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Overview
The last 50 years have seen a fundamental shift in the way we all shop for groceries. We used to go to the bakers, the butchers, the grocers, the chemists and the newsagents but instead we now go to Tesco, Aldi, Lidl, Sainbury’s Walmart, Carrefour and Yonghui!
In this episode Mike and Russell discuss the good and bad side of how supermarket sustainability affects all of us in our everyday lives.
Take away actions
- Buy local (in country), seasonal products
- If you can afford it, buy organic
- Look for fairtrade and sustainability labels
- Re-use bags
- Buy loose produce instead of pre-packaged
- If you can, walk there – or go to a local shop – you’ll save money on petrol!
Timings
01:40 – Integration to daily life
09:10 – Areas affected by supermarket sustainability
15:05 – Community aspects
19:25 – Striking a balance
23:15 – Actions to take
Fact Bucket
- A million plastic bottles are bought every single minute
- Supermarkets in the UK sell 59 billion pieces of single-use plastic every year
- On average supermarkets and retailers pay £18 per tonne towards recycling, whereas in other European countries, businesses pay up to £133 per tonne for recycling
- 46% of food and drink advertising goes on confectionery, sweet and savoury snacks and soft drinks; while only 2.5% goes on fruit and vegetables
- 800,000 tonnes of waste from food and beverage products would fill enough large 10-yard skips to extend from London to Sydney, or cover the whole of Greater London to a depth of 2.5cm
- Palm oil is found in 50% of supermarket products, from food to cleaners to cosmetics
- Unhealthy foods tend to be three times cheaper than healthy food
- The poorest 10% of UK households would need to spend 74% of their disposable income on food to meet the Eatwell Guide costs – the Government’s official healthy eating guide
- 10 million tonnes of food goes to waste in the UK every year. That’s as weighty as about 790,000 double-decker buses.
Useful Info
Send us your home working tips to @greenelepod on social
Acknowledgements
Special thanks as always to Harriet Teagle for her Green Elephant artwork.
