Zero Waste Grocery Stores

Walking through a local grocery store, you would quickly lose track of the amount of plastic you would find in there. Some grocery store have started to begin a zero waste initiative which helps reduce the amount of unnecessary waste that is consumed through our food chains. This movement is due to the impact of plastics on out health, marine health, and food quality. Every year, 400 million tonnes of plastic are produced with 10% entering the oceans, 79% ending up in landfills or in nature. In Europe, 2/3 s of the 25 million tonnes of plastic produced is from packaging, most ends up in landfills or in developing countries. Worldwide 80% of plastic that ends up in oceans is land-based, causing negative effect on our food chains. 

Within the grocery store simply by choosing to buy your fruit and vegetables that are not prepackaged, such as plastic bags or tubs for your kiwis, apples, peppers or carrots, or buying fresh vegetables instead of frozen vegetable mixes or canned food when you have a fresh alternative, you can have a significant impact on the consumer waste from single use plastics or cans. Seasonal farmer markets, local diary and meat options, and when possible, your own garden can not only decrease the amount of plastic you produce but also the amount of micro plastics that you will consume. Due to the amount of plastics in our environments, there are micro plastics in tap water, bottled water, clothes, marine life, hygiene products, and more.

Enacting diet changes that help support local or provincial farmers can help reduce air pollution and resource use for transportation and help stimulate the local economy by supporting local farmers, short food chains, and brings in employment to the local area.

Unfortunately, there are negatives to any change which can include economic, social, and political. However, the changes are worthwhile long-term, creating employment opportunities in other sectors and creating healthier pathways for own food.

The negatives to relying strictly on local products can lead to food vulnerability and would require more land use for agriculture, and restrictions to diets, such as seasonal foods, and the need for large structures for food production. But a cooperative approach with neighbouring towns and provinces can help make sure that our food remains available even when natural disasters, such as forest fires, endanger our food security while still bringing down transportation costs and effects and a reduction in the use of single use plastic.

Sources:

Istas, D. (2019). Expansion of the Local, Organic  and Zero-Packaging Food Concept  in Three Contexts: Zero-Packaging  Grocery Stores, Conventional  Supermarkets, and Ecostores .

Walker, T. R., & Xanthos, D. (2018). A call for Canada to move toward zero plastic waste by reducing and recycling single-use plastics. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 133, 99–100. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2018.02.014