I watch a lot of people going grocery shopping in supermarkets. And I see that very often people do not think at all about the environmental friendliness of their choices, thus contributing to the pollution of the environment, the cities and neighborhoods where they live.

In this article, I present to you a ranking of the top five buyer mistakes.

#5 Buying eggs in foam packaging, not cardboard

Although foam packaging (polystyrene) can be recycled, cellulose packaging is more environmentally friendly because it is already a recycled product. It can be recycled, but not all recyclers do, because the egg carton already has little cellulose and a lot of glue, its value as a material is low.

#4 Buying milk in a tetrapack instead of plastic / glass

Although both Tetrapak and plastic bottles can be recycled, the latter is considered more environmentally friendly packaging. Tetrapak consists of three types of materials: paper, plastic, and polyaluminum, and it takes a lot of water to separate them from each other. The plastic bottle is easier to recycle. And yes, if you have the option to buy milk in glass, that option is even more correct.

#3 Buying ketchup and mayonnaise in a doypac

Mayonnaise, ketchups, condensed milk, honey, baby food – almost all of this is sold in a soft plastic package called a doypac. It is made of 7 types of plastic (mixed) and is not accepted for recycling. It is also difficult to clean because of the many creases. If you can, give preference to plastic buckets and bottles, or better yet, glass bottles. Glass can be recycled an infinite number of times.

#2 Taking what you can buy in a package by the weight

For example, you buy pre-packaged vegetables and fruits, herbs, meat, cereals – while the store has the same, but on weight. Excessive packaging is the scourge of the 21st century. If you have to take out garbage every day or every other day, it means that along with food you buy garbage in the store. There is not enough space in landfills anymore – the best thing you can do is to stop generating unnecessary packaging.

#1 Weighting fruits and vegetables in plastic bags

Many people, even when they buy one apple or lemon, put it in a plastic bag and put a price tag on top. There is no need for this, the bag in this chain is superfluous, it will then decompose for 450 years. In general, it is better to go to the store with your own reusable bags – you can sew them yourself or buy ready-made.

I will conclude with the most important thing. In order for these tips to really start working for the environment, we need to start sorting waste. Even endlessly recyclable glass bottles, once in the landfill, can no longer be used for anything else.

With these simple rules, we can make our streets, our neighborhood, our city and our planet a much cleaner place to live.