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Today’s post is by online food editor Christine Picheca, who also writes our food blog, the Foodie File – check it out!
Remember the three Rs, reduce, reuse, recycle? It seems the recycle aspect of that old adage is the only one we have held on to. Of course, reuse and reduce mean consuming less, and we currently live in a time of consumption. I am old school when it comes to eco matters – I still live by the reuse and reduce rules. I try to purchase quality items that have longevity and that I truly love, I am resourceful and a great re-inventor of items I already have, and I know that a great deal is only a great deal if I actually need and use what I am purchasing.
How does this translate to the world of food?
1. Buy only what you need.
Remember when you mother told you to clear your plate because there are people starving in Africa? Well, that may be overly dramatic but the sentiment is a good one. Stockpiling your cupboards with consumable goods because it’s a better deal if you buy a dozen instead of only three leads to overspending and overeating. Do your wallet, your waistline and the kids in Africa a favour and buy only what you need.
2. Stay away from overpackaged food products.
This is my own personal mission at the grocery store and a place I think the consumer can make a real difference. I make it a point to buy foods that have no packaging or single packaging only. If something comes wrapped in plastic and stuffed in a box I give it a miss. I buy quality products that are clearly visible; you will get a better product and reduce the amount you send to the landfill (you don’t see a head of broccoli in a double-wrapped package, do you?). I also skip the extra bag in the produce isle – your potatoes don’t need to be plastic-wrapped, either.
3. Be frugal with your resources.
My grandmother grew up on a farm during the depression and her household reflected how ingrained that experience was in her life. Nothing in her house was wasted: water was caught in rain barrels at the end of eavestroughs to water the garden; plastic wrap was saved and reused; and if a paper napkin wasn’t too dirty from dinner your napkin, carefully designated as yours, would show up again at breakfast time. It was ingrained in her to be economical with all of her resources since she lived in a time when resources were scarce.
I can’t say I am as extremely frugal but here are a few everyday things I do:
• I pack breakfast and lunch on office days and use the same reusable plastic containers I have had for the past ten years.
• I do not buy single packs of anything; instead, I portion out what I need and package at home in reusable containers.
• I reuse sheets of parchment paper from baking over and over again until they are soiled or unusable.
• I never run a half-empty dishwasher; if I only have a few dishes to wash, I do them by hand – it uses less water and less detergent.
• I use all the food I buy: I use dregs of wine frozen in ice cube trays for sauces, I pile chicken bones in a bag in the freezer and make stock out of them when I have enough, I do the same with mushroom stems and ham bones and fresh herbs.
I say bring back the reuse and reduce along with the recycle for real environmental impact, in and out of the kitchen.
What are the little things you do in the kitchen and grocery store to be more eco-friendly?
Today’s code word: food.
Read more:
• Food and the environment: Make your grocery shopping greener
• How to conserve water in your kitchen
• Top 10 ways to save energy in your kitchen
I think you make a really good point about just how much we can re-use on a daily basis. My roommate and I buy one box of ziploc for the school year and re-use them until they fall apart. We also use any re-sealable containers and plastic bags from grocery items. This saves us from having to buy tupperware and reduces waste.
Comment by Lisa — April 7, 2008 @ 10:38 am
My fave tip is I love reusing glass jars. They clean up really nicely ii in the dishwasher, the label gunk usually comes off entirely, depending on the bottle. This is decor-friendly, too , you can get a really nice collection going particularly if you use many glass jars of the same type. For instance, I buy a particular brand of tomato passata that comes in a nice tall glass jar with a red lid. Get a few of these going to hold your pantry items, and you can even display them they’re so pretty.
My second favourite tip is using vintage Corningware with lids to keep all my leftovers in. You might be familiar with the white-with-blue flowers variety, but if you go back to the retro 60s stuff, it’s really really gorgeous stuff, vivid colours and pretty patterns. Once in a while I’ll scour the vintage/antique sales for them.
Comment by Helen — April 7, 2008 @ 2:31 pm
You know those little paper bags that you can put your mushrooms in at the grocery store? Well, they will also hold bean sprouts, brussels sprouts, small quantities of carrots and potatoes, green beans, peppers, tomatoes and apples and bananas. They also actively discourage buying too much at a time, because they are a lot smaller than the plastic bags that you struggle to open up in the store.Don’t mind the funny looks from the cashier- if he/she asks, just tell them that you are being environmental and reducing plastic. When you have used them for carrying the produce home, and storing it too, then you can re-use them as green waste bags, compost them along with the veggie peelings, or twist them up into “starters” for the fireplace. If they are clean enough, they are also good for ripening unripe fruit.
Paper winebottle bags, for example from the LCBO, are also re-usable in the same ways.
Big paper grocery bags are great for storing paper and card for recycling at the kerb, as parcel paper for mailing, as craft material, as compostable weed blockers, or again, as fodder for compost.
Another way of being frugal, especially in winter, is to seriously consider frozen vegetables over “fresh”. Frozen veggies are usually frozen within a few hours of being picked, and are at least as nutritious as “fresh” that has been stored for three months, sprayed with gases and possibly irradiated to “preserve” the freshness, nad then left out on a store shelf in too-warm conditions for too long. You can find much frozen veg that is Canadian grown- it’s on the packaging. Oh, and those plastic bags? well, they can be re-used for freezing leftovers, made-in advance dishes, and extra produce from the seasons of abundance.
One word in favour of Tupperware- it might be plastic, but it does last for a long, long time. I have some that is thirty years old, and still going strong.Not all Tupperware lasts as long, and once it has been heated or microwaved, it really isn’t healthy, but if you look after it properly, it can be very durable. Most of it is #5 plastic, if you are thinking about its recyclability.
On the subject of habits adopted by grandma, does anyone use a stepped steamer on the stovetop? I have one that is in four parts- a pot, two steamer tops with perforated bottoms and a glass lid. It’s possible to boil potatoes or rice, steam two veggies on top and watch what’s going on at the same time-all on one burner. Good also on a primus stove.
Does anyone have experience of using “haybox” cooking? I don’t, and I want to.
Comment by Caroline — April 7, 2008 @ 4:35 pm
I’m with Helen–I reuse all glasswear and still use Ye Olde Corningware for storage and re-heating. I also store celery in a wide-moutheed pitcher with water, as it keeps better, and can even renew itself sometimes, so you get more celery. Also, I never throw away celery leaves, as they’re great for soups.
Comment by Marysue — April 7, 2008 @ 9:56 pm