I subscribe to an email feed that sends me information from COOL PEOPLE CARE a couple of times a week. I get some interesting ideas here on how we can be better stewards to our community, and earth. It helps you know how to use your resources better and do more with your time and money to benefit people around you.
My most recent email from them was about how much food we throw away. I'm ashamed and embarrassed by this all in one. I want to try and be a better steward of my money and resources to do with food.
Check out this NY times article about how much we throw away. It is disturbing.
I want to do better. We will value our food more to value those who don't have any more.
What do you do to conserve food and resources?
Did you see that Oprah where groups of people in NY go out at night and go through trash cans and collect food that was thrown out? Kind of gross, but very interesting. Really makes you think.
Just last night, I was looking at dumpster diving pictures online & I couldn’t believe the amount of food that grocery stores, restaurants throw away. It really was unbelievable that this food wasn’t donated somewhere. Here’s the link: http://www.freegan.info/PublicImages/
Here’s what I’ve been doing at home to cut back on my family’s food waste. I put all leftover food at eye level in the fridge. From there, I am able to see what we have to eat. I usually toss leftover veggies & meat in an omelette, quesadilla, or salad and I can see what sort of fruit we have leftover.
How we save water: We set timer (at least the girls do anyway, my hubby takes a quick shower) and we have to be finished before the timer goes off. Also we don’t brush with the water on. I will see if I have any leftover drinking water to water the flowers on my front porch before I fill up the watering can (I usually need a sip or two of water in the middle of the night, so I always have water on my nightstand). We also limit our consumption of bottled water. Not avoidable in every circumstance, but we really try to avoid it.
We also purchased a reel lawnmower (old fashioned push mower) after my hubby researched gas powered lawnmowers & the damage they cause to the environment.
What I would like to do, have a compost pile for my garden. As much as we try to reduce our food waste, I could still use the waste we have for a compost pile. I need to learn how to do it for free though. 🙂
OKAY, so sorry for the long response!
Abby
hey Jamie,
I don’t know if food spoiling too quickly is an issue for you guys, but it’s the main reason I usually end up having to throw away food. My mom gave me the most amazing food storage containers (tupperware stuff) a couple weeks ago as a late b-day present, and I’ve never seen anything like them before. They keep food fresh for a LOOOOOOONG time. It’s amazing. I promise I don’t get a kickback from these people and I don’t own stock in the company….I’m just blown away by how well they work (which I don’t even understand). Here’s a couple examples:
–I buy prewashed/precut salad in bags. Normally it goes bad within 2-3 days of opening it (and because I live alone it’s hard to finish a whole bag in 2-3 days). Now I put the salad in a container right after I open it, and I am still eating a bag that I opened almost TWO weeks ago, because it’s still fresh.
–I cut up veggies and fruit to pack for lunches/etc. One of my favorites is celery. Usually celery stays crisp for a couple days at the most, then it gets kind of gross. I washed and cut a bag of celery and put it in a container—it was still crisp 5 days later when I finished it (for all I know it would have stayed crisp even longer)
–I use sliced red onions on sandwiches. I used to use about 1/4 of the onion over the course of a week or so, then it would be bad and I’d have to throw it away. I’m currently still working on an onion that I first cut into 2 weeks ago, and it’s still good.
–and so on and so on. You get the picture. They also work well for regular leftovers too.
They’re a little more expensive then normal food storage containers, but I think they’re worth it—they’ll save me a ton of money in the long run. It’s usually about $50 for a set of 12. They’re made by The Sharper Image. They’re called “FresherLonger Miracle Food Storage.” It’s probably the best gift I’ve been given in my adult life!!! Here’s a link:
http://www.aaa-sale.biz/p1joined50808/save_money_56574.html
I guess The Sharper Image is going out of business…so I’m not sure how much longer they’ll be available. I read a Consumer Reports review that a line of containers called “Lock and Lock” are similar to the ones from SI. Here’s a link to those:
http://www.amazon.com/Lock-Storage-Rectangular-Piece-Set/dp/B00068UA88/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1212860814&sr=8-2
Thanks for mentioning us. Glad we could bring some important attention to this issue. Thanks for being COOL!
We have been trying to be better about this, too. I have just started packing lunches in Bento boxes, and that has been a huge help. They have small compartments and then a large lid, so I can stick any unused food back in the fridge and offer it to the kids later. It also saves me from using disposables like ziplocs, etc.
I posted some photos of them here: http://mamamanifesto.blogspot.com/2008/04/need-for-speed-mommy.html
But check out this website. This mom really has the Bento thing down and has lots of creative ideas for healthy eating and reducing waste:
http://www.lunchinabox.net.