Can Oatmeal Make for a Better World?

Yummy sustainability in the cereal aisle.

My blog post “Have I Peaked?” listed my 2011 Ordinary Environmentalist resolutions, and #3 is to Buy Sustainable Products and Packaging.

With that in mind, I was at the grocery store looking for instant oatmeal that wasn’t laden with sugar and artificial ingredients and I came across a product that caught my eye because it was a small box of organic instant oatmeal. Creative and eye-catching I thought, but probably 3x as expensive because it looks like a specialty item. Nope, it worked out to be priced similar to other brands. What the heck, I thought, and tossed a box in my shopping cart.

Yum! The BetterOats Organic Raw Chai Spiced oatmeal is very good and I’ll buy it again, for a number of reasons:

PACKAGING – There are four great things about the packaging:
1. The box uses up to 35% less packaging then other brands.
2. It takes up 35% less space in my cupboard – a surprisingly nice benefit.
3. The box and the paper envelopes are both recyclable.
4. The oatmeal packet is cleverly designed to measure your liquid so you do not need to find a measuring cup, or guess the right amount – a great benefit if you bring this to work).

SUSTAINABILITY – BetterOats purchases wind energy credits – a sustainable resource.

HEALTHY – whole grain, flax, no artificial anything, and organic.

TASTY – it has great texture and plenty of flavors. It has to taste good, or it isn’t worth buying!

Ordinary Environmentalists are not extremists, we simply make everyday choices that promote sustainability and reduce our impact on the environment – like buying yummy oatmeal with an eco-friendly slant.