Green issues with Grocery Packaging

Monthly trip to the grocery store has become a huge guilt trip for me. All the plastic packets and sachets used for packing dal, rice, spices etc, have had me thinking and am desperately looking for solutions. I had worked a way out when I used to shop in India. I shopped whole sale, which meant that anything for my kitchen would come in jute bags or a bag i carried from home. If I bought it from a local General store, I used home made Newspaper bags.

I never buy ready to eat food and all my meals are made from scratch. This means less plastic/other packaging material to throw away, lesser waste and a guilt free shopping trip. Living in a Super Market driven environment is making green living more and more difficult. Customer centric grocery chains have increased general use of in-ending reams of plastic sheets.

I am still staunch about not buying bread, processed food in any form (raw or other wise). I bake my bread at home. However, shopping for other kitchen necessities is driving me to the wall. Less said about the milk cans, the better. I dont eat out much so I consciously avoid Styrofoam or even paper products. I buy fresh juice t an outlet once in a while and use my 24 oz water bottle instead of their Styrofoam cups/tumblers. My husband buys his occasional coffee in a steel coffee mug (thermos cup). I would love to leave as little carbon footprint as possible. My efforts are very conscious and the need to make green choices are next only to breathing for me. My self critical efforts continue and I am driven to find solutions to most of the day to day non-green choices I am forced to make.I am not here to whine or complain but I am looking at feasible solutions to reduce the non-biodegradable waste being thrown out by a typical family anywhere in the world.

The last few years have seen an increase in "super market" syndrome in India. Though I have nothing against the so called urbanization, I would definitely want people to look into associated "increased" waste generation. The tons and tons of plastic bags and even unneccesary bio-degradable garbage generated has taken over every nation in the last decade. What depresses me is that the amount of penetration such things have in our lives. It is going to take ages to wane out this trend. In the meanwhile, all the damage such choices cause is already at an unimaginable proportion and the impact is alarming. No offense meant but I still see 98% of the world population turning their backs against these on-the-face issues. My puny voice goes unheard even with my siblings. I don't see this as a battle I want to WIN or LOOSE, but would want more number of people to believe in making green choices.

I wanted to put in a picture of my own for this post. In the mean while, I would love to share this wonderful cartoon I found online.

image courtesy: http://www.cartoonstock.com/newscartoons/cartoonists/cgo/lowres/cgon538l.jpg