Buy bulk to avoid packaging:
PART I
PART II
On my quest to be a ‘greener consumer’, I made the decision to buy less products with packaging. I knew enough to know that packaging wasn’t a good thing when it comes to my carbon footprint, but didn’t realize just how bad it was.
After some digging, I learned that our trash (or MSW – municipal solid waste) is all those things that we buy, use, and then ultimately ‘throw away’. This is a big category, and includes everything from food scraps to furniture, and computers to car tires.
According to a 2010 study from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the largest – by weight – category of consumer waste comes from “Containers and Packaging” – more than 30%, actually. That’s more than 75 million tons of packaging generated in one year, just to hold and contain the ‘stuff’ that we actually use and consume.
75 million tons…. That’s a lot of shrink wrap, packaging peanuts, and cardboard containers.
I decided it was time to ‘buy bulk’….
