Save money and reduce emissions with every bite!

Food is glorious – let’s not waste it!

Food, glorious food!  Most of us are lucky to live in a part of the world where three square meals a day are the norm – so we probably don’t appreciate food quite as much as the cast of the Broadway musical “Oliver”.  As a result, we often take it for granted – and we sure waste a lot: by some estimates, up to one third!

That’s bad for our wallet, especially at a time when grocery prices are up.  But it’s also bad for the environment.  Our food has a significant carbon footprint: from production to transportation to processing to refrigeration; from deforestation to nitrogen fertilizer to methane. 

We all have to eat – but most of us could greatly reduce the carbon footprint of our diets by simply wasting less.  Here are a few tips:

• Develop the habit (and, in your household, the culture) of not leaving anything on your plate.  (Growing up, our sons often heard the expression “clean your plate like Oma” – a reference to my Mom, who learned the importance of not wasting food while growing up in Holland during WW2.)
• Develop the habit of saving all leftovers for yummy lunches and snacks later.
• To reduce spoilage losses, reserve a section in your fridge for things that need to be used up first, and plan meals that incorporate them.  (In a pinch, soup is a great solution!)
• Really important: remember that ‘best before’ dates are only indicators; most food is perfectly fine to consume long past its best before date.  (Trust me on this – I’m living proof it’s true!)
• Avoid the temptation to buy an ingredient that will only be used for one recipe; or else plan to use all of it right away.
• Buy perishables in large quantities only if you know for sure you’ll use everything up before it spoils (else it’s false economy).  Buy staples in bulk to save money and reduce packaging.
• Consider buying food from the ‘imperfect’ bin if available: it may not be as pretty, but it has the same nutritional value for a lower price, and might otherwise be thrown out.
• Store all food properly to maximize shelf life.
• Avoid delivered food boxes.  Their claims of ‘fresh, quality ingredients’ conveniently ignore the reality that you can get those very same ingredients for far less at your local grocery store, usually with a smaller trash and transportation footprint.
• Avoid restaurant meal delivery services like DoorDash and Skip The Dishes.  Aside from the cost, they generally have a significant trash footprint and a large carbon footprint, mainly because of that custom delivery.

Reducing food waste is a relatively easy way to cut down on emissions – and you can save money in the process!  Find even more tips here, and good luck on your journey!

Lower your grocery bills and carbon footprint

Make this the year you break ground – on your own vegetable garden!

It’s no secret that higher food prices are straining many budgets.  And food can be a significant portion of a family’s carbon budget too (especially for diets heavy in animal products).

So here’s a simple strategy to help address both of those problems: why not grow your own vegetable garden?  It doesn’t have to be large; you don’t need to spend a fortune on garden equipment; you don’t need previous experience; and you don’t even need a lot of space.  Homegrown veggies are cheap and local; you can trust that they’re free of chemicals and contaminants because you’ve grown them yourself; they give you a measure of food security; and they can be fun to watch growing!

Ready to try it?  Here are a few tips:

• If it’s your first time, start small.  Dig up a little corner of your yard, or get some window or patio boxes, or build a raised bed, or get a large pot you can place on your balcony.  Don’t overlook the potential of small spaces!  Or if your ambitions are larger than your available space, look into getting a plot at a local community garden.  You can get topsoil, potting soil or organic matter from your local garden center.
• Choose veggies that appeal to you and fit your growing situation and tastes.  The following are usually quite easy to grow: lettuce; spinach; radish; beets; onions; carrots; cucumbers; and bush beans.  (I’m also partial to potatoes – pretty easy to grow as long as you can avoid beetles and blight!)  Some good guidance on planting depth, seed spacing and thinning here.
• Have some fun with the younger helpers in your crew by trying unusual crops like green cauliflower, purple carrots or – if space allows – Atlantic Giant pumpkins.
• Keep soil moist by regular watering.  Most plants don’t do well in soggy conditions, so be careful not to overwater – especially important for plants in containers that don’t have drain holes.
• Be prepared to add a little fertilizer or organic matter from time to time, especially if your plants start to look a bit pale or tired

Enjoy the mind-clearing benefits of tending to your plants and watching them grow; and then the fruits of your labour: fresh, cheap, local and low-carbon-footprint!

Happy gardening!

Convenient, but with a huge environmental footprint

The downside of home delivered meal kits

Perhaps you’ve noticed a recent trend in food marketing: home-delivered meal kits. 

The concept is simple: you go to a website, browse a menu, pick a gourmet meal for your family, order and voila: a box shows up at your door days later with all the ingredients you need to prepare that meal: the main course, veggies, sauces, spices and more.  All you need to do is open the box and follow the preparation instructions.  What could be simpler for today’s busy consumer?  No wonder home-delivered meal kits are now offered by dozens of companies via the internet.

But before you sign up, consider:

• Meal kits come with a lot of packaging, so they generate a lot of waste.  They’re usually shipped in insulated boxes (which may not be recyclable), often with ice packs to keep things cold in transit.  (True, you can reuse ice packs, but how many of them do you really need in your freezer?)  Ingredients inside the box are usually further packaged as well.
• Many meal kits originate quite far away, so they have a significant transportation footprint (a big part of it being that delivery van that drops it off at your door)
• If a meal kit you choose is coming from afar, you can be pretty certain there’s nothing local inside it, so there’s no benefit to your local economy
• Meal kits aren’t cheap.  Do the math, and you’ll likely find you can get the very same ingredients locally for a fraction of the cost

So instead of succumbing to the allure and expense of a meal-in-a-box, why not just shop your local farmers market, co-op or food store – for lightly-packaged local food with a small transportation footprint?  Even better: in season, subscribe to a weekly box from a local farmer or community supported agriculture group!

Footnote: until a vaccine brings pandemic relief, people feeling vulnerable due to age, health or other circumstance warrant an exemption.  Let’s hope we can all get back to our usual shopping and eating routines soon!)

Gulp – only five more sleeps ‘til Christmas!

Last-minute tips for a low-stress, greener Christmas

Still scrambling for gifts?  Me too, in spite of my annual promise to self that it won’t happen again.

Here are a few ideas to help you cross those last names off your list – and tread more lightly on the planet in the process!

• For the foodie, a share in a local community supported agriculture operation that will provide a weekly box of fresh, local food
• Coupons for hair care, gym membership, home cleaning, snow removal, massages, theatre or dinner at a local restaurant
• Homemade items like knitted goods, baking, preserves, soap and crafts

And:

• Shop secondhand stores for nearly-new clothing, books, music, electronics, furniture and more at a fraction of their original prices
• Make commemorative donations to organizations that share your values: a homeless shelter, food bank, nature trust or animal shelter
• Purchase carbon offsets for your friends. Learn more at tinyurl.com/COffsetInfo.

Even more ideas here.  So don’t stress out, and Happy Green Holidays!

Tips for eco-friendly travel

Be light on the planet this vacation

Want the best vacation with the least impact on the planet?  Here are five tips:

If flying:

• Travel as lightly as you can; every ounce that doesn’t travel with you saves fuel (and notice how baggage charges are starting to reflect that reality?)
• Consider offsetting your air travel with carbon offsets; not perfect, but the best in the here-and-now

And whether you’re flying or not:

• Walk, bike, paddle or use public transit as much as possible at your destination
• If possible, choose a hotel that has a sustainability certification like Green Key, Green Seal or Green Globe (there are others too)
• Choose local food and bevies (often much better tasting too!)

Thanks to Bullfrog Power for these tips; read more here.

A truly green thumb!

Use compostable or biodegradable pots for your spring plantings

If you’re like me, the longer days and warmer sun have you digging out seeds and potting soil.  When starting plants indoors, why not consider using compostable or biodegradable pots instead of plastic ones?  Here are a few options:

• Peat pots: very common commercially
• Cardboard: egg cartons work really well; so do empty paper towel or toilet paper rolls trimmed to size (picture here).
• Newspaper: ever tried origami? With a bit of folding, you can easily make your own pots; here’s a nice video showing how.  (It’s a good idea to avoid coated or heavily coloured paper.)

Another advantage over plastic: no need to remove them or risk damaging roots when transplanting, because they’re completely biodegradable!

More and more commercial nurseries are moving away from plastic pots; so why not you and me too?

Celebrate St. Paddy’s Day – locally!

If you’re going to have green beer, why not make it local green beer?

If your community is like mine, you’re seeing an abundance of new microbreweries producing a full spectrum of traditional and not-so-traditional types of beverages. It’s an exciting time for anyone who enjoys sampling new takes on old favourites.

Here are two more reasons to enjoy local beverages: they employ people in your own community; and they have a small transportation footprint because the distance between points of production and consumption is short.

St. Patrick’s Day – one of the best excuses for celebrating life, whether or not you’re Irish – is this Friday.  So, if you’re planning to raise your glass with friends, why not make sure what’s inside it is not only refreshing, but local too?

A play structure that’s full of beans!

For fun and food, build a bean tepee

Everyone – kid and former kid – loves a secret place!  So why not build a bean tepee in your backyard?

It’s simple: all you need are a few poles and some string to build a frame – easy instructions here. (Igloos and other creative designs are possible too, depending on how elaborate a frame you’d like to build.)

Then plant some pole bean or pea seeds at the base of each pole and water.  Watch as your plants grow, wind their way up the poles and close in the walls.

 

Presto: a fun play place for anyone, with the bonus of delicious fresh veggies!

Thanks to Don Ross for this Green Idea!

An easy way to start your spring seedlings!

Egg cartons, a great option for spring gardening

If you use eggs, you’ll be familiar with egg cartons. Most are made of recycled paper and molded pulp, and can be recycled with conventional paper as long as they’re clean. But here’s an alternate use: cardboard egg cartons are perfect for starting spring seeds or growing a window garden.

The process is simple: just rip the lid off (and recycle it); fill the 12 ‘cells’ with potting soil; drop in your seeds; cover them up; water and wait. You may need to water a bit extra at the start until the soil and cardboard are well soaked, and you’ll want to put a tray underneath to catch water that seeps through.

Cardboard egg cartons biodegrade, so when the time comes to transplant your seedlings into a garden, you can just separate the cells of the carton and plant them directly into the soil. In fact, they’ll likely be on the verge of falling apart anyway, and some roots may have already grown through – a bonus!

Spring has sprung – it’s time to use those cardboard egg cartons to get a head start on gardening! (Here’s a simple three-minute how-to video.)

(Note: foam cartons can work as planters too, but they are not biodegradable so seedlings would have to be removed from them when transplanted. Unfortunately, not many recycling programs accept foam, so it’s best to avoid it in the first place.)

Better food = better you and better planet

‘Food rich, nutrition poor’

That’s the expression a friend used when the subject of typical Canadian diets came up in a conversation over the holidays: “We are food rich but nutrient poor.”

Sadly, it’s not untrue. Many of us have fallen into lifestyles that are so busy that we’ve grown to rely on highly processed, heavily packaged foods – strong on convenience, but often weak on nutrition. And they typically come with a string of ingredients that we can’t pronounce: preservatives, artificial flavours, sweeteners and more. Bad for us.

Plus – all that processing and packaging means lots of embedded energy (think fryers, freezers and microwaves), and lots of trash. Bad for the planet.

So if New Year’s is a time for resolutions, why not aim to make ourselves food rich AND nutrient rich this year? More basic ingredients, more local food, more flavour, better health!

Need ideas? Think soup (great for using up leftovers too!); check out these 11 foods that are good for you and the planet; and read more on the impacts of our food choices on the planet here.