Shop local where possible. This doesn’t just mean buying at local shops but also buying products which are made locally, using locally sourced materials.
Many products purchased from ‘British’ companies are actually made abroad and will have travelled thousands of miles on its journey, releasing greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.
Look carefully at the environmental and sustainability evidence on products and be wary of vague terms such as ‘green’ and ‘eco’.
Choose Fairtrade goods if possible. Fairtrade is about better prices, safe working conditions, fair terms of trade for farmers and workers and local sustainability.
Consider introducing more plant based meals. Try ‘Meat Free Mondays’.
Choose seasonal food. It is often cheaper, fresher, tastier and more nutritious as it hasn’t travelled so far.
Foods purchased out of season require more artificial resources such as lighting, heating, pesticides and fertilisers which all have a detrimental impact on the environment.
Consider using refillables for dry store cupboard goods such as pasta, rice, dried fruits or for cleaning products.
Avoid products containing palm oil. Palm oil is a significant cause of deforestation and is high in saturated fats.
Do you need that chewing gum? It takes about 50 years for chewing gum to start to decompose and between 500 to 1000 years to completely disintegrate.
Try a doorstep milk delivery from a local dairy that uses glass milk bottles that can be recycled.
Consider reusable cloth nappies. Sign up for trial packs from us.
Remember to take your own shopping bags.
Shopping online can have significantly less environmental impact than shopping in store because of the carbon emissions produced by customers driving to the high street or shopping centre and the electricity and heating used to power retail outlets.
Do you need next day delivery? Next day or express deliveries usually involve the products being transported by air travel rather than by sea or road and deliveries of multiple products are less likely to be consolidated into one package.
Be careful with returns. Between 30 percent and 40 percent of online purchases are returned and 20 percent of these end up in landfill as they are not resalable by retailers. Read the item description and check the sizing of products carefully.
Buy less or buy second hand. Do you really need that extra pair of shoes or trainers?