Fairford Environmental Society's 10:10 Campaign

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How to reduce energy consumption when Shopping

Reduce energy consumption when Shopping

Shop locally. Fairford is full of good places to shop. We have Londis, the Co-op, the butchers, the pharmacy, a bookshop, and even an art gallery! Every Wednesday morning we have both the outdoors market and the Country Market in the Community Centre. This latter especially is great for locally sourced and produced food, and they will also eagerly accept jam jars and egg boxes for reuse.
Take reusable bags with you. Plastic carrier bags are incredibly wasteful, they litter the countryside and take decades upon decades to decompose. With their thin walls and handles that dig into your fingers they're not even particularly good at carrying things. Take a cloth bag or a rucksack instead. Many local shops, including the butchers, Londis, Fairford Country Market, sell such ‘bags for life’.
Buy good quality products. Many things seem to be designed to be used once and then thrown away. Leave these on the shelves and instead buy something that will last and last. It may be more expensive as an initial outlay but it should save you money in the future.
Try the charity shop. Many items will be in excellent condition and will simply have been unwanted gifts. It’s a form of recycling and raises funds for charity at the same time. The charity shop in Fairford also supplies second hand school uniforms.
Buy the items with the least packaging. Most of it isn't necessary and it only goes straight in the bin. If enough of us encourage manufacturers to reduce packaging they will do so.
Look at where food comes from. Strawberries in the middle of winter may seem like a nice idea, but is it really worth it if they’ve been shipped all the way from the Middle East? Why not have a tasty British apple?
Plan meals. The average household wastes around £300 worth of food each year. By planning meals and only buying what is necessary, this can be avoided. Any leftover meat and veg can easily be turned into a nice soup.
Eat less meat and dairy. We don't need to all go vegan, but cutting down on these products will lead to fewer emissions of both CO2 and also methane which cows burp out with gusto. Try having a meat-free day a week, but take care not to substitute it with cheese which is similarly energy-intensive to produce.
Don't buy bottled water. We are lucky enough to live in a country with safe drinking water readily available from taps in our own homes. There really is no need to splash out on plastic bottles of water shipped all the way from France.