In honor of Earth Day, we’re sharing some easy ways to reduce waste at the Farmers Markets. Some of these ideas are things you may already be doing, and some might be something new for you to try next time you stop by the markets.  

Bring a Reusable Bag or Basket 

This is one of the most common ways that people are already putting in work to reduce waste at the farmers markets. If you’re already bringing a reusable bag for your whole market haul, try bringing reusable produce bags to replace the plastic bags that you get with your fruits and veggies. 

Participate in a Bag Exchange 

Even reusable bags can become wasteful if you find yourself collecting more than you need. If you have clean, reusable bags that you don’t use or no longer need, bring them to the Manager’s Booth at any of our markets to drop them off for our “Give a Bag, Take a Bag” program. Then, next time you forget your reusable bags, you can stop by the Manager’s Booth again to pick up a new-to-you one. 

Participate in a Bottle Exchange 

Many of our vendors who sell products in glass bottles have great incentives for you to bring your glass bottles back to the markets. Participating in a bottle exchange helps your glass bottles to be reused, or at least properly recycled, and you can often get a discount on your next purchase, depending on the vendor. 

Participating vendors include: Rockridge Orchards, Seeking Kombucha, Glendale Shepherd, Greenwood Cider, CommuniTea Kombucha, Junebug Ferments, and Seattle Urban Honey. If you see a vendor selling glass bottles who isn’t listed, feel free to ask them if they have a bottle exchange in place.   

Return Your Old Boxes and Flats

Like the bottle exchange, reusing your boxes and flats helps to reduce waste generated in the markets, and can have some great incentives as well. If you bring your berry flats back to Hayton Farms Berries, they will give you a discount on your next flat.  

Bring Reusable Utensils 

If you know that you’ll be getting prepared food at the markets, throw some reusable utensils in your bag so you don’t have to grab the single-use ones from our prepared food vendors. Bonus points if you bring a reusable napkin too! 

Bring a Water Bottle 

Especially during the summer months, the markets can get you overheated and dehydrated pretty quickly. We do provide water and single-use cups at the Manager’s Booth, but you can reduce waste in the markets by bringing your own water bottle to fill up at our hydration stations.  

Sort Your Waste at the Compost, Recycling, and Trash Bins 

This is one of the easiest ways to have the biggest impact on waste in the markets. If you do find yourself with trash, compost, or recycling to dispose of at the markets, make sure you are placing it in the correct bins. If the bins are not properly sorted, then the contents become compromised, and we must throw everything in the trash. 

Recycling must be clean and dry, compost includes only approved packaging and utensils, and garbage is anything that is not recyclable or compostable. If you’re not sure which bin something belongs in, please ask our Market Staff, and they would be more than happy to assist you.  

Even picking just one thing from this list to try next time is a great way to consciously reduce waste at the farmers markets!