Category: Food

Buying spices, grains, pasta, and other foods in bulk reduces food waste, reduces plastic bag use, and saves money

2/24/2023

Buy just the quantities you want and reuse the bags to save money and reduce waste when buying dry goods and spices in bulk.

You may already be reducing your use of single use plastic bags by bringing your reusable shopping bags to the grocery store. You can further reduce the amount of plastic packaging that you purchase by buying from the bulk aisle. Bring your own bags and bottles to stock up on spices, pasta, dried beans, nuts, granola, oatmeal, rice, and other grains. Reuse the bags each time you make a bulk purchase or invest in cloth or mesh bags for this purpose. Another advantage of buying in bulk is that you can buy just the quantity that you need, so it allows you to reduce food waste. Spices in particular are less expensive bought in bulk, particularly because you can just get the quantity that you need. They may also be fresher, as they can sit in the bottles for a long time before being sold. A number of stores in our area offer a selection of bulk foods including the Swarthmore Food Co-op, Martindale’s in Springfield, and the Giant Food on Sproul Rd. in Springfield. Eliminate the packaging for spices at the Swarthmore Food Co-op by bringing your own bottle or container and ask the cashier to get a tare weight.

Photo by Susan O'Donnell

Finish cooking with the heat off to save energy

2/17/2023

You can reduce your energy use when cooking foods in boiling water. The residual heat will finish cooking your food without additional input of energy. Take advantage of this by turning off the burner or oven several minutes before the end of the cooking time and let it sit with lid on or in the closed oven to finish. This technique works for foods such as pasta, grains, steamed vegetables, and baked casseroles. See this article for more ideas on how to take advantage of residual heat while cooking.

Photo by Susan O'Donnell

Grind up avocado pits to take advantage of their nutrients

11/17/2022

Grind up your avocado pits in smoothies or tasty red mole sauce to take advantage of their calcium, magnesium, potassium, and other nutrients.

Avocado pits can be blended, baked, or put in a food processor. The resulting nutritious powder can be used in baked goods, protein shakes, grain dishes, red mole sauce, and more.

Read more here:

-- https://www.treehugger.com/ways-to-use-an-avocado-pit-4868814

Compost your jack-o-lantern to keep food out of the waste stream

10/20/2022

Each year, 1.9 billion pounds of pumpkin is grown in the United States. Most of these pumpkins end up in landfills. Composting your jack-o-lanterns keeps them out of the waste stream and adds nutrients in your soil. While most of a jack-o-lantern is used for decoration, the seeds are very tasty when roasted. Another option, recommended by The National Wildlife Federation is to leave the raw seeds and pieces of your jack-o-lantern out in your yard to feed the wildlife after the holiday is over.

Look for new plant-based dog treats that smell and taste like real meat

7/20/2022

Reducing the amount of meat in your diet contributes to reducing your carbon footprint. But can you convince your pets to make this switch? Mary Jo DiLonardo on Treehugger.com reported on dog treats created by Bright Planet Pet that are made with vegan ingredients but taste like meat. Owner Katherine Ellson points out that production of "plant-based products create fewer carbon emissions and use less water than meat-based pet treats."* She points out that we can make more sustainable choices for our pets. "What food our pets eat has a global impact and if we can reduce how much meat they eat, we can help reduce climate change and make the earth healthier."* As an additional contribution to their sustainable practices, "the company also plants a tree for each bag sold."*

*https://www.treehugger.com/plant-based-dog-treats-smell-taste-like-meat-5441603?utm_campaign=treehugger&utm_medium=email&utm_source=cn_nl&utm_content=28133403&utm_term=

Photos by Siobhan O'Donnell

Plastic teabags release microplastic and nanoplastic particles into the water. Most paper teabags also contain plastic, so consider switching to loose tea

6/25/2022

Some tea manufacturers are starting to use plastic tea bags instead of the usual paper packet. A study published in Environmental Science and Technology determined that these plastic tea bags release microplastics during steeping. They "show that steeping a single plastic teabag at brewing temperature (95 °C) releases approximately 11.6 billion microplastics and 3.1 billion nanoplastics into a single cup of the beverage."* They go on to demonstrate that these plastics are toxic to aquatic invertebrates. Avoid these new-style tea bags and stick with the traditional paper version or dispense with the bag altogether and enjoy loose tea.

Photo by Susan O'Donnell

* https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.9b02540

Prevent food waste while saving money: use the Flashfood app to get discounted food at local supermarkets

1/20/2022

Grocery stores throw out a huge amount of perfectly good food that is not sold as it approaches its “sell by“ date. Flashfood is an app that allows shoppers to buy this food at a discount and pick it up in store. Both Giant grocery stores in Springfield (on Baltimore Pike and Sproul Road) participate in this program. Once you download the app and choose your location, it shows you participating stores and a list of discounted food items. You make the purchase through the app and pick it up in the store. Because you pre-pay, the visit at the store is brief. You can also bring along your own bags to take it home. According to their website (Flashfood.com):

“The problem

When food ends up in the landfill, it gets covered by other garbage and rots in an anaerobic state - meaning it doesn’t get any oxygen while it decomposes. This creates methane gas, which is a leading cause of greenhouse gases that are making a noticeable gaping hole in the ozone layer and significantly contributing to climate change.
‍
Grocery stores are left with a surplus of food items that are reaching their best before date on a daily basis. The timing of when food is deemed unsellable is based on store policy; it typically ranges from a few days to 1-2 weeks.

Diversion efforts
Grocery retailers have taken steps to divert potential food waste through improving procurement and operating procedures as well as shortening supply chains to keep food fresher, longer. Retailers also partner with food banks, food recovery and rescue agencies.
‍
With all their efforts, grocery retailers are still left with a significant amount of food which typically gets sent to the landfill.

The solution
By selling this food at 50% off the retail price through Flashfood, grocers are able to recover costs (i.e.: reduce shrink), and significantly reduce their carbon footprint.

Consumers are able to take advantage of healthier food items like produce, meat and prepared meals that they would ordinarily deem too expensive. It's a #winwinwin for all!”

Photo credit: Sharon Hahn Darlin, Flickr

Reduce food waste during the holidays: plan post-holiday menus to use up leftover meals and ingredients

11/16/2021

It can be hard to estimate how much food to prepare for your holiday gathering. Earth911.com estimates that 30-40% of the food grown in the U.S. is wasted. That means that you might end up with leftover dishes and unused ingredients. After the evening of the big dinner, plan catch-up meals to use up that extra food. Serve turkey salad on dinner roles for lunch. Make dishes that use the ingredients you have on hand; for example, cooked meats and vegetables can be mixed into a casserole. Lightly steam leftover fresh vegetables and toss with pesto over pasta. Don’t forget to put reusable containers on your holiday shopping list so you can send some of the leftovers home with your guests.

Photo by AVID Vines, Flickr

Chewing Gum is not fully Biodegradable

8/13/2021

Treehugger.com explored the ingredients in chewing gum and found that the list has long since strayed from the original ingredient: chicle, which was derived from tree sap. Author Mary Jo Rudy found that the ingredient list includes gum base: "The precise ingredients in "gum base" are a trade secret, but they may include any of 46 FDA-approved products including plastics, natural latex, synthetic rubber, wood glue, vegetable oil, and talc."* Because plastic is part of this list, chewing gum is not considered completely biodegradable. In addition, "according to GetGreenNow, 80-90% of chewed gum is disposed of improperly; most is dropped on the ground or stuck onto a surface. This means that thousands of pounds of gum are entering the litter stream every year,"* negatively impacting wildlife that mistakenly consume it.

As an alternative, Rudy lists gum manufacturers including Simply Gum, Chicza, Glee Gum, and Chewsy that use chicle to make a biodegradable gum.

*Lisa Jo Rudy, August 11, 2021, "Is chewing gum biodegradable? A look at its ingredients," www.treehugger.com

original article can be found here

Looking forward to post-pandemic, summer social events? Make them waste-free.

6/18/2021

1. BYO
Bring Your Own Basket
Ask your neighbors to bring their own plates, silverware, napkins, cups.

2. Avoid Singles
Serve drinks from kegs, pitchers or 2-liter bottles. If using recyclable drink cups, put out markers so guests can write names on cups.

3. Be Aware of Potluck Packaging
Encourage everyone to bring their
potluck items on platters and in bowls they take home and reuse.

Avoid styrofoam containers -which can’t be recycled.

4. Use Waste-Free Decorations
Avoid disposable tablecloths, center pieces, and balloons. Instead, have guests bring cloth tablecloths, real flowers and other creative, reusable decorations.

5. Clearly Label Waste Stations
OK, so you may create some waste. Make it easy for people to recycle by labeling
the trash and recycling bins with big, colorful signs so no one gets confused. Put all
trash and recycling bins right next to each other.

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