Buying decisions affect environment
Sunday, March 23, 2008
What's on your dinner plate may be hurting the planet.
It may sound strange, but it's true. The typical American meal contains ingredients from at least five countries outside the United States, said Jenny Powers, a spokeswoman for the Natural Resources Defense Council, a national nonprofit environmental group.
 Telegram photo / Joel Hodges |
| Evangelyn Harris picks up a bottle of Tide detergent Thursday at Sam's Club. Buying larger containers is a boost for the environment: They require fewer materials and energy to produce and take up less space in landfills. |
Every mile those tomatoes from Mexico, mushrooms from China and beef from Brazil traveled to the local grocery store translates into higher carbon dioxide emissions and fuel consumption, Powers said.
"When you are shipping in grapes from Chile, and you can get them from closer, say from California, there is a lot of extra carbon dioxide going into the air because of it. ... Look at your plate, and figure out how to cut back on the pollution," said Powers of New York.
Such green shopping reduces pollution, decreases a person's impact on the environment and helps them buy with a purpose that goes beyond price, said Jim Holland, president of ecowise.com, a Web site promoting eco-friendly practices.
"What you want to do to shop green is to apply some kind of principles when you look at a product, so you can compare ... what is a better product," said Holland of Austin, Texas.
People can apply the idea of green shopping to something as simple as grocery shopping, but it requires planning, said Cornelia McGee-Anthony, Keep America Beautiful coordinator for Nash and Edgecombe counties, including looking at where a product is created, what it is made of, how it is used and what happens to it when a consumer is done with it.
When looking at products, try to find ones that were either made from recycled materials such as paper and rubber mulch or that are recyclable so they don't just end up in the landfill, McGee-Anthony said. Recycling one aluminum can saves enough energy to run a television for three hours. Recycling a stack of newspapers 10 feet tall saves a tree.
"We know for sure we are not where we should be as far as having the whole community recycling. What we have to do is continue to educate and make people aware of the benefits of recycling ... and how they can take part in doing that," McGee-Anthony said.
Recyclables are the best way to go as far as disposable materials, but people can do even better by using products that last longer or can be reused multiple times, McGee-Anthony said. She suggested:
Investing in compact fluorescent light bulbs, which may cost $1 or $2 more at the store, but last 10 times longer than incandescent light bulbs and save on the energy bill.
Washing and reusing cloth napkins and diapers, sponges and rags instead of napkins and disposable nappies.
For those who take their meal to work, investing in a good lunch box and reusable containers instead of paper bags and foil or plastic wrap.
This can even be put into practice with people bringing their own reusable cloth bag to carry groceries in instead of using the store's plastic bags, said Greta Hemsath, general manager of Sam's Club in Rocky Mount. In her store, there aren't even any bags to worry about wasting.
"What we do is we have our boxes that merchandise comes in, and we use those boxes for people to carry out their merchandise," Hemsath said.
Another green practice Sam's and other stores offer is buying in bulk, Powers said. Bulk products such as refill bottles of soap and large coffee containers involve less packaging than individually wrapped ones. This cuts down on the energy and materials used to make the packaging and the pollution when the items end up in the landfills.
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With the carbon dioxide emissions and fuel consumption associated with bringing fruits, vegetables and meat in from other states or countries, buying local products also cuts down on the pollution, said Todd Larsen, corporate responsibility programs director for Co-op America, a national nonprofit group that works to build the green economy.
The Twin Counties have numerous farmers selling a variety of fresh produce at the Rocky Mount Farmers Market, which opens April 5, at roadside stands and on the farms themselves, Larsen said.
"Those are good to purchase, both because you are supporting your local community and your local farmers and also the produce traveled less distance, so it helps to reduce emissions," Larsen said.
Supporting regional farms reduces transportation pollution, Powers said. Check local grocery stores to see if they carry locally-grown fruits and vegetables and other locally-made items such as breads and jellies.
Many grocery stores also sell organic produce, which is part of shopping green because these farmers don't use pesticides, Powers said. Pesticides are potentially harmful to humans and can hurt the environment when they leak into streams and rivers, which can affect plants and animals.
The content of nonfood items is a potential risk, too, Powers said. People need to think about the chemicals that are in the products they buy, such as paints with a high solvent content and cleaning materials.
"The new fad is all these antibacterial (soaps) with all these antibacterial components. Well, soap naturally gets rid of bacteria. You don't need all the antibacterial components, because that only reduces your own immunity to these bacteria," Powers said.
The idea of shopping green may seem annoying or like wasting time, Holland said, but doing small things adds up and buys people time to solve the big problems.
"Every community can do better by setting small baby-step goals – 10 percent more recycling, 10 percent less water use over a five-year period. If we do that, we will get to the point where we can take a breath," Holland said.
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