Good morning and Happy Thursday! I hope you guys are doing well so far today! I’m excited to be teaming up with Whole Foods Market on today’s blog post and chat about simple things we can all do to “green our routines” and be a little more environmentally-friendly.
Below you will find six simple ways to green your routine and there’s also a great giveaway at the bottom of this blog post that I think my fellow Whole Foods Market lovers will enjoy!
Six Simple Ways To Green Your Routine at Whole Foods
- Purchase Frozen Fish and Buy Sustainable Catch
As someone who loves almost any kind of seafood and prepares fish for dinner at least once a week, purchasing frozen and sustainably-caught seafood is a big one for me! While fresh seafood must often travel long distances by air, frozen seafood can make its way to retailers via a more energy-efficient mode of transportation. An added bonus is that modern flash-freezing means consumers still get high-quality seafood, often for less money than fresh seafood.
Additionally when purchasing wild-caught seafood, select options that are certified by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) or rated “Green” or “Yellow” by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch program and the Safina Center to ensure that your choice is sustainable.
- Bring Your Own Bags
I have a feeling a lot of you already do this (at least I hope you do!), but bringing your own reusable grocery bags to the store with you is such a simple way be a little more environmentally friendly. Plus, many Whole Foods Market locations offer discounts for customers who bring their own bags into the store! Win, win.
Fun fact: It’s estimated that Whole Foods has kept more than 150 million plastic bags out of landfills since eliminating plastic grocery bags from their stores in 2008.
- Choose Greener Cleaners
I started to pay more attention to the type of cleaners we use at home when I was pregnant and am definitely more cognizant of our cleaning supplies now that we have a baby at home. Whole Foods Market’s Eco-Scale Rating System mandates full ingredient disclosure on all household cleaning products (<— something that is not require by US law) in an effort to help shoppers identify a product’s environmental impact though a color-coded rating.
The orange rating is the minimum rating, noting that products with an orange rating do not have ingredients with significant environmental or safety concerns (such as phosphates or chlorine). Yellow-rated products meet even higher standards and green-labeled products are the top tier!
- Select In-Season Produce
This is another tip that is both great for flavor and for saving energy and resources! By shopping in season, you’re more likely to save money and enjoy deliciously flavorful produce while also purchasing food that has been harvested using less energy and resources during a time when it grows naturally.
- Shop In Bulk
Oooh the bulk foods section! I don’t know what it is about this section of Whole Foods, but I’m always drawn to it first. I love trying new foods and appreciate the way the bulk bins allow me to shop for the exact amount I want to use. They’re a great way to save money (I love buying chia seeds, nuts and nutritional yeast in bulk) and also cut down on materials and waste.
- Vote With Your Dollars
I cannot remember where I first heard this tidbit of advice, but it’s something I think about regularly when I am shopping. Whatever you purchase at the grocery store is essentially a “vote” telling brands that you like what they’re doing and want more of it. I would obviously prefer to see store shelves packed with food that is nutritious and produced with sustainability in mind and feel that by gravitating toward this type of food when I shop, I play a very small part in keeping the wheel running and encouraging the production of more responsibly-produced food.
Whole Foods Market Gift Card Giveaway
And now for that giveaway I promised you at the beginning of this post! One PBF reader will win a $100 gift card to Whole Foods Market. Sweet, right!?
To enter this giveaway, please leave a comment on this blog post telling me one thing you do on a regular basis to “green your routine” or tell me one of your favorite things to buy at Whole Foods.
I will randomly select a winner tomorrow morning.
Good luck!!
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I try to bring my own bags!
I try to bring reusable bags whenever I can and also buy in season produce! Thanks!
I bring my own bags and try to plan my meals around what’s in season
I buy cleaners that are environmentally conscious and made from more naturally based ingredients.
Thanks for hosting this! I do all of these things but have slipped a bit on buying in-season produce. This is a good reminder to recommit. I also bring reusable produce bags and try to bike to the store (though now that we’re a family of 3, that really doesn’t work for the weekly trips). Have a great day!
Mrs. Meyer’s hand soap is my absolute favorite. Also, I love purchasing any local produce that is fresh-farmed in Michigan. I feel like I’m supporting healthy fresh products as well as local vendors.
We always bring our own bags – not only is it good for the environment, but also makes carrying the groceries home so much easier!
Fortunately, WF’s is on my way home from work so stopping there is pretty convenient. I definitely bring my own canvas bags, but we also bring our own mesh veg bags. So no plastic there either.
WF’s carries our fav Tessemae’s buffalo sauce and salad dressings, and Epic bars (the chicken ones and the buffalo ones). And hummus: local Roots hummus with the blue label (made without oil) and house-made cauliflower hummus.
Thanks for the fun giveaway!!
My husband and I just found out about a company that recycles GU packets that we use on our runs, so we have started to collect them and send them out to be recycled for us since we can’t recycle them where we live!
We love buying nuts in bulk – typically much cheaper than buying a jar of them, and then you don’t have a container to throw away!
Whole Foods is like Disneyland for food! The closest one to us is about a half hour away, but we usually drive 45 min to the next nearest because it’s bigger:) I really love the 365 brand of almond milk and try to stock up when we go!
We are pretty green in our household. Cleaners are a big one and I often make my own. We are in the process of moving to a 5 acre piece of land and I cannot wait to get some chickens and build a greenhouse!
I reduce our reliance on paper towels by using cleaning cloths and fabric napkins.
I love WFM! Also, I shop at the farmers market in the summer to support local produce!
I use reusable containers instead of plastic bags when I pack my lunch!
I recycle!
Hi Julie,
My family and I love visiting Whole Foods! Our “green routine” includes using the reusable bags as much as possible. But we are human and sometimes forget the bags so when we do have to walk away with the WF paper bags we make the effort to use their bags as much as we can, sometimes even taking them back to WF on our next visit. 🙂
I actually just started keeping a dish towel at work. I felt so bad using 3-4 paper towels a day just to dry my dishes after washing them. I might look like a weirdo, but it adds up!
I always use reusable bags!
I love using reusable bags! They are easier to carry into the house too!
Also I try to use as few produce bags! And then I reuse those bags for around the kitchen.
I love stocking up on nut butters and kombucha!
I have purchased my family and boyfriend reusable bags to help be more sustainable when checking out at the grocery store!
I try to purchase local products whenever possible, and when I can’t I try to find the most sustainable option available. The Whole Foods hot bar is by far my favorite spot for quick and delicious meals 🙂
I green my routine by walking, biking, or taking public transportation as often as possible. Haven’t used my car in months!
I walk to the grocery store and use reusable grocery bags. Exercise for me and a weighted workout on the way home!
I walk to work every single day and pretty much always bus/walk all over the city (even though we have a car for longer excursions). My favorite thing at whole foods is the salad bar for dinner!
I shop local and recycle and reuse as much as I can. I really love all the informative labeling at Whole Foods.
I avoid unnecessary plastic produce bags and I love shopping the bulk bins at WF – get beans, spices, nutritional yeast, etc.
I could eat 365 Peanut Butter Balls cereal every meal, every day and be satisfied!!
Reusable bags and shopping local whenever possible – I love going to the farmer’s market!
I always try to fill my cart with mostly fresh ingredients (lots of fruits and veggies) and I try to stay away from a lot of packaged and processed foods!
I literally feel so guilty if I forget my bags at the grocery store!
I am all about the reusable bags!
I love Whole Foods! I have started buying all of my meat there. I love knowing that the animals are treated well AND, bonus, the paper packaging at the butcher counter is so much better than the Styrofoam and plastic packaging at most markets.
i love to buy their off cuts of salmon! i look in the frozen section and often find irregularly shaped pieces for less-per-piece than an attractive cut 🙂
I always use my reusable shopping bags (it means less bags to carry in the house after shopping too!) and I love my farmers market during the warmer months. I love love love Primal Spirit Meatless Jerky that Whole Foods carries – I’m vegetarian and this stuff tastes like real jerkey and there are a ton of flavors that you can buy individually. It’s a great high protein snack!
I bring my own bags grocery shopping and bring my own travel mug when I buy coffee out.
I continuously meal prep every week, and VERY rarely do I have leftover food that I have to toss out at the end of the week! Nothing makes me feel better than an empty fridge at the end of the week 🙂
I always bring reusable bags and use a reusable water bottle!
I use reusable bags, gentler cleaners, and bring reusable water bottles with me everywhere I go to avoid purchasing plastic ones!
My daughter and I love Whole Foods! We always bring our own bags, and love picking out fresh seafood! It’s more affordable and tastes fresh from the sea (i’m loving the salmon and sea scallops this week)
I use reusable grocery bags.
We always bring our reusable grocery bags, but also bring reusable vegetable and fruit bags. I feel like the tiny plastic bags are also over-used, so this way, we don’t need to use them at all. 🙂
I’ve been loving newer spring produce and Ben and Jerry’s dairy-free pints!
I keep a ton of reusable grocery bags in my trunk so I’m prepared wherever I go. I also belong to a CSA, which helps ensure I’m eating what’s in season!
I always use my own grocery bags and I invested in reusable produce bags as well. I LOVE them – washable and strong. I buy so much fresh produce that it didn’t seem right using plastic bags on those either. I love trying new things at Whole Foods since they carry such unique items. I am a vegan, so they offer many products that are clearly labeled – even at their salad and hot bars!
I started using reusable produce bags! Goal is to bring home the least amount of plastic as possible!
I live in California so no grocery store uses plastic bags unless you pay for them. It’s a sure fire way to make me use reusable bags!
I love shopping at Whole Foods with my reusable bags. Funny that my favorite thing to buy at Whole Foods is the Chocolate Cream Puff from the bakery case. They had some great melons last summer so I’m looking forward to buying a lot of those in the coming months to negate the calories in the cream puffs.
I love bringing my own bags to the grocery store! They’re so much easier to carry, too. I also recycle all paper/plastics/glass that I use in my apartment. Go green! 🙂