Tag Archive for waste

The “Clean 15” and “Dirty Dozen”

You may have heard in today’s news that thick-skinned produce, like bananas and avocados–are no healthier organic as they are regularly grown. Pesticides don’t get through their thick skins.  Still, wash them anyway to get rid of residue.

However, the nonprofit group dedicated to promoting and protecting people’s health, the Environmental Working Group, has a publication called Shoppers’ Guide to Pesticides in Produce. In it, they list their “Clean Fifteen.”  Based on 43,000 pesticide tests, these have been shown to be just as safe whether organic or grown the regular way.

  • Broccoli
  • Eggplant
  • Cabbage
  • Banana
  • Kiwi
  • Asparagus
  • Sweet peas (frozen)
  • Mango
  • Pineapple
  • Sweet corn (frozen)
  • Avocado
  • Onion

They also list what they call the “Dirty Dozen,” ones with the most pesticides.

So now you know, when you shop for produce, which ones it pays to spend extra on organic and which “organic” ones are just a waste of money.

 

 

Get it Out of Your Chest

I open my medicine chest and…what a mess!  Dried-out ointments, left-over pills from a surgery I want to forget, aspirin that expired three years ago….  Does your bathroom cabinet look like mine?  Time to clean it out and dispose of the junk, but dispose of it properly.

Medicines or hazardous waste are very harmful if put down a sink, toilet,  storm drain, or even tossed into the garbage.  They get  into our water system and poison us and our wildlife.

To find out what to do with all this stuff, contact your county. They should have a hazardous waste office.

 

Leaf 6

[For more easy, money-saving, earth-friendly tips, download a FREE copy of Green Riches: Help the Earth & Your Budget. Go to www.Smashwords.com/books/view/7000 or your favorite e-book seller and download to your computer or e-book device. Totally free, with no strings attached.]

That’s Garbage!

Use the garbage disposal less often. Between faucets washing scraps down the drain and huge amounts of water used at the sewage treatment plant, 500,000 gallons of water are wasted daily.  Choose and cook foods which produce little waste, be creative with leftovers, and turn what remains into compost  to nourish your plants without a trip to the nursery for plant food.

Leaf 6

[For more easy, money-saving, earth-friendly tips, download a FREE copy of Green Riches: Help the Earth & Your Budget. Go to www.Smashwords.com/books/view/7000 or your favorite e-book seller and download to your computer or e-book device. Totally free, with no strings attached.]

Do You Waste Food in These Ways?

According to the USDA, each year we Americans throw away more than 30% of our groceries, which adds up to about $162 billion worth of food.  Much of that food is tossed out during the holidays, beginning with Thanksgiving.

We simply do it without thinking.

The article “7 Most Shameful Ways You Waste Food During the Holidays–and How to Cut it Out” points out habits all of us fall into and suggests ways to avoid them.

 

Cooking Dinner for the Garbage Can

Tonight, cook dinner and throw away 1/3 before you serve it to your family.  Sounds not only wasteful but downright stupid, doesn’t it?  However, that’s the amount of the food that we grow in our world that goes to waste.  And yet there is famine, hunger, and food insecurity among children while our landfills overflow.

Supermarkets put out only the perfect produce for us to buy.  They know that we won’t pay their prices for misshapen vegetables or fruit that has a slight bruise. Not that we get the chance to buy it, because stores toss it out, even though it tastes the same and is just as nutritious.  After all, it’s all grown the same, in dirt or dangling from buggy trees.

I like the idea of a Canadian company who is packaging its appropriately named  “No Name Naturally Imperfect” produce.  These fruits and veggies can sell to markets cheaper, and markets can sell to us for less.  In fact, Raley’s Nob Hill has announced that they’ll do just that in the near future.

I’ll be in line to buy it.  I like saving money, getting a bargain, and eating apples that aren’t perfectly rounded or a shiny uniform color.  Who knows?  I might even learn to eat healthy.

 

 

 

Not Just the Water in the Glass

I live in California, where we have a drought. Yet I get water automatically delivered to my table at restaurants.  Which brings me to this week’s Sensible Saturday hint.

Even if you aren’t living in drought conditions, you know that water–especially clean drinking water–is too precious to waste.  If water just shows up at your table, suggest to the restaurant manager that patrons be asked first if they want it so that water is not wasted. Remind him that it isn’t just the un-drunk water in the glass, but the water it takes to clean and sanitize that glass.  You can also make this suggestion on those comment cards or spaces for comments on your bill.

Leaf 6

[For more easy, money-saving, Eco-friendly tips, download a FREE copy of Green Riches: Help the Earth & Your Budget. Go to www.Smashwords.com/books/ view/7000, choose a format, and download to your computer or e-book device. Or download a free copy from your favorite e-tailer.]

Save the World with a Clean Refrigerator

I thought Clean Out Your Refrigerator Day (today) was funny, until I opened my fridge.  What I saw reminded me that 1/3–½ of the food produced in the world goes to waste while starvation and food insecurity are widespread. We use a huge amount of water and polluting energy to make food that just ends up in the landfill. So I’ve turned over a new lettuce leaf.  I’ll buy only what I need, buy locally grown produce whenever possible, and try growing some myself.  I’ll be creative with leftovers and aging foods, eating them before they’re wasted (my freezer helps here).  Maybe I’ll organize a potluck with friends so we can share.   If I have too much fresh produce or non-perishable items, I’ll donate them to the local food bank.  I know I’m not perfect and will have to dispose of some spoiled food.  But it won’t be much, and I’ll compost it rather than tossing it into the garbage can or wasting water by using the disposal. The money I’ll save will go to organizations fighting hunger.  It seems like the least I can do.

New Rock Accidentally Made by Man

On the shores of Hawaii, scientists found a brand new rock-type, one that man has made.  It’s multi-colored, has a variety of textures, is eroded into a round shape, and is usually 2” to 8” in size.  Break down its name—plastiglomerate—and you’ll guess at what it’s made of.  Yes, it’s partly plastic.  It forms when our garbage plastic melts, then hardens inside the pores of a rock.

How does our discarded plastic get melted?  Because the area where the hybrid rock was discovered is remote, campers keep fires going for cooking and heat for the period in which they camp there.  Often they think they’re doing a good thing by burning their garbage, much of which contains plastic. The melted plastic seeps into the ground and into rocks.

Makes me wonder how else we’re changing Nature.

 

Plastiglomerate

Some Left Over Advice

What to do with all those left-overs?  Eat ’em for lunch or side-dishes. Trade with a neighbor for a different flavor. Feed them (in moderation) to your dog. Plan better so you don’t have them. If you have a little even after careful planning, compost them in your yard.

Americans must cut down on the food we simply throw away.  In the U.S., 25% of all food that is produced goes to waste—enough to fill 12% of the landfills.

Leaf 6

[For more easy, money-saving, Eco-friendly tips, download a FREE copy of Green Riches: Help the Earth & Your Budget. Go to www.Smashwords.com/books/ view/7000, choose a format, and download to your computer or e-book device. Or download a free copy from your favorite e-tailer.]

 

 

Earth-Friendly Tip: Wasted Food

Cut down on the food you waste.  In the U.S., 25% of all food that is produced goes to waste—enough to fill 12% of the landfills. Use leftovers by themselves as part of a meal (Smorgasbord night?). What’s left can be put into your compost pile to feed your plants. 

Leaf 6

[For more easy, money-saving, Eco-friendly tips, download a FREE copy of Green Riches: Help the Earth & Your Budget. Go to www.Smashwords.com/books/ view/7000, choose a format, and download to your computer or e-book device. Or download a free copy from your favorite e-tailer.]