Supermarket Swaps: How to Reduce Plastic Use During Your Grocery Shop

It can be hard to reduce your personal plastic use. Sometimes plastic is totally unavoidable, no matter what you do. These days, however, there are many innovative ways to avoid or reduce plastic packaging, particularly on your weekly grocery shop.

Toothpaste tubes are now recyclable

There hasn’t been many alternatives for consumers looking for a more sustainable toothpaste option — that is, until now. After 149 years, Colgate‘s toothpaste tubes are finally recyclable, in curb-side recycling bins no less. The designers at Colgate spent more than five years perfecting the game-changing design, and the company expects to make every single one of their toothpaste tubes recyclable by 2025.

If toothpaste tablets — minty tabs that you crush up in your teeth before brushing — are not your jam, then recyclable toothpaste tubes are a great option.

Use reusable bags for your fruit and veg

It’s so easy to change over to a reusable bag rather than using small plastic bags for your fruit and veg. A lot of mesh grocery bags can be found online and in stores, at prices as low as $1.50 each. This tiny investment will greatly reduce your personal plastic use.

If you forget your reusable fruit and veg bags, make sure you reuse the plastic ones — they make good poo bags for your dog!

Give shampoo bars a go

Big plastic shampoo and conditioner bottles take up so much space, particularly in small bathrooms. Shampoo bars are a fabulous space-saving alternative — and they’re great for the environment too. There are so many shampoo bars on the market now, for any budget, and with many options depending on hair type and scent preferences. The earth, and your hair, will thank you.

Ditch the powder and try laundry sheets

It’s so easy to mess up the quantity of laundry detergent when you’re using powder or liquid. Laundry sheets completely solve this problem, and they’re amazing for the environment. Laundry sheets are pre-measured and concentrated to the perfect amount of detergent for your load. Most laundry sheet brands have eco-friendly packaging, making the product completely waste-free.

Try refillable cleaning products

Refillable cleaning products are on the rise, with many recently appearing on supermarket shelves. Switching to refillable cleaning products can significantly reduce your plastic waste, as many of the refillable bottles are made of sturdy aluminium. You’ll be able to use them over and over again!