How To Stop Feeding The Landfill

Earlier this week, we talked about the problems of food waste and how it affects the environment and our budget. Food waste has greatly increased over the past several decades; I feel it is time to begin to shrink our food waste.  In this post we will talk about different ways of how we can reduce our waste, save us money and make a difference in the environment. A few topics we will be covering are: 

 Ø  Containers 

 Ø  Meal Size Moderation 

 Ø  Food Planning 

 Ø  Composting

CONTAINERS!!

Having the right tool for the job is important. If you need to refrigerate something for another day, make sure to put it in an air tight container or wrap it well. Once the food is properly cared for, make sure to mark the date with a piece of tape. Food can lose freshness and taste quite quickly if it is just simply tossed in the fridge; being exposed to air will also allow it to go bad faster as well. Investing in a decent set of Tupperware containers will not only allow you to have a well organized fridge, but it will also save you money by keeping food fresher, longer. One thing that I can’t stand eating is a squished sandwich. 

When I was younger, I remember just throwing out lunch food because it was “soggy”. I broke that habit once I got in high school, but I still hate soggy sandwiches!! Investing in several sandwich containers will keep your lunch in good shape and will cut down on sandwich bag use.

Meals In Moderation

Let me be the first to say, my eyes are bigger than my stomach. Making to large of a meal for the family, or taking too much to eat on your plate, will inevitably lead to food waste. It is much more cost effective to take a little less food and then go for seconds, then it is to pile it on high and simply toss a 1/3 of it away. Only make what you need. A family can eat only so much leftovers, knowing your family limits or freezing a portion of the meal will make everyone happy.

Meal Planning

Planning ahead and shopping accordingly will reduce impulse buying and to reduce "over buying". Finding creative ways to reincarnate leftovers into another dish is a great way to use up what was purchased and add variety to the week. If you plan on making a dish that only takes a half a can of tomato paste on Monday, try and make something that will use the rest up in a day or two. Another advantage of meal planning is that you don’t waste time trying to figure out what’s for dinner. I know I have personally spent a good 20 mins trying to think about what I want to make for dinner, just to end up eating cereal in the end. Regardless of the subject matter, the outcome is always better with a plan.

Unidentified Frozen Objects

Can you recall a time when you open up the fridge/freezer, and pull something that puts you at a loss for words? It has happened to most of us (probably more than once), a good way to fight this unidentifiable food epidemic is to label and date things. It only takes a second to scribble a few words on a sticky note or piece of tape. Another great way of preventing food waste is to have a small inventory list on the side of the fridge/freezer. A food list is a great way to be reminded of what needs to eaten or what does not need to be repurchased. Food can get easily pushed to the back of the fridge, being lost and forgotten about because it is behind a jug of milk. Having a list will limit the ingredients that are thrown out because they were out of sight, out of mind.

COMPOSTING!!

Besides using the food that you purchase accordingly, composting is a great way of limiting our landfill deposits. You can compost most vegetable and fruit waste, but make sure not to compost meat, bones, fish, fats, or dairy. When compost is done properly, it doesn’t smell or attract flies. The simplest way to compost is to have a small container under the sink, next to the trash can, or in the fridge (we use an air tight coffee container), and just empty it every other day. It’s a good idea to not let the scraps sit inside for more than 3 days because it needs to get out in the air to allow nature to do its things. Compost not only reduces or landfill waste, but it also produces a healthy yard and garden.

Having a compost pile for yard and food waste can help keep a yard clean and produce some great soil. I feel that alot of people under estimate the power of compost for nutrient for plants. Once the materials decompose, what is left is a rich soil that is well balanced in organic matter. I could talk all day though about composting though, so I will get into more details in another post.

If you want to learn more about how you can reduce your food waste, or more tips on composting (that is if you can’t wait for when I will cover it again) here are a few site that might feed your appetite for knowledge:

http://chirls.hubpages.com/hub/How-to-cut-your-food-waste-and-your-food-bill-too

http://www.howtocompost.org/

http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-501083_162-7063037.html

Until next time, I wish you all the best of luck on our progress towards a sustainable future.

-Daniel

 "There has never been a statue erected to the memory of someone who let well enough alone."

    Ellinger, Jules

The Boiling Frog Syndrome and Us

Have any of you heard of the financial advisor named Ric Edelman? He is the individual who crafted the idea of “The Boiling Frog Syndrome”, and how the American public has grown tolerant and unresponsive to increases in inflation.  Here is Edelman’s account of the Boiling Frog Syndrome: "If you throw a frog into a pot of boiling water, he’ll jump out. But if you place a frog into a pot of lukewarm water and slowly turn up the heat, it will boil to death.” The concept was mainly crafted to apply toward financial topics, but I feel that it can be applied here just the same.

The average price for gasoline in 2010 was around $2.85, prices do vary though relative to geography. Have you seen, or should I say felt, the prices lately? Over the last few weeks, I have seen gas prices fluctuate between $3.80 and $4.10 a gallon. What would have happened if this price change happened over night? We would have changed our behavior. We immediately would begin to look for ways to become more efficient, drive less, car pool, or maybe even buy a hybrid/electric car. It’s not just the gas prices that have risen, but also most other energy costs, such as electricity, natural gas and other utilities. We are boiling.

How much long will we stay tolerant to these rising prices before we make changes? It is important that we begin to not only take notice of the changes that are around us, but to respond to them. Taking a proactive step in what we use will not only will save us money by lowering our costs, but it will also save our environment.

In the article, “Next Great Depression? MIT study predicting ‘global economic collapse’ by 2030 still on track”, Eric Pfeiffer does a great job at highlighting how we must take a proactive step at decreasing our ecological footprint.  Using less resources, as well as disposing of them responsibly, will save us money and save the environment.  By following the full circle blog, as well as applying the practices that will be discussed here to your daily life, can make a difference in ourselves, our community and our world. Let’s be proactive and jump out of this hot water.

~Daniel