By Megan Fisher, General Manager, Co-op Owner
Earth Day is one of my favorite days of the year. (Which wouldn’t surprise anyone who knows me.) Sustainability at the Co-op and in my personal life is near and dear to my heart, with passions around reducing and foregoing items like single use plastics and living more minimally. There’s a ton of tips and tricks out there to reduce, reuse, and recycle. Here are a few that I practice myself:
Shop bulk and packaging-free or minimally packaged items:
I often look for produce with little to no packaging like bands, ties, and plastic coverings. They go straight into my reusable produce bags and then into my fridge anyway! Bonus points for local options which take less gas to transport!
The bulk department has a lot of packaging-free items including spices, teas, nuts, oatmeal, rice, and popcorn. The amount of popcorn alone that my household goes through is impressive. You can bring your own containers to fill and reduce the use of packaging even further.
I opt for packaging-free bar soap around the house and use cardboard packaged pre-portioned laundry sheets as well.
Meal planning and organized grocery shopping:
Each weekend my husband and I plan out the week’s meals so there’s no ‘what’s for dinner’ annoyance and frustration of staring into the fridge void hoping a pizza appears. This also gives us a few minutes to look through items we already have in the freezer and pantry (or decide what needs to be used up in the fridge) while making our shopping list. The shopping list is created based on the meals we’ decided’ve chosen and tends to keep us from going too far off script in our shopping! We often reevaluate halfway through the week – maybe we ate all the apples or oranges already or we’re craving something specific on the upcoming weekend. I realize how lucky I am to work at the Co-op which makes it so easy to bring home a missing item or two throughout the week!
Due to some household dietary restrictions and general habits, we eat largely vegetarian nearly every other week. We don’t label it, but reduced meat consumption is something we’ve done for decades now. There are so many delicious recipes out there these days that it’s not a hardship at all!
Every month or so we specifically plan to use up items that have been lingering in the freezer or pantry as well, which helps us reduce throwing things out and saves us a little in the shopping budget too!
Reducing and Reusing:
My house is too far out to get curbside recycling, but we’re lucky enough that there are community recycling bins about a mile away. A corner of our garage houses five big totes that were no longer in any condition to hold holiday decorations, so we’ve reused them to be recycling bins. We fill those bins up with recycling and make a trip to drop it off about once a month.
Household composting – this was a bit trickier when I lived in town, but it is still doable! Now that we live in the countryside it’s become very easy. We have a kitchen table-top composter I bought at the Co-op years ago that we fill before taking it out to a yard composting bin. That bin generates enough natural composting heat that it clears snow away from itself! Bonus: We get about four cubic yards of finished compost from it each year for the gardens as well.
Cleaning tip: Most of my cleaning products are vinegar-based which is non-toxic and can be mixed with essential oils for a burst of scent around the house.
Utility controls: My house has a thermostat that runs on an adjustable schedule which lowers the house temperature when no one is home and overnight, bringing the temperature back up before we’re out of bed for the day! No one wants to wake up to a chilly house. Bonus on how easy it was to install!
Eco-Gift Giving: Instead of struggling with what kick-knack to buy the person who has everything, I often opt to buy them food I know they’ll love. It’s simple and fun to pick out new flavors or items they wouldn’t typically indulge in, plus it’s a sure fire way to put a smile on their faces! From homemade baklava or a sampler of nuts and brownies from an online store sent directly to their house, I know these gifts will be happily received!
I’m sure there are more small ways we try to live more sustainably, but these are the top ones for me. It’s not only good for the planet, but it makes me feel like I’m doing my part and that makes me happy! And who doesn’t want to feel happier?
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