Waste-free tips for the home

Environmental friendly and plastic free food shopping

The easiest way to reduce your environmental impact is to:

shop local produce (think Darwin markets or Greenies)
BYO containers & bags and
fill your kitchen with mostly plant based produce.

Buy your fruit and veg at local markets!

With so many markets in Darwin and surrounds, there is little need to go to the supermarket! Don't forget to bring your own bags and containers and favour stalls that sell their goods without packaging.

Palmerston and Rural Market (evening)

Friday

Parap Village Markets
Malak Marketplace
Fred Pass Rural Markets
Rapid Creek Market (smaller market)

Saturday

Nightcliff Village Market
Berry Springs Markets (Last Sunday of every month)
Rapid Creek Market (the main/full market day)

Sunday

Where you can buy bulk dry food

You can buy these food items in large or unspecified quantities, which you can transfer from a large bulk container into a smaller container. The benefit of buying in bulk is that there is little to no packaging involved.

We have collected a couple of bulk options in Darwin for you.

Greenies Organic Real Food
Ask Greenies staff to weigh your container before you fill it up with their goodies.
(Rapid Creek)

Wicked NRG
Wicked NRG offers discounts if you bring your own container.
(Darwin city & Yarrawonga)

Naturally Wicked Co-op
For bulk buying (organic) to share among friends - Facebook (closed group)

Coles coles scoop and weigh
Coles actually has a range of nuts, seeds, dried fruits and snacks that can be bought in BYO bags. You can forgo the sticker and just scan them in the same way you do the fruit and vegetables. They come at the end of the A-Z list under the heading ‘Nuts and Snacks’.

The Source Bulk Foods (online)
There are of course online options for food too. Local is best for plastic free, though online shops like ‘The Source’ do provide PLA lined paper bags that can be reused a few times. PLA plastic is made from corn starch and can only be fully composted in an Industrial Composting facility.

Acquaint yourselves with local tastes!

If you’re new here, enjoy a conversation about how to prepare a fruit of vegetable that you have not used before – embrace the abundance of exciting tropical foods and learn to adapt your diet to something a little bit more local!

Taste of the Top End - This page features great recipes.

Growing and Understanding Local Produce - A blog featuring the GULP NT Community Project.

A Taste of Kakadu - A cultural food fest 65,000 years in the making.

Reduce food waste by buying only as much as you need

“Although it isn't a dietary strategy, reducing food waste is an immediate way to ensure we aren't wasting resources. Some handy tips are to plan your meals, and use a shopping list when going to the supermarket. Food wastage directly relates to environmental impact because of the amount of energy and resources that are needed to go into making that piece of food. In Australia alone, it's estimated that food makes up 35 per cent of household and council waste”.

Source: https://www.csiro.au/en/Research/BF/Areas/Nutrition-and-health/Environmental-impact-of-diets

You can make changes at home by: