Welcome back to Less Waste Wednesdays where i talk about some of the changes our family has made to reduce our impact on the environment, like using bamboo toothbrushes, or changing our cling wrap for beeswax wraps. Are you looking for an alternative to the single use plastic bags for fruit and vegetables at the supermarket?… Yeah, I was too. Check out my simple solution below. x
Queensland, very recently banned the use of single use plastic bags. This was an absolute breath of fresh air to me, I had been using reusable bags for a while before the ruling came through and I am so pleased this change has been made. There is of course still heaps of room for improvement and one of the things that drives me crazy, is the use of single use plastic bags to put your fruit and vegetables in that are still offered at the Supermarket.
I’ve got a super simple and inexpensive idea for you and your family to implement, which I’ve been using for at least the last 12 months to get around using these single use plastic nasties.
Reusing onion bags. You know those string plastic bags that onions come in? Sometimes other fruits and veggies when sold in bulk are presented in them too. They’re usually knotted closed at the top and if you carefully undo this knot, the bag is left intact.
I’ve amassed a collection of about 8 over the past 12 months, and I take them back with me to the supermarket every time I shop, and they have become my go to, to put any loose fruit or veggies in that I now purchase. I’ve also now stopped purchasing onions in bulk in these bags and simply purchase them loose and continue to reuse my old bags.
This is such a simple fix (inexpensive too) and I really do feel good about not needing to reach for those plastic bags in the fresh fruit aisle whilst I do our weekly shop.
What other hacks do you use to reduce waste at the supermarket? Does your local allow you to bring your own containers to the delicatessen? Do you remove the stickers from the fruit before you leave the supermarket? Let me know your stories in the comments below. I’d love to hear them.
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