When life gives you lemons … I don’t get that idiom. Lemons are great! 10 lemons: zest in everclear for limoncello, juice for lemon bars, rinds simmered in water and mixed with vinegar for cleaning.
A town in Lithuania creates a Christmas tree made from 40.000 plastic bottles
via This is Colossal
How ironic.
Convenience will kill you! With a spork.
Zero Waste - three months in
It’s been approximately three months now since we moved and began our Zero Waste project in earnest. A guest writer at Zero Waste Home recently made the very eloquent observation that “zero waste” is similar to the mathematical concept of the asymptote: a line that is continually approaching zero but never quite reaches it.
I have tried to be the most strict about zero waste when it comes to food, because food packaging was the majority of our waste before we started. And it has made a tremendous difference. I jumped back into canning and food preservation with two feet. I have done it quite a bit in the past, but not buying canned goods made it a priority. Not buying any food wrapped in garbage is tremendously freeing and even makes life simpler. I have to say I don’t miss packaged foods one bit. Although I did catch myself daydreaming about potato chips the other day. I can’t remember the last time I had one! (Can I make potato chips? Hmmm …)
One of the biggest changes we have made is we do not have a trash can. We still have trash, but it is now very inconvenient to throw things away, which is a great motivator. If we make compost, it goes in the crock on the kitchen counter, which gets emptied every other day. If we make recyclable waste, that goes down the hall to indoor recycling bins. If we produce garbage, it has to go down the hall, down three stories, across the parking lot, and into the dumpster. If you have a large, easily accessible garbage can, the easiest thing to do is usually to trash things!
So, long story short, our waste approaches zero, more or less. There are some challenging areas I have yet to work out—meat packaging is still a problem (it’s not even recyclable, most of the time), as well as packaging from electronics (broken hard drive-oy vey!).
I will end with something I have noticed in the last few months—at many stores now, the cashier will actually ASK if you want a bag. Gone are the days of mindlessly sticking that one item into a giant plastic bag without asking! They also got rid of the free plastic bags at our library. Might we live to see the day when the single use plastic bag is a thing of the past?? Here’s hoping!
U-pick autumnberry, elderberry, and wild grape. Roadsides everywhere, cost is free.
living free in the kitchen
Eating whole, unprocessed foods certainly goes hand in hand with the zero-waste philosophy. Walking through the typical grocery store, almost every item is sold in plastic packaging. Even a good portion of produce is wrapped up in plastic. Before zero waste, most of our household waste was food packaging (including both recyclables and garbage). Just making some simple changes to eliminate waste from grocery shopping reduced our waste dramatically.
Some notes about our shopping and cooking practices:
-We are members of a wonderful CSA (Community Supported Agriculture farm). This year we have a share from Birch Point Farm. It is the third CSA we have tried, and with no slight meant to the others, definitely my favorite! Along with our weekly share of veggies, we also get a bouquet of flowers (a flower share) and a loaf of bread from 9 Bean Rows Bakery. Our farmer is great about minimizing waste for CSA pickup. Weekly items are spread on a table and members must bring their own bags and containers for veggies.
-We also have a plot in the local community garden. It was a last minute decision this year, so about half of the plot is sheet-composted and unused this year. The other half is producing snow peas, pole beans and bush beans, muskmelons, fennel, brussels sprouts, heirloom tomatoes, thai chilies, and some various flowers and herbs.
-The remainder of our groceries are hodge-podged together from various sources. At our local co-op we buy bulk grains, beans, flours, oils, etc., as well as locally produced milk and cream in glass bottles, fresh baked bagels, bread, and locally grown fruits and veggies as needed. Eggs are bought from a friend who sells them from a mini-fridge outside her bike gear and pottery shop (bikes, pottery, and eggs—what a combo!). And finally, we are always on the lookout for wild-growing goodies or discarded food.
-We have our own cloth and mesh bags that we bring for produce and bulk items. Wet or sticky stuff goes in glass bottles and jars. If it doesn’t come in bulk or package-free, I try and stick with things in glass containers or cardboard boxes that are easily reusable or recycled. Our co-op unfortunately packages the locally produced meats and cheeses in plastic, and farmers also bring these products to market wrapped in plastic. We are working for a solution, but it does present a conundrum. Is it more important to be zero-waste or to buy local, pasture raised meats? Right now, the answer for us is to stick with local meat, but reduce our consumption dramatically.
Zero waste peach butter. We salvaged a box of local, organic peaches that were thrown out because of damage/ bruises. After the bad parts were cut off and pits removed, we had about 4 lbs. of fruit. Simmered, puréed, sugar and lemon added, and cooked down, and now we have three jars of peach butter. The texture is similar to thick caramel, but the taste is pure summer.
