Taking Action: How cooking together saves
It is possible, to make “almost trash” into dinner. I put my plan into action by first gathering a few other people. I could call this event, not yet trash dinners… but I thought waste less dinner would be more appealing. I started if off by contributing a beef roast, one that has honestly been sitting in the freezer for about 4 months. One of my friends brought her potatoes and carrots as well as soup to put into the slow cooker. The only thing we had to buy for the slow cooker was the broth and spices. Our Waste Less Dinner party was accompanied by three of my friends. The two others brought the salad, dressing, and juice. (All items of which were almost taken to the trash, by the wrath of freezer burn). Apparently their fridge is really cold? With these items we made salad, and obviously had juice for drinks.
Our Waste Less Dinner allowed us to save the food we might have thrown into the trash, but it also allowed us to gather for a meal. This meal also raised awareness to the fact that you don’t have to spend a lot on a big dinner, and that you can actually save money. During this meal we also thought on to how we could use food that was waste, effectively. One idea thrown out there was a compost pile.
Although we are not home owners, and rent… here is some information for others on how to create a compost pile. http://www.dep.state.pa.us/dep/deputate/airwaste/wm/recycle/facts/compos...
Just a quick fact about what happens when food is left in the landfills,
“When food is disposed in a landfill it quickly rots and becomes a significant source of methane — a potent greenhouse gas with 21 times the global warming potential of carbon dioxide. Landfills are a major source of human-related methane in the United States, accounting for more than 20 percent of all methane emission”. http://www.epa.gov/osw/conserve/materials/organics/food/fd-basic.htm
Another idea for next week is to reuse your leftovers from dinner. Eat them for lunch the next day, and again, don’t let them go to waste.
It’s great to see that this
It’s great to see that this approach to wasting less also saves money and creates a fun occasion.
Good idea about composting – of course, your method is even better because eating the food or not buying too much in the first place are higher uses of the resources and energy that go into producing the food.
Another tip is to replace broth with the water left from steaming or boiling vegetables – I add extra veggie cooking water to a container in the freezer and take it out whenever broth or stock is needed. They say there are lots of vitamins in the cooking water, and this avoids packaging too.
The freezer is a great tool for keeping leftovers until they feel new again, and for storing the “almost waste” food until you have time to use it – frozen brown bananas are perfect for smoothies!
I can’t wait to read about the next dinners!
Chris Beimborn, Waste Less Wisconsin