Self Improvement Articles

11 Ways to Cut Down on Plastic When Food Shopping

Food shopping is one of the most common trouble spots when it comes to plastic waste piling up and ruining the environment. Here are some easy ways to cut down on plastic when food shopping.

1. Steer Clear of Plastic Shopping Bags

These are extremely dangerous to land and marine animals. Depending on what they are made of, they can take more than a thousand years to break down. Use reusable shopping bags for all your purchases.

2. Buy in Bulk

Buy staples in bulk such as cereal, pasta, and rice. The food is cheaper and you are cutting down on packaging.

3. Cook Your Own Beans and Soups from Scratch

Most tinned food items have a plastic coating inside and out, which can leach into your food. Many canned goods are also very high in salt (sodium), which is used as a cheap preservative but can increase your risk of having a heart attack or stroke. Buy your beans in bulk and boil them up for your various recipes. Add fresh fruits and vegetables to make your own soups.

4. Buy Concentrated Juice

You will find small tubes in the freezer aisle. Defrost, dilute, and pour into a glass bottle or jug rather than buy plastic containers of juice every week.

5. Steer Clear of Frozen Meals

These tend to have a lot of packaging. In particular, watch out for TV dinners. If you must use them, check the plastic tray for the recycle symbol and the number inside the symbol. Then check with you local sanitation to see which types of plastic, numbered 1 to 7, they are able to recycle. If they can’t accept them, think of ways you can reuse them yourself and make these TV dinners a rare treat only – not something you eat every day.

6. Buy from the Deli Counter, Not from the Refrigerator

If you love ham, bologna and so on, buy from the deli counter to avoid the plastic that pre-packaged cold cuts usually come in.

7. Bring Reusable Packaging to the Deli Counter

This will also help you cut down on the plastic package they usually use for cheese, cold cuts, and so on.

8. Buy Fresh Bread from a Bakery

Don’t buy your bread wrapped in plastic. Buy a fresh loaf and wrap it in a cloth bag.

9. Shop Locally

Online grocery shopping is very convenient, but it also results in a great deal of packaging. Where possible, shop at local farmer’s markets instead. This will cut down on gas, the produce will be fresher, and your money will help sustain the local economy.

10. Avoid Tetra Paks

They may seem green – a neat little cardboard container, but the truth is that Tetra Paks are treated with a plastic coating to make them waterproof. Buy your milk in glass bottles instead.

11. Avoid Teabags

Teabags are actually very resource heavy and can be unhealthy for you. The bags are sometimes treated with plastic, or bleached to make the paper very white. They usually come in large cardboard boxes wrapped in plastic. The bags also often come with string, paper tags and staples. All of these would have to be removed if you ever wanted to compost the tea leaves. Use loose tea with an infuser instead and use a travel mug to take your tea with you wherever you go.

With these tips and substitutions, you can do your bit for the environment every time you go food shopping.

Stress invades people’s lives all the time, even daily for some. Life gets hard and it’s difficult to juggle all the things life throws at us. It’s important that we get our stress levels under control because frequent elevated levels of stress are toxic to the human body and can cause heart disease, high blood pressure, obesity, and diabetes. It’s easier than you may think to help yourself decrease your stress levels. Just follow these simple steps.

1. Avoid alcohol, caffeine, and nicotine. Caffeine and nicotine are stimulants and do not decrease your levels of stress; they increase them. Alcohol is a depressant in large amounts and a stimulant in small amounts, making it bad for you to take as a way of relieving stress. Instead of reaching towards the alcohol, caffeine, and nicotine, grab some water or herbal tea. These are hydrating and provide you with stress relief.

2. Try taking part in physical activity. Stress releases hormones in your body known as adrenaline and cortisol. Releasing some of these hormones can help your stress levels to go down.

3. Get more sleep. Not getting enough sleep is a direct correlation to high stress levels. However, stress sometimes prevents us from relaxing enough to fall asleep. If you are having this issue, try taking a warm bath or reading before bedtime. Another good tip is going to bed at roughly the same time every night. This creates a routine for you to follow, naturally decreasing your stress.

4. Try relaxation techniques. Every day, try a different stress-reducing technique. You can try self-hypnosis as this is very simple and easy to do anywhere. You could also attempt saying one word repeatedly to yourself that holds meaning for you. Don’t worry if these relaxation tips don’t work right off the bat. Relaxation is a skill that takes time to master.

5. Talk to someone you trust and who can help. Letting someone know how you feel is a great way to reduce your stress. Many people have said that it’s like a weight being lifted off their shoulders. Stress can cloud our mind and prevent us from thinking clearly. Talking through your situation with someone can help you figure out a solution to what you’re stressing about.

6. Keep a stress diary. Keeping a diary and writing down your thoughts and emotions will help you become more aware of what you’re feeling. Write down the date and place the stressful event occurred. Also include what you were doing and how you felt, both emotionally and physically. Writing everything down will enable you to avoid another stressful situation and you’ll discover some new coping mechanisms.

7. Manage your time. Many people experience stress when they run out of time to do important things. With a schedule to follow you can ensure that you get all of your important tasks done in a timely manner. Having all your work done on time will help to decrease some stress.

8. Learn to say “No”. It’s easy to believe that you have all the time in the world and can juggle one more thing in your life. But sometimes you need to remember that you have so many other important things that needs to be juggled. There’s only a certain amount of hours in a day, making it hard to get multiple things done.

Take care of yourself. Stress invades everyone’s lives but dealing with stress is manageable. Know that everything will get better and the thing that’s causing you so much stress won’t be a worry to you down the road.