LIVE SUSTAINABLY - WHEN YOU SHOP

Today's society is consumer based which means we have great consumer power. As more people buy environment-friendly products, suppliers must meet this demand. Next time, you are out shopping, look a little closer at the labelling and think a little harder about where your shopping came from and how it was produced.

✔️ Choose Fresh Produce Carefully

  • Buy organic produce. The cultivation of non-organic produce involves the use of damaging chemicals such as pesticides, which can pollute waterways and the rest of the environment.
  • Buy fruit and vegetables that are in season to help reduce enormous transport costs resulting from importing produce and, where possible, choose locally produced food.
  • Replace one meat meal per week with a vegetarian option. Land used for beans and vegetables produces 10 times as much protein as land used for raising beef.

✔️ Use Your Consumer Power

  • Don't buy products with excessive amounts of packaging and, where possible, choose products with re-useable containers.
  • Buy pump-action sprays rather than aerosols – even alternatives to CFCs can contribute to greenhouse gases.
  • Buy recycled or recyclable products such as toilet tissue and stationery.
  • If you can't see recycled or 'eco-labelled' products, ask the store manager to stock them.

✔️ Reduce Your Personal Impact

  • If you are going to the supermarket by car, take a friend with you – one car journey is better than two.
  • Take your own bag or re-use plastic carriers when shopping.
  • Buy in bulk wherever possible – it saves packaging and money.
  • Environmental claims on labels don't necessarily make any difference to the environmental impact of a product. If you are not sure what a label means, ask the retailer or contact the manufacturer.
  • Check the energy efficiency of electrical appliances before you buy.

✔️ Health

  • Don't buy head lice shampoos that contain pesticides. Use homeopathic alternatives or a fine-toothed metal comb instead.
  • Ask your vet to recommend or supply a flea killer for your pet that does not contain pesticides
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