Our Daily Lives: Food & Stuff

What we eat, wear and throw away affects the environment every day.

The good news? Rethinking food and “stuff” can boost your well-being, cut waste and save money. This challenge helps you make changes (big and small) that add up over time.

Action Ideas

Starting points:

• Eat at least one plant-based meal each week, cooking more at home with new recipes using beans, lentils or tofu.
• Plan meals, make grocery lists, each week clean out your fridge to make a meal,  share extra food with neighbours or donate it to a community fridge or shelter.
• Buy local and seasonal foods when possible, choosing unpackaged produce or items with minimal packaging.
• Use up leftovers creatively with soups, stir-fries or smoothies to reduce food waste.
• Switch to non-dairy or plant-based alternatives like oat milk, cashew cheese or coconut yogurt.
• Compost food scraps at home or through community composting programs.
• Bring your own bags, containers, and jars when shopping, and refill cleaning and household supplies at bulk or refill stores.
• Borrow, share, or swap appliances, tools, clothing or equipment through friends, neighbours or local sharing groups.
• Use your goods for as long as possible before ensuring they are recycled or remanufactured.
• Repair or re-wear clothes, shoes, bags, or household items, and offer your repair skills to friends or community members.
• Refuse freebies, giveaways, and single-use items you don’t need, and swap disposables for reusables like plates, bowls, cutlery, straws and bags.
• Repurpose jars, fabric scraps and packaging into useful items for your home.
• Donate clean, lightly used packaging materials to local galleries or other stores that can reuse them.
• Grow herbs on your windowsill or join a community garden to grow some of your own food.
• Avoid impulse buying by unsubscribing from marketing emails and limiting online browsing.
• Delete old digital files and emails to reduce your cloud storage footprint.
• Vote for political candidates who support strong, sustainable policies.

Bigger moves:

• Create shared resources in your neighbourhood like a pantry, community fridge, lending library or tool bank.
• Switch your regular grocery shopping to farmers markets, community-supported agriculture boxes or bulk stores.
• Buy fewer but longer-lasting items, focusing on suppliers that offer refurbished products, maintenance and  repair services, take-back programs, products made of sustainable materials and long warranties (e.g. 5-10 years for a new major appliance).
• Track how much food your household throws away and challenge yourself to cut it in half.
• Develop or support community gardens, school gardens or shared food-growing spaces in your neighbourhood.
• Host repair cafés, second-hand pop-ups, clothing swaps or zero-waste workshops in your community.
• Declutter with reuse in mind by donating or redistributing items through local networks, community hubs or online platforms.
• Adopt minimalist habits like “one-in, one-out” rules for purchases.
• Shift gift-giving to second-hand, upcycled or experience-based options.
• Support zero-waste grocery stores and businesses that use circular economy models.
• Use apps or local services to share or give away unused food, furniture or clothing.
• Try buy-nothing challenges to reflect on and reset your shopping habits.
• Make your own cleaning products or cosmetics using simple ingredients like vinegar, baking soda or oils.
• Align your financial choices with environmental values by reviewing your investments, switching to sustainable funds and asking your bank about their investment practices.