Local Suppliers. We have become complacent about being able to buy things like bananas all year round and having access to every spice under the sun. However, a huge amount of these products are flown thousands of miles from other countries and this causes problems. Not only does the transport release vast amounts of CO2 into the atmosphere, due to burning fuel and having to use a food and wine cooler to keep the produce chilled all the way, but also local food suppliers struggle to compete with low foreign costs. If you don’t want to see local businesses going under, make sure you support them and shop local as much as you can.

Fight Packaging. You only have to take a walk down one of the isles to see how much food packaging is wasted making products look pretty. A single cake might be individually wrapped, inside a small box with a plastic place-holder, which is wrapped in cellophane and transported inside a cardboard box, with the other cake boxes. It is often the case that such packaging is completely redundant, so do your bit and try to buy loose or sensibly wrapped goods.

Ethical Accessories. It is not only what food you buy than can have an effect on the planet. Everything from the cutlery you use to the little wine gifts you buy others can have an impact and you should think carefully before making a choice. Ask yourself where this product has come from, is it something that could be made from a more sustainable material, and is this a disposable product when I could be buying a reusable one? Disposable chopsticks for example cause thousands of trees to be cut down every day, when a good reusable pair can last a lifetime.