green grocery shopping 101

there are many ways to be green when grocery shopping and the first one that i love is using re-usable grocery bags. you can buy them almost anywhere since being 'organic' is kind of trendy right now...we use them for lunch's, school bags, almost anything that would normally require a plastic bag. i keep a couple extra ones in the back of my car in case i go shopping and forget them.

another cool thing that they came out with last year at superstore is little white cloth bags for your vegetables and fruit rather than using plastic bags. genius!! you get 5 bags for $3.99 i believe...

another green idea is when getting your deli meat, well for starters, make sure the meat looks like it was cooked that way and not a bunch of little pieces glued together-gross. secondly, you can ask them to wrap your meat in brown paper WHICH is compostable AND can be recycled with all your other paper items.

there is also the idea of only shopping around the outskirts of the store as to make sure you are eating clean or mostly natural foods- most of the unhealthy products are in the inside of the store in case you didn't know...thats my plug for EATING CLEAN...ahem ahem...blog 1, ahem

lastly, a big and obvious green idea is to buy organic. now, buying organic does not mean the package or label has to say organic. organic simply means that it came from the earth-not modified in any way. the end. the label of organic is simply a selling feature and often a gimic so as long as you can read the ingredients you will be fine!

last but not at all least is the concept and practice of shopping at local grocery stores. this supports their business and your local economy. so for example, i would much rather shop at Hofstede's grocery than Superstore or Walmart because they try their hardest to supply local products. this cuts down on gas emissions and contributes to ending global warming. one decision at a time people!

i know this is a hard and more expensive transition but, like i said in early posts, you invest your money in things you think are a priority and for us shopping green AND local is a priority so therefore that is where we choose to spend our money. this is something that takes time to make a habit and believe me, i often still find myself in the isles of superstore... it is something that i am aiming to change this year. a green goal. you with me?

cheers to being green