Be a Conscious Consumer

                The next time you go grocery shopping pay attention to the amount of plastic you take home with you. For example, my dad went to the store on Friday to pick up some snacks. He bought cherries and grapes both in plastic, summer sausage wrapped in plastic, cheese sticks individually wrapped in plastic and then in a bigger plastic bag and Cheese-it crackers in a plastic bag inside a cardboard box. He forgot our reusable grocery bags so, all that plastic was then put into five plastic sacks to be transported to our car and house. (Those bags were in use for about 10 minutes).

                As consumers we need to question everything. When did plastic grocery bags become the default? Why do my cheese sticks need to be individually wrapped? Why does my fruit need to be in plastic? It should be bad business for Cheese-it to pay extra to package its product twice — once in plastic and once in cardboard. Customers should not put up with that. So, why do we?

                The answer is we shouldn’t. However, it is convenient to just pick up a bag of Cheese-its and throw them in the cart. It’s easy to shop without thinking. I challenge everyone to pay attention the next time you go to the grocery store. If you find a product that you are not happy with, whether it is the packaging, added preservatives, or anything else then do not buy it. Find a better option.

                If you are wanting to shop local there are limited options for waste or plastic-free shopping. However, there are some. If you bring your own reusable bags to 2J’s most of their produce and bulk foods as well as peanut butter and almond butter can be plastic-free. When the Farmers Market is open and you bring reusable bags, it is a great way to get your produce waste-free and local!

                If we only had to pay for our food and not the packaging, our money would stretch a lot further. While there are not many options out there for waste-free grocery shopping in Great Falls, there are options online. For example, The Wally Shop, this is online shopping where everything you buy will be delivered to your door in glass jars and a reusable tote. You will pay an upfront fee for the jars that will later be retuned to you when you return the jars (the supply you with a return label). You can get peanut butter, almond butter, oils, syrup, most baking items and more from The Wally Shop. I encourage everyone to at least check it out and see if it might work for them. If not, keep researching until you find the right one.

                Please comment other ways you can have waste-free or plastic-free grocery shopping. And remember to question everything.