Environmentally conscious shopping - tips you can implement immediately

Want to live more sustainably and wondering how to shop green? There are many ways to take care of the environment when buying. We'll tell you how.

Environmentally friendly shopping consists of very many factors.

It starts with how you get yourself to the supermarket, moves on to packaging, regional products and finally ends at your home.

Let's take a look at this step by step, and you'll quickly realize that there's a lot you can do to shop green and live more sustainably.

Questions to ask yourself before you go green shopping

If you haven't thought much about the topic, the first thing you probably think of when you think of eco-friendly shopping is buying more fruits and vegetables. But there is so much more to it than that.

Do I really need to go to the supermarket?

At the beginning the question arises: Do you have to buy fruit and vegetables in the supermarket or is there even a Farmers' market? The great advantage in the market is that the products are mostly from regional and seasonal cultivation.

Since the food here is not additionally packed in plastic, you can save waste. At the same time, you don't have to buy 1 kg of carrots, you can get them individually.

If you decide to go to the supermarket, look around for farmer's corners. Many stores have their own sections where you can find regional products.

This is how you make your whole life more environmentally conscious!

Why you should take your own bag with you shopping

Until a few years ago, it was common practice to use a new plastic bag for every purchase, but fortunately a lot has changed in the meantime. More and more often you see people shopping with jute bags or cloth bags.

There are now very pretty bags made from reusable materials. If you don't really like any of them, you can also give your shopping bag an individual look with paint.

Avoid single-use bags as much as possible. There are also great reusable bags for fruits and vegetables.

Buy organic and fair trade

Yes, the products are more expensive. But you are doing something good for the environment and the people. Do you know the original Fairtrade logo or the fair GEPA logo? They show you that the products were produced under serious standards.

Unlike many other logos. Because there are no legal requirements for the term "fair". So any company can claim that something was produced "fairly". So don't be fooled and take another close look.

How to get to the supermarket

Have you ever thought about that? How you get to the supermarket is also part of environmentally conscious shopping. You can save a lot of CO2 by bike, public transport or on foot. If you're now wondering how you're going to transport the large quantities, the next question is: Do you really need that much?

In Germany, over 80 percent of all shopping trips are made by car. This creates a lot of exhaust fumes in the air, noise and crowding on the roads. Fine dust pollution is also rising rapidly. Did you know that in Germany alone, 40,000 people die every year as a result of particulate matter?

If everyone rethinks a little bit, you're already a big step closer to protecting the environment.

Extra tips for environmentally conscious shopping

And then there are a few extra hacks that let you store in a really eco-friendly way.

1. write a shopping list

"Is this really necessary?" Ask yourself this very question when you go shopping. Buy only what you really need. It helps to write a shopping list and stick to it. Think about what you want to eat for the next 3-4 days. Plan through lunch and dinner, write down the foods and buy only those.

For those who don't want to deal with a confusing piece of paper, the I can recommend the "Bring! App" recommend. It is very intuitive, clear and easy to use. Big plus: You can create shopping lists that you can share with as many people as you want. The shopping list is constantly synchronized via the app and is therefore up to date for all users.

And on top of that, you'll find the latest supermarket offers and great recipes to try.

2. give up these foods

There are foods that are particular polluters. If you want to shop in an environmentally conscious way, you should not buy these foods - or at least only very rarely.

Avocados - they consume immense amounts of water during cultivation and have a poor carbon footprint because they are shipped halfway around the world.

Bananas - just eat an apple or a pear. That washes on the doorstep and does not have to be imported.

Salad out of the bag. There are two problems here: The obvious one is the plastic packaging. The other is the poor test results. Salad from the bag is treated with many chemicals to keep it fresh for a long time.

Everything in small bags - whether vanilla sugar or Baking powder*, all this is in small bags. Better buy a large pack. After all, it won't go bad.

Spray cream - that doesn't please the environment at all. It starts with the packaging and extends to nitrous oxide, which is one of the most significant greenhouse gases. And quite honestly, freshly whipped cream tastes worlds better and doesn't generate as much waste.

5 ways to recycle soap scraps sustainably!

3. become a food rescuer

In very many large and small cities there are clubs that give out food. You can usually get a whole load of food that is just before or just over the best before date for a small donation.

If you don't have such a thing, you can also look around in the supermarkets themselves. Many stores have a shelf that offers food that is about to expire. You can often buy them at 50% off and save a lot of money.

Most of the time they are still edible for days.

Or do you know the app "To Good To Go"? Here, restaurants and cafés offer food and menus that they couldn't sell during the day. You can pick them up directly for a small allowance and have a hot meal.

What you eat determines whether you shop green

Try to eat little meat. This also applies to fish and all animal products. You'll be doing the environment and your body a big favor. If it does have to be a steak, then look out for regional products. The steak from Argentina really does not have to be, right?

Ready-made products in particular often contain meat that comes from somewhere. It is usually not possible to trace it, because labeling is not necessary.

Look for organic quality in all products and a seal that indicates "non-GMO."

The quantity

If you want to shop environmentally conscious, you should never do it hungry. If you go shopping hungry, you're guaranteed to buy too much and usually quite unhealthy.

Small quantities help you avoid throwing anything away. This is especially true for perishable foods such as vegetables, fruit, lettuce and dairy products. Dairy products are often edible long after the best-before date.

The best before date

You don't have to throw products whose best-before date has expired in the trash. Many products are still good for a long time after the best-before date. Yogurt can often be eaten a month after the expiration date.

Trust your senses. Smell, look, taste a little - all this helps you to recognize whether a product is still durable.

You can eat eggs for that long, even if the best before date has passed!

How you can buy fruits and vegetables in an environmentally conscious way

Unfortunately, fruit and vegetables are still packed in plastic. But things are changing, and more and more vegetables can be bought individually. Carrots, potatoes, peppers and cucumbers are often available unpackaged. Take advantage of this offer when you have the choice.

Don't use plastic bags for unpackaged fruit - you'll just create more waste. There are reusable vegetable and fruit bags.

The great advantage of unpackaged vegetables and fruit is that you can see immediately whether the vegetables are still good. Just the other day I was very annoyed about a 3-pack of peppers, two of which already had mushy and rotten spots.

If there had been individually wrapped ones, I would have noticed it in the supermarket.

Tomatoes and carrots are particularly wasteful.

How to buy fruit and vegetables in an environmentally friendly way

• Buy loose fruits and vegetables.
• Make your own mixed salad and don't buy prepackaged salads. The same goes for fruit salad.
• Look for organic offerings and regional goods.
• Avoid fruits and vegetables that are not in season and do not grow in our area. Example: strawberries in winter.

How to buy dry goods environmentally friendly

Pasta, rice, beans, oatmeal and the like are all dry goods that no household should be without. But here, too, you can make environmentally conscious purchases.

First question: Does it have to be rice? It is shipped halfway around the world, but there are so many tasty and much healthier alternatives that grow on our doorstep.

How about millet, corn grits or green spelt? Never heard of them? Well, then it's high time.

If you go one step further, you don't buy pasta and the like in a conventional supermarket where everything is packaged in plastic. In many cities there are zero-waste stores. Here you can buy noodles, rice, pulses and other dry goods unpackaged and fill them into a screw-top jar that you bring yourself.

When you buy at the supermarket, always opt for large packages. You produce less waste when you buy 1 kg of spaghetti than when you buy 4x 250 grams. By the way, pasta, legumes and co. last almost forever.

How to buy dry goods in an environmentally friendly way

• If you buy at the supermarket: opt for large packs.
• Try unpacking stores.
• Taste your way through alternatives like green spelt instead of rice.

Try these delicious rice alternatives!

Cosmetics, care products and detergents

Have you ever heard of microplastics? It's just everywhere now. It has even been detected in the bloodstream of newborn babies. It gets into lakes, rivers and oceans via our wastewater. And then back into our bodies via food and cosmetic products. What consequences this will have in the future is not yet clear.

Microfibers are also released from plastic clothing and end up in wastewater. Microplastics are added to many cosmetic products as an inexpensive filler.

Look for cosmetics, personal care products and cleansers that say "free of microplastics, petroleum, silicone and paraffin."

How to make your own detergent!

Many conventional products like a hair shampoo from a plastic bottle can be replaced by hair soap. Or how about solid hand soap instead of liquid hand soap? Here you save a lot of packaging waste.

Most of the time, by the way, you do not need expensive detergents in the home at all. With Soda*, acetic acid and Citric acid* you can get almost all surfaces clean and limescale-free.

How to find environmentally friendly products

• Look for eco-labels on cleaning products and detergents.
• Use detergents and care products sparingly. The less that goes into the wastewater, the better.
• Reach for hair soap and solid soap for hands.
• Try home remedies.
• Buy kitchen towels, handkerchiefs and toilet paper made from recycled paper.

Washing hair with soap - what to consider!

What tap water and environmentally conscious shopping have in common

The most environmentally friendly way to drink water is to use tap water. In Germany and Austria, tap water is drinkable everywhere. You don't have to buy expensive mineral water, which creates a lot of plastic waste.

If you're in the mood for fizz, you can get yourself a SodaStream. It provides the usual tingling sensation without creating a huge pile of plastic waste.

If you do buy something, go for reusable bottles and stay away from disposable bottles.

And it doesn't always have to be a soda. There are now so many small companies that produce beverages regionally. There's been a real boom in recent years. Take a look around the supermarket. By the way, you can be even more environmentally conscious when you buy homemade juices - such as apple juice or syrup - at the farmers' market.

Of course, you can also enjoy your beloved coffee to go, but buy a thermal mug that you can reuse. You'll be doing the environment a huge favor.

Why refrigerated products have a huge energy consumption

Did you know that 40% of the energy a supermarket consumes is due to refrigeration? While most supermarkets used to have open freezers, fortunately you see closed refrigeration systems more often today. At least the cold stays where it belongs.

You can buy environmentally conscious refrigerated products that come from sustainable and regional cultivation. Like sustainable fishing or organic vegetables.

If you plan to buy frozen vegetables, opt for large packages. You will save a lot of packaging waste. If you freeze the frozen food right away, it will keep for a very long time.

Our conclusion

If you want to shop in an environmentally conscious way, you have many options. Even with small changes in shopping behavior, you can do a lot for the environment. Start small and become aware of your behavior, then you have already made a big step in the right direction.

Have fun implementing the tips!

To browse further:

• Potato tower: Is it worth it? My experience report!
• Make your own wild herb salt: this is the best method!
• Make your own willow bark tincture: so simple and so effective!

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