How to Choose Sustainable Packaging at the Grocery Store

Picture this: you’ve got 20 minutes to blow through the grocery store with a list as long as your arm and but you are paralyzed in front of the pasta, trying to make the most zero waste decision. Should you buy the noodles in the bag or the ones in the box with the cellophane window — because which is the most sustainable packaging? Can I recycle that plastic? Or is the boxed one better?

I get it. That was me. Paralyzed by pasta.

Packaging plays a huge role in waste. Because whatever you buy, you have to bring home and think about how to get rid of it. So let’s break down how to make the best decisions at the grocery store.

First Things First: Know What You Can Recycle

Before you pass GO, look up your community’s recycling rules. There is no point to this agony in the aisle if you don’t know what you can actually recycle. Not every place accepts the same materials, so know what it accepted so you can know what to prioritize which packaging to choose. Save it to the home screen of your phone!

This is How I Pick Sustainable Packaging:

This is how you prevent the paralysis. If you’re choosing between 2 options, just think it through in this order from most sustainable packaging to the least. Of course budget and quality of product (organic, non GMO etc.) may also play into your decision. And let me cut to the chase there: you choose what is most important to you at that moment, or you’ll go nuts. But if all things are equal, here is how you do it:

• Get Loose. The best packaging? None at all! Choose loose produce instead of pre-packaged fruits and vegetables. Skip plastic bags in the produce aisle—you’ll wash them anyway. Reuse plastic bags, bring your own or let your fruits and veggies roll freely.
• Glass: Glass is your best bet –IF your community actually recycles glass. It’s the healthiest material for your food to contact, infinitely recyclable, and even if you can’t reuse it, it’s easily turned into something new.
• Metal: Cans and tins come next—they’re durable and can be recycled multiple times. Look for BPA free lined cans.
• Cardboard: Recyclable and often made from recycled materials itself, cardboard is a solid choice for packaging.
• Cartons: Think juice boxes and milk cartons. Nerd out with me and learn about how the Carton Council takes responsibility to make this happen!
• Recyclable Plastic: If plastic is an option, go for plastics that your area can actually recycle. Check the numbers if that’s how your town sorts. Or in our case in Boulder, the gist is: tubs, bottles, jars, jugs and clamshells.
• Recyclable plastic bags: Like bread bags (stretchy) but not cereal bags (ripable). But make sure you’re collecting and dropping them off in the recycling bin at the grocery store — not at the curb.
• Unrecyclable Plastic: This is your last stop. But sometimes you just have no choice.

The bottom line: plastic is last.

Start small, and over time, choosing the most sustainable packaging will become second nature. Nothing will stump you at the store!

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