Weekend Waste War II -- Kitchen Scraps

Happy Friday of Labor Day weekend, fellow laborers.

I’m sick and tired of not keeping up with composting. We have vermicompost outside in the backyard we share with our downstairs neighbors, but the trick is keeping a compost container accessible and convenient in the kitchen, which we fill and then every week or so take downstairs to the worms. (Here's a great local link about how to compost with worms)

This weekend, I’ll be tackling food waste at home (remember, food waste is the theme for THIS UPCOMING ZERO-WASTE WEEK!). My goal is to improve the efficiency of our composting system to fully eliminate our kitchen’s contribution the city’s trash. I’d also like to learn how to better store our goodies; I’d be afraid to know how many spoiled edibles we end up throwing out over time… or all the wasted funds they represent.

I’d also like to get my whole house on board with avoiding the use of trash bags. If you really think about it, virtually all wet waste you create in the kitchen can be composted! Lend me your ideas for reducing kitchen rubbish!

Here’s to bigger compost bins, smaller trash cans, fatter wallets, fuller bellies, and a happy Mama Earth. (Phew, is that too much to for one toast?)

Cheers!

Lessons from Costa Rica -- Redefining Natural Gas

Welcome to the first installment of a new mini-series, Lessons from Costa Rica. Alvaro and I and a dozen others studied abroad in this incredible country in 2011 and learned more than we ever could have imagined in a mere two-and-a-half weeks. We stayed at numerous eco-lodges and with families, immersing ourselves in a whole new perspective on sustainability. [See first post about the Costa Rica trip here].

At La Finca Educativa de Don Juan in La Fortuna, this commitment permeated every single activity on the land, from the most minute to the largest actions, leading to truly holistic responsible land stewardship. For one, they were able to provide 100% of the kitchen's cooking gas... without having to pay a natural gas company hundreds of dollars to fetch it from thousands of feet underground! What was the source, then, you ask? Two cows. Yes, you herd me correctly (couldn't resist).

Basic diagram of a biodigester

The cows are fed each meal at a specific trough...

...those meals leave the other end, landing on a special platform...

...where they then find their way into the biodigester 'bubble': where the gas / slurry is collected and released methane is captured. It is then sent to the kitchen via the green pipe.

For your viewing displeasure...




Surfing trash in Indonesia


 Read article here.

Weekend Waste War I -- Results

The beautiful Lakeside Market

 Alvaro and I split our shopping between the Lakeside Farmers' Market and Whole Foods. We were virgins to both locations. We went to the market first to get what we could from local, responsible farmers, and what we couldn't find there, we'd get at Whole Foods. Their bulk section blew my mind! Build you own trail mix? Bulk honey and agave nectar? I was too
impressed. Does anyone else remember their *first time* to bulk heaven?

Farmers' Market bounty

Here's the waste count for both trips:

Total Waste (Lakeside):
- 2 berry basket 'nets'
- 1 plastic produce bag: one farmer tucked our zucchini and squash into one when we weren't looking, after we'd already asked for none. Oh well, old habits die hard I guess. We give these bags as many lives as we can, but I count 'em as waste since they'll eventually find their way to a landfill =(
-Beef bratwurst packaging
(On our next visit, we'll return the berry and potato baskets for future use.)

Whole Foods bounty

Total Waste (Whole Foods):
-3 plastic bulk bags
-3 twisty ties
-1 metal tie from the coffee bag
-2 small plastic ramekins from samples =/
-4 stickers on which items and PLUs were written
-1 wine cork

    We definitely need to take more jars next time. We had no idea, either, that you're supposed to take your own containers to Customer Service to get them tared prior to shopping... oops. We did that on our own at the bulk scale and really confused the cashier.

Bulk coffee bag from Whole Foods

Room for improvement:
-We'll refuse the berry basket nets that are meant to keep the berries from spilling. We tried in vain to think of any other uses for them. Ideas?
-Take more jars!
-Make bags for produce out of old clothes or pillow cases
-Don't use stickers, just write with... washable marker? Grease pencil? What's best?
-How to avoid trash from sampling:
       -Turn them down next time (unthinkable)
       -Have the sample person drop the goodies right into our hands (too messy)
       -Bring our own little cups (BINGO)

MIND MUNCHIES:

How do you think we could have done better?

What garbage do you create by grocery shopping that you hadn't really thought about before?

Random: Why do our palms get sweaty when we're up high? That doesn't seem like a good survival adaptation. When grabbing onto something is a life or death situation, that's when I need my hands to be drier than the Sahara.

Weekend Waste War I -- Grocery shopping

I'm waging this weekend's war on grocery shopping waste.

Every weekend, I will choose an area of my life or specific activity in which I feel I create unnecessary waste. Then, I'll tackle that challenge like London Fletcher and report the outcomes here.

The battle doesn't stop on Monday, though-- the real challenge is to perpetuate these efforts throughout the coming weeks and months, gradually turning them into life-long habits! Wish me luck; this one may be tough.

Richmond: Where do you do the bulk of your bulk shopping?

Lit Lit series is here

Introducing bi-weekly posts of literature on fire!

These excerpts and artful works ignite my soul & remind me why I do what I do. I'll also sneak in some media sometimes, such as inspiring videos, visual art, and presentations.

Today's radiance was written by Kahlil Gibran:

"All things in this creation exist within you, and all things in you exist in creation; there is no border between you and the closest things, and there is no distance between you and the farthest things, and all things, from the lowest to the loftiest, from the smallest to the greatest, are within you as equal things. In one atom are found all the elements of the earth; in one motion of the mind are found the motions of all the laws of existence; in one drop of water are found the secrets of all the endless oceans; in one aspect of you are found all the aspects of existence."

I wanna know: what artists light you up?

HoOrAh! ZERO-WASTE WEEK is near! Sept 2-8, 2013

The UK's 6th annual Zero-Waste Week will be focusing on food waste. Visit the website to learn more, participate, and network with other like-minded, big-hearted, trash-free, small-(carbon)footed folk! The event's partnered with the Rubbish Diet. Participation in Zero-Waste Week has grown every year, but so far, it's still organized nationally. Let's help bridge the gaps and let their efforts spread internationally!

Here at Talk Trashy to Me, I'll be keeping with the food theme and posting each day about how I reduce kitchen waste. I'll also be touching on how to effectively (and odorlessly) compost in a small space.

MIND MUNCHIES:
What part of your life do you think creates the most waste?
What kind of waste have you discovered is the most challenging to eliminate?
How do you reduce waste caused by your eating habits?

Do share...

Camping in Venezia -- Pt. II

The campground was filled with tiny cabins, pre-assembled tents with cots (Alvaro's and my accommodations), and areas for your own tents and RVs. There was a huge group of Uruguayan students, in Venice to study architecture. There was one traveling class made up of Indian, Austrian, German, and Turkish students (all of whom spoke English together but also seemed to know three other languages). I'll never forget how that made my world feel so limited, only knowing one language. How arrogant of me and my country's narrow education system. You could be telling me that my undies are showing, or that I have a booger the size of a euro hanging out of my nostril, and I'd still stand here with a goofy, oblivious smile on my face, wouldn't I?

Venice itself was more beautiful than any cheesy brochure had ever lead on. Wave after wave of tourists choked out the main thoroughfares as if shopping was the only thing they could think of to do, so it was very easy to stray from the wider roads and get happily lost. Tourism in Venice is a fragile, often self-destructing entity. The line every traveler must walk between "helpful" and "harmful" is especially fine in Venice. The city is overwhelmed with disposing of the constant influx of trash, so if you bring/create any on the islands, be sure to leave with it, too, and dispose of it appropriately somewhere on the mainland.

Fruits and nuts

"Your soft joy...": Reflections of Venetian Water... there were potable water spigots everywhere, just above not-so-potable canals

No, we didn't ride a gondola. 100+ Euros. Watching the gondoliers expertly maneuver these things was satisfying enough.

Contrary to popular belief, the fluctuating tides of Venice assuredly won't be the main players in its demise; Venetians have had centuries to adapt to them. 21st century tourism, on the other hand, just might be key. More people in developing countries have more money than ever before, and they're taking it to places like Venice. It's just not always flowing through the right channels. What threatens Venice more urgently, rising sea levels, or the rising affluence of an increasing world population? How do you know where to spend your foreign money, so that it helps the local economy? Give me your thoughts.

Camping in Venezia

Note to self: Next time, try to break up train ride from Paris to Venice. Don't marathon it. ever. again.

Here's a riddle for ya: How many vagabonds does it take to find a Venetian campground?

Answer: Apparently, six. With five different nationalities.

"Camping in Venice" sounds a little oxymoronic, but staying in a little tent in Camping Rialto on the mainland of the city wound up being one of the best parts of the trip. After spilling out into the street by the train station, Alvaro and I asked multiple Italians (in Spanish; I learned they are basically the same language!) if they had heard of the campground. After four or five "No"s, we finally got a "Si." Our next inquiry, its location, was slightly more difficult. We were told, all in all, to take at least three different bus routes... and of course, the bus schedule, like the rest of everything we experienced in Italy, was more a rough possibility than a reliable rule.
 
After waiting too long with too many pounds on our backs, we thanked someone who'd been quite helpful and informed him that we were just going to hoof it. The response: "Rialto is like ten kilometers away, friends! There's no way you can walk there (insert dramatic hand gestures here)!" Let me tell you something. Walking is free, sexy, and better for the environment. If you have functioning legs and a good heart, never let anyone tell you can't walk somewhere (unless of course the route in question would take you into highly violent gang territory. Then please, please don't walk there.).

One block later, we caught up with fellow backpackers, Jeanne and Leo (a French/Columbian couple). They had also grown weary of Italian bus nonsense and decided to trek. Their destination? Also the infamous Camping Rialto! After continuing for 30 more minutes and getting turned around once or twice, we encountered (insert hard-to-prounounce-and-even-harder-to-spell Polish names here). After about three hours of hiking (or dragging, rather, and asking directions at the wrong campground), we stumbled, exhausted, into the right one.