Alternative Food Storage (Overview)

 

Being a household of just two (plus dog), we usually have lots of leftovers. Not just of cooked food, but mostly parts of fresh/raw ingredients. For example, only half of a tomato, a block of cheese, half of the ground beef, etc. We were using zip-lock bags LIKE CRAZY! And not reusing them. Once that tomato was used it, out went the bag, then the next tomato we cut into got a new bag!

Small Accomplishments #2

 

Today I made two changes in the house to help remind me to recycle some things I had previously not been doing. 

Keurigs and K-Cups

This post is about Keurigs, but the information may not be accurate for the Keurig 2.0 as they changed a lot of things. The k-cups are shaped differently and supposedly you can't use a reusable coffee filter on them anymore. Some if it will probably be relevant to other single-cup brewing systems but I personally only have experience with the Keurig.

I would like to remind my friends and family that I'm writing this blog and putting these ideas out there for anyone who is looking for ideas to reduce waste. I know plenty of people with Keurig's and I'm not going to yell at you or be upset if I go to your house and you throw out your k-cups. For me, recycling the k-cups works with my personal lifestyle, but maybe at this time doesn't for you.

If you go through tons of k-cups every day, perhaps you are wondering how you can cut back on the waste? First of all, if you compost food, you can open up your k-cups and put the coffee grounds in (I personally don't compost though). Here are three possible options I've thought of for reducing your k-cup waste:
1. Don't use k-cups with your Keurig
2. Recycle your k-cups
3. Buy more eco-conscious brands

Recycling Plastic Bags and Films

Plastic bags and plastic films are usually made of #2 HDPE (e.g. shopping bags) and #4 LDPE (e.g. bread bags). Almost all curb-side recycling programs will not except plastic bags and films even if they accept other #2 and #4 plastics. I'm pretty sure it's because of how thin they are, they do not separate from the rest of the recycling easily and get caught up in their machines.

If you want to collect these plastics and take them to a drop-off location, you have many options!

Recycle Numbers on Plastics

 

Super short post! This Earth911 article describes really well what each plastic number is. It's great to read through it and become familiar with them all.

http://www.earth911.com/eco-tech/the-ultimate-plastic-breakdown/

Just because a plastic item has the recycle symbol with a number inside that does not necessarily mean you can recycle it.

For example, #2 and #4 are often used for plastic bags, and are usually NOT curb-side recyclable. Even if your township accepts those numbers in general, often they have plastic bags as exceptions. Fortunately many grocery stores have drop-off locations for these plastics.

Similarly, Styrofoam is plastic #6 and even though my township accepts most #6, Styrofoam is an exception.

The next post will talk more about these plastics that are hard to recycle.


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What Not to Recycle

Just like knowing what to recycle is important, so is knowing what not to recycle. You may think: "Throw everything in the recycling! They will sort it out and tons of stuff will end up getting recycled!" Well sorry, you're wrong. Townships have rules on what you should and should not recycle for a reason. The wrong items can contaminate large batches of otherwise recyclable materials, or they can cause issues with their machines and make a huge mess in the sorting facility.

My township (Cheltenham Township, PA) has a document you can download (and print out for reference) that they call The Dirty Dozen. It goes through twelve types of things you should never put in the recycling bin, and why! All townships are different, but I'm betting that your area has some very similar rules. Click below to check out the list:

Click Here for the List

Small Accomplishments #1

 

These types of posts will be short and sweet and less "educational/lecturing." I'm just going to tell you something small I chose to do (or not do) today (or recently) that made me feel good. I encourage everyone reading this to comment on something they did that makes them feel good!! No act is too small. It could even be something like "I have the select-a-size paper towels and I only used the smaller piece instead of an unnecessary huge piece."

Today I helped Kier pack his lunch. We used a reusable zip-lock bag for his sandwich and packed a cloth napkin. For breakfast we went to a local coffee shop and we both brought thermoses which they gladly let us use for our coffee and tea.

SPREAD THE EARTH LOVE! Bragging time! Please comment about what you did that makes you feel good!


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Water Bottles

It's always a good idea to stay hydrated, and an even better idea to do it with a reusable water bottle! Not everyone needs a reusable water bottle. Don't go buy one if you wont actually use it. Look at your lifestyle. Do you normally buy a lot of plastic water bottles that could be prevented with a reusable one? If you are out and about, I'm sure many food places will give you free water to fill up your water bottle if you ask, or have water fountains accessible.

Side note: my new favorite part about the Philadelphia Airport is that all their water fountains now have bottle filling stations! So much easier than awkwardly trying to fill up from a normal water fountain. Go through security with an empty water bottle and never buy over priced airport water again. :)

I prefer to only put water in my bottle to prevent tastes building up, but if you don't have a problem with it (or maybe have two bottles, one just for water) then you can always ask places with soda fountains if you can use your own bottle instead of their plastic cups. Some places might say no because they can't keep track if you actually paid (so even if they do say yes, hold onto your receipt while you are there!) but many places will probably let you. I know Panera Bread lets me use my travel mug for coffee (but travel mugs will be a different post). It never hurts to ask! Just be sure you know how many fluid ounces your bottle holds so you can pay for the appropriate amount.

Shopping Bags

Reusable shopping bags. You see them for sale in almost every store. So why do I look around and see hardly anyone using them? I'm guessing it's because the dinky plastic bags they provide are free, so why waste money on buying bags you will never remember to use? That's what I thought. But seriously, I think it's worth it. If you are happy with the options that you see in the stores, then go ahead and buy a handful of those, but remember you can always shop around on the internet for different styles and prices. Pick one of your bags to hold all of your other ones, then remember to put them in the back of your car as soon as you are done unloading them. If you make this a habit, you are less likely to be stuck at the store, realizing you forgot the bags at home.

Less Paper, More Cloth

 

You can seriously reduce the amount of paper products you use by purchasing cloth alternatives that can be washed instead of thrown away. This is not only better for the environment, but it will save you money in the long run!

Here are some examples of what you can change:

It's Easy to Start

 Hello!

I am starting this blog with the idea that I can pass on ways for the everyday person to become one step closer to being Eco-friendly. I never took any environmental study classes in college, and I'm definitely not an expert on this in any way, shape, or form. So why me? Perhaps for those very same reasons. I to explain to other similar "everyday" people how easy the steps can be without drastically changing your lifestyle, becoming a "hippie" or spending tons of money (to be clear, I totally have nothing against being a hippie :P) .