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![trash mountain](http://repairourfuture.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Talking-Trash.jpg)
Why are a lot of products packages double? Why is everything at the supermarkt wrapped in plastic? Why do the online groceries use so much plastic in their deliveries? Can we change this? I was wondering about this for years and decided to investigate if I could do it different. At least, for my self and my family.
I started buying my fruit and vegetables unpackaged, even if that meant that I had to go to several supermarkets, including an organic one, because one supermarket has a cucumber in plastic, the other does not. We were already eating little or no meat, but vegetarian burgers are often also wrapped in plastic. These can be replaced by homemade burgers made from black beans, lentils or chickpeas, but that’s not quite part of our routine yet ;-). We were already baking our own bread, 1 loaf of bread a day from the breadmaking machine, is just enough for our family, which saves more than 200 plastic bags per year. And waking up with the smell of baked bread is also very nice.
Still a lot of packaging was left, from the rice, pasta, raisins, more or less all non-perishable food, that are also part of the groceries. However, this packaging problem turned out to be solvable in an unexpected way, via an online store in the Netherlands called “Pieter Pot”, which delivers all products to your door (via PostNL), in preserving jars, which you can return empty with the next order. We’ve been doing this for a few months now and it runs very smoothly. They are still scaling up, so the range of available products is still growing, but they already have a lot. For people who prefer to buy these products in a store, visit the Delicious Food store in the Westerstraat in Amsterdam, where you can fill up your own containers and pots.
The tips summary:
- Eat less meat, because meat packaging always contains a lot of plastic
- Take (many) reusable bags with you when shopping and pick loose fruit and vegetables
- Make your own vegetarian burgers (e.g. with lentils/chickpeas)
- Bake your own bread, with or without a bread making machine
- Also buy sustainable products without packaging via Pieter Pot or Delicious Food
Good luck reducing your waste!!