credit: Kiramiga
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