Sustainability at the Table

A great place to start reducing your waste footprint is with food. There are many steps in the lifecycle of buying, preparing, eating, storing and disposing of food. Experiment and find what works for you and your family. Most importantly – don’t let the fear of perfection be the enemy of the good enough for now! To start, pick just one thing to change, make a few adjustments and then pick another!

Meal Planning

We often waste a lot of food by buying it and then not using it before it spoils. You can reduce this kind of waste by meal planning.

• Low Tech Version – Easy printable one sheet page and a pen!
• High Tech Version – Meal planning websites and apps!

At the Grocery Store

Grocery stores of today are probably one of the biggest challenges and greatest opportunities for sustainable living. There are many things you can do to reduce your waste footprint on your trip to the store.

• Reusable grocery bags – Readily available at the grocery stores these days. You can even buy insulated bags to keep your cold and frozen goods.
  • Often we have our bags but forget them at home or in the car. When you unload the groceries, put the bags all back together and hang them on the door so when you leave the house you can put them back in your vehicle.
  • If you forget them in the car – just go back quickly to get them – more steps for the day!
• Reusable produce bags – This is a great option to reduce the consumption of plastic bags.
  • Cotton bags for produce is a great option.
  • Another option is what you can call “free-range produce.” Just don’t use any bag and put them directly into your cart!
• Produce flats- choose produce flats that are made out of cardboard/paper pulp and is easily recyclable or compostable. Currently the Oakwood Recycling Service Provider (Rumpke) does not recycle plastic clamshell containers (ex. Strawberry containers).
• Egg cartons – choose eggs in cardboard/paper pulp cartons – not the foam cartons. Another option is to buy eggs from the farmers market -many farmers will take back your cartons to reuse each week.
• Milk Cartons – Some grocery stores carry milk in glass bottles.
• Buy in bulk – many grocery stores have bulk bins for nuts, dried fruits, rice, grains, and more.
  • Use your reusable cotton produce bags to contain the bulk items.
  • Bring your own containers like glass jars – but you will need to bring an extra empty one so they can reduce the weight of the jar from total weight of the product.
  • Use the paper bags readily available in the bulk bin area. These are compostable.
• Buy “ingredients” and make your meals and pantry items. Instead of prepackaged food – buy individual items and make meals – your dollar will also go further.
  • Buy local when you can – farmers markets and co-ops are a great option:
    • Oakwood Farmers Market
    • 2^nd Street Market
    • Mission of Mary
  • Reduce use of processed food – it usually comes with a lot of packaging.
    • 100 Days of Real Food – this family challenged themselves to eat “real food” for 100 days and hasn’t looked back since.
• Refuse unnecessary bags – The baggers like to wrap glass bottles in a paper bag and then place it in your reusable shopping bags. Try to remain vigilant and tell them you do not want any additional bags.

Preparing and Eating your Meals

Once you bring all your good food home – it’s time to prep it, make meals and eat! Mangia!

• When using a baking sheet – don’t line it with aluminum foil – cook directly on the sheet or reusable high temperature silicone mats.
• When covering a bowl use silicone covers or beeswax paper instead of plastic wrap.
• Use real plates, utensils, and glasses instead of paper or plastic Also use cloth napkins in lieu of paper napkins or paper towels.

Storing Food and Cleaning Up

Choosing sustainable options for storing food is easier than ever. And using your leftovers also helps reduce food waste – win/win!

• Glass containers with “snap” lids are great as many of them can go in the refrigerator or the freezer.
• Mason jars are also a great option – and up to the pint size is also freezable.
• Compost your food waste and other household materials:
  • Create your own compost pile – it’s pretty easy and you reap the benefits for your garden.
  • Hire a composting service – you send out your food waste to them and they do all the hard work.
  • Get friendly with some worms – worms are great at breaking down food waste – and worm casting are great fertilization for your garden.

Food for thought

• Ted Talk on food Waste
• Food you could be making

Resources

• Meal Planning
• Oakwood Farmers Market
• 2^nd Street Market
• Mission of Mary
• Eating Real Food – 100 Days of Real Food
• Composting 101
• Compost Service in Dayton
• Vermicomposting 101

Product Ideas

Green Oakwood Amazon Idea List