Sustainable shopping - A Dream or A Nightmare?

Striving for environmental sustainability in our shopping habits is no easy feat.

I find myself having to make tricky decisions every day of the week.

One of the first problems I encounter personally, is the issue of TIME, or lack of time to be precise.

I am blessed to live in an area where I have access to fresh locally grown produce. However, in order for me to access this delicious food, takes planning and organisation because I need to visit several different venues, every single week.

I always try to purchase my meat from our local butcher, who keeps their herd in Kilkee, Co. Clare, just down the road from me.

I also want to get my vegetables and fruit at the farmer’s market, but this is only available on Saturday mornings.

My cleaning products and the few bathroom amenities I use, have to be purchased from the health food shop as I know the brands that contain no chemicals and keep my wastewater and skin healthy. 

On the rare occasion that I do eat pork, it has to be from the free-range pig farm about 20 km from home. 

And so, in order to successfully fill my weekly shopping needs, I end up taking more than half a day a week to attain them and making several trips to different places. In terms of time management, it becomes an increasingly frustrating task and it is understandable how our busy, daily lives made the convenience of food so appealing.

Recently, our local supermarket introduced an eco-corner. Now, you can purchase the items there that I had to call into other shops for: like my cleaning products, soaps, bamboo made items, reusables, etc. Initially I was delighted, while the price was a little bit higher, it meant that I had less pit stops to make to other shops every week.

I also watched with joy as other shoppers spent time browsing the eco-corner and finding products to put in their baskets. By bringing these products to mainstream supermarkets, many shoppers, who did not know they existed, will now be exposed to them, and will have a greater chance to change their habits.

But after a couple of weeks without having to call to the health food shop I started wondering, what if everyone else did the same? What is going to happen to this lovely local health food shop if everyone starts using the supermarket’s eco-corner?

The same applies to our local butchers, fishmongers and vegetable sellers - the convenience of purchasing all your items under one roof - has had catastrophic effects in other countries on their high street - seeing these hard-working artisan producers, going out of business.

The reality is that, whilst saving time, not going to local shops means they may not survive. Once again when you look at sustainability overall; which of the two choices is the lesser evil?

It is hard to find the right answer because there are clear downsides to both choices. 

Sustainability is not only about reducing our environmental impact, but there are also social sustainability issues that need to be thought of and addressed,  such as the survival of our local communities and the development of the people living in them.

In my quest to reduce my environmental impact I continue to visit all those shops on a weekly basis, not only to select the products I feel are best, but also to support the income of all those families.

Sometimes, I come home after a 3-hour round trip, carrying full bags of delicious locally grown food with no air miles, driving around in my electric car to reduce my carbon footprint, only to find my husband at home with the radio on in the kitchen & the telly on in the living room while he sits in the office working on the computer! 

After all my efforts to reduce our carbon emissions!! And that is the life of a climate activist, a constant battle!