Sustainable shopping

With six people living in our apartment, especially since 4 are college athletes and 2 of us are just athletes, we go through a ridiculous amount of food. Yesterday I came home to two of my roommates screaming like they were being murdered and telling me that they were so hungry they were getting delusional. Perhaps we should have gone grocery shopping a little sooner.


Today three of us went out and bought bulk goods for everyone and groceries for ourselves. We bought bread, milk (for them), eggs, and snacks in bulk at a big box store to save on money and packaging. Earlier in the year we each bought our own bread, etc. and it not only took up a ridiculous amount of room (especially to have 4 cartons of eggs and milk in the fridge), but more often than not we couldn’t finish what we had bought and it would go to waste. By eating more like a typical family would (in other words sharing food), we are able to cut down on our food waste, have a more communal feel to our kitchen, and save some money! What more could college kids ask for?


What can you do?
1. Share food! Buy things in bulk, or even the regular size and split them with other people. If you don’t have a ton of roommates like I do, neighbors or friends are a great option too.


2. Be sure that you aren’t sacrificing quality or sustainability for money. Just because it’s 50 cents cheaper doesn’t mean it’s better than the product that is organic, local, and/or comes in better packaging.


3. Watch out for things you wouldn’t normally buy. It can be incredibly tempting to buy the biggest thing of jelly beans because if you are all going to split it it’s not that many right? Stick to your list and you will be fine.


4. Farmers markets are also a great place to buy produce in bulk and share the wealth. 


4. Don’t forget to bring your reusable bags!