Seconds Coming

Americans reportedly waste 40% of our food. The 40 down project
is my personal plan to reduce our household food waste.

There's always those recipes where you know one ingredient is going to sit in the fridge, hidden, until you discover the moldy/rotten/expired package tucked in the back of the crisper. I know, you had every intention of using that. I'm not judging. Let's take those perishable ingredients and use them up in a second round of cooking before they have a chance to go bad (click the links to get the recipes):

Pumpkin bread - pumpkin filling - Pumpkin ravioli
Gourmet grilled cheese - collection of good (expensive) cheeses - Mac & cheese
Citrus salad - basil - Pesto
Crostini - bread - Homemade croutons
Chicken and dumplings - parsley - Chimichurri


This isn't an original thought - here's other ways to use up leftovers:
Thanksgiving feast . Food Network
Roast beef exclusives . Cooks.com
Common ingredients . Whole Living
Rice exclusives . The Guardian
Easter ham . Real Simple
British style . BBC Good Food

40% . The Big Four O

A short while back I read that Americans throw out 40% of their food. Astonishing, right? And then I thought about it a bit more and realized how much we throw out in this household. Granted, the 40%  takes into account more than what you throw out directly from the fridge or pantry, but with food banks being pushed to their limits by demand, I feel ashamed that we throw out as much as we do. Lately I've tried to take measures to personally reduce this and I'm calling this project '40 down'.

• Doling out leftovers
  What we don't eat for dinner is often left for me to eat the next day at lunch...and sometimes the day after. Two lunches and one dinner is the max, if I even do that. Lately I've contacted my mom and sister the night of the meal to see if they want any for their lunch the next day. Recently, I sent lunch to my sister that she thoroughly enjoyed. I received the following e-mail from her:
  
  SUBJECT: Holy crap
  BODY: that was the most amazing lunch i have ever had. What was that!?! Must have the recipe!!
  
  I don't know about you, but my trashcan has never been that grateful to get leftovers.


• Preserving
  The oldest trick in the culinary book and with the modern miracle of refrigeration I don't even have to resort to canning (but would I love to be one of those badass canners.) Sometimes simply getting those ingredients prepped for future use and frozen is all it takes - like freezing cut fruit, herb pastes, or leftover chicken stock. And am I ever smug when I get meals in the freezer for future use.


• Planning
  Our household is horrible -- horrible -- about meal planning. Our meal planning is usually deciding over the phone at 4:55pm which one of us is going to hit up the store and get food for the evening. A long while back Daniel and I had a challenge to see which of us could create a week's worth of meals cheaper (I won, by the way.) By planning the whole week in advance we used ingredients repeatedly until they were used up. Wham, bam - cheaper and less wasteful. We need to work on this again.


• Ugh, eating less?
  Just throwing this out there, but I could always eat less (and plan on eating less.) Less to buy, less to  possibly have go bad.


• Freeganism
  Glad someone is into this.

So, that's the game plan (though I have no plans to dumpster dive just yet.) If you run one of those households that has zero food waste, I'd love to know your secret.

Post Earthweek 2012 . Plastic Fantastic

Even though Earth day was last weekend, I'm bringing more inspiration for reducing, reusing and recycling because every day is Earth day.


No need to merely recycle your plastic soda and shampoo bottles. Turn them into treasure boxes, mailers, planter cloches, mini purses...the options are only limited by your craftiness (or the craftiness found on Pinterest).

[magazine rack]  [small knick-knack holders]

[postal mailer]

[seedling cloches]  [seedling cloches]
[mini purses]

Check out my upcycling pinterest board for these and other inspirations.

Earthweek 2012 . Drink Specials (and breath mint tins)

Earth day is this weekend! Bringing you inspiration all week long for reducing, reusing and recycling.


Today I present cool uses for soda cans and bottle, glass jars, breath mint tins and coffee cans. One man's recycling is another man's treasure!

[hair rollers . soda cans]  [fabric covered tins . breath mint tins]

[drip catcher . plastic soda bottle]  [coin purse . juice containers]

[outdoor lanterns . coffee cans]

[mini emergency/sewing/on-the-go kits . breath mint tin]

[twine wrapped vases .   glass jars]

Check out my upcycling pinterest board for these and other inspirations.

Earthweek 2012 . Looks Good On Paper

Earth day is this weekend! Bringing you inspiration all week long for reducing, reusing and recycling.
If there is anything better than getting crafty with bits of paper, its getting crafty with bits of paper bound for the recycling bin. It is satisfying to give it another run-through before its commercial reincarnation. I have scoured one little corner of the web to bring you a selection of cool ideas for upcycling books, magazine, newspapers, catalogues and magazines. Round up all that paper and get to it.

[chair . magazine and old belts]

[purse . book]  [heart garland . newspaper]  [boxes . paint swatches]

[gift bow . magazine]  [travel chalk board . old board book]  [seedling pots . newspaper]

[envelopes . magazine]  [art . sheet music]  [gift bag . newspaper]

[chair . paperback books]  [laptop case . book]  [bag . silicone coated paper]

[paper . used paper]  [giftwrap . newspaper]  [small gift bag . magazine]

[bench . newspaper]  [weed barrier . newspaper]  [flowers . magazine]

Check out my upcycling pinterest board for these and other inspirations.

Baby Booty

When we - or, more accurately, I - were contemplating the whole cloth diaper thing during pregnancy, my sister would send cloth diaper reviews from blogs that she came across (here, here and here). Getting the down and dirty facts from those in the thick of things was invaluable and much better than the FAQ section of cloth diapering sites. Now that we have some experience of our own, here are my initial impressions. Oh, and I realize that the only person taking interest in this post is my sister.


Let me start by saying I am sold on the whole cloth diapers movement (pun intended). For those tracking Daniel's opinion, he very eloquently stated "they're good". We initially used disposables until we could muster enough energy and diapers to transition to cloth (NOTE: During this time the massive amount of garbage being produced was just as astounding as the amount of money spent on disposables - really, I have no idea how people afford disposable diapers.) Obviously cloth diapering has some upfront costs, but it should pay for itself in a few months according to our calculations. I have also read cloth diaper babies get fewer diaper rashes and potty train faster - I cannot attest to either of these - but I am for both of those benefits.

Here is my other words of wisdom on the subject:

Germaphobes beware. No way to put this delicately - if the thought of handling the, uhhh, output of your baby requires gloves and lots of surgical soap then you either should A) invest in a cloth diapering service or B) pass on cloth diapers. I might add that as an amateur germaphobe myself (I have my moments) this was my biggest initial fear, but you do get over the shock of sticking your hand in the toilet pretty quickly once your child pees and poops on you...repeatedly. In other reviews, I have heard of people putting everything directly into the wash - no rinsing prior to the wash cycle. This creeps me out even more - I just cannot imagine washing machine technology being able to handle this on a daily basis and I am not down with poo-poo wear.

Get the diaper sprayer. Technically this is not an essential item for cloth diapering, but in the wise words of Matthew Mcconaughey's character in Dazed and Confused* "It'd be a lot cooler if you did." With the sprayers on back order, we did without for a few days and that was a few days too long, in my humble opinion as the dip, dip, flush technique leaves much to be desired. That's right - dip twice in the toilet and flush the toilet while holding one end of the diaper, repeat until clean or your back gives out.

Get cozy with your laundry room. If starting an in-home laundromat appeals to you, then cloth diapers will too. Be prepared to run lots of loads in order to keep up with the output of your precious little pooper. In my limited experience, the key is routine and keeping on top of the heap...and having disposables on hand just in case. Which brings me to...

Mix in some disposables. If you aren't superhuman, then chances are good that disposables will come in handy. Mostly when the laundering schedule just didn't keep up with real life or you finally venture out into the real world with the little bambino.

Now you might say to yourself, if she is going to complain about the work and getting dirty, why didn't she just go with a service? Very valid question. St. Louis does have a cloth diaper service, but they don't use the diapers I wanted to use. Plus dirty diapers sitting around for a week or more just didn't appeal to me.

Other notes - equipment:

• We chose BumGenius 4.0 diapers in hook/loop and snap closures.
• Get the spray hose and don't look back.
• For storing dirty diapers until the trip to the wash, we have a few wet bags that rotate. They are absolutely fantastic - they go in the wash with the diapers so cleaning them is easy, they take up little room and they come in assorted designs.
• The diapers do add a bit a bulk, although we haven't purchased onesie extenders, I am contemplating the buy.
• For the full enviro-friendly experience, go with cloth wipes. We tried this for a few weeks, but the wipes smelled funny in the warmer so we abandoned this mission. We may try again, making a homemade wipes solution that will keep the smell on the up and up.

* Regarding Mr. Mcconaughey in the movie Dazed and Confused: probably his finest acting job to date, in my humble opinion. Lovable and creepy in one go and his Southern accent has never fit better.

Closing up shop

Cold winds are a blowin' and that means one final harvest of anything I still have growing outside. These plants have won the survival of the fittest: they haven't been eaten or mowed down and have survived on the little amounts of water I or the Midwestern summer skies chose to grant them. For this I gave them a hero's welcome in my home.

Some of my more compact garden herbs were transplanted into terracotta pots and brought inside to survive the winter. They got a prime spot (read: usually the cats' perch) to bask in the sun.I had some sage plants pop back up unexpectedly from last year and some sage that I had already bought this year. With lots of sage plants, one was clipped for drying. To dry the sage I just tie a bit of twine around a bundle and hang them upside down from my kitchen shelves. Dried sage makes melted butter even better.


Bring out the shot glasses: here's to me thinking I can get some of these plants to grow over the winter. I have clippings in water with the hopes that they will root. If they do and I keep them alive until next spring (lots of contingencies in that statement), then I have plants ready to go into the ground.

Last, but not least, is my first attempt at infused oil. I warmed up some extra virgin olive oil and poured it over some cleaned and towel dried basil I brought in. This is the same basil I started from seedlings this spring and we picked and used throughout the summer. If the basil oil turns out, I will be one proud little gardener and you will not hear the end of my bragging.

Blacklisted Green.list.ed: Catching the train

Happy Earth Day, everyone. This last weekend was a successful experiment in mass transit for Daniel and I as we went up to Chicago for a wedding sans automobile. Our hypothesis: we could get to and around Chicago better without our car. For those in public transit-friendly towns, feel free to start scoffing....now. But with St. Louis and Los Angeles as my 2 cities of residency, let's just say I haven't lived anywhere noted for it's spectacular public transit system and taking trains still falls under the category of cool in my little book. I can say with complete confidence that I rode more trains on our way home Sunday than all of my previous years combined (the exact number of years shall remain undisclosed).

At least feign exhaustion when you read of my extraordinary Sunday travels:
1st leg: Metra . Chicago suburbs (location of the wedding we attended) to Chicago Union Station
2nd and 3rd leg: Chicago El . Union Station to my brother's apartment (and then back to Union Station later in the day)
4th leg: Amtrak . Chicago Union Station to St. Louis
5th leg: Metrolink . St. Louis Amtrak station to nearby our house

But anyway, the choice to go rail (the insider's term for taking the train, or perhaps I just coined it) was an excellent one. We relaxed on the Amtrak - watching unique viewpoints of small central Illinois towns as we passed; we avoided having to drive in downtown Chicago and - far worse a fate - find and pay for parking; we had fun walking around Chicago with only the next station as our final destination rather than getting back to where we parked the car. All these are enough to make me book another trip on a train - the fact that it is more eco-friendly than cars or planes* is icing on the cake. I love icing.

*At least marginally, depending on the stats you view. I would really love to delve into the ecological impact as well as the future of rail in the U.S., but it is late and that will have to wait for another day.

Blacklisted Green.list.ed: In the kitchen

I love to cook - or at least pretend I can cook. Perhaps it is all the speciality tools and gadgets that I find appealing... or the fact that I like to eat. The downside is the kitchen produces most of our household waste - BUT - it also provides ample opportunity to rethink the approach and make it more ecological. Today's topic is environmentally friendly kitchen products.

• Reusable straws
  I love straws and often use them at home. But for a grown-up version of the reusable straw (unless you want to use your loop-de-loop straw) then check out the aluminum version of the classic form. I have also seen champagne straws in real silver that cost a small fortune, but for daily use my money is on these bad boys.
  
  

• Cloth napkins
  The transition to cloth napkins happened a while back in our household. Maybe I just wanted to be bourgie or maybe it was for the environmental considerations. Either way, it is better than disposable napkins from a landfill standpoint.

• Non-disposable coffee cups
  Okay, so non-disposable coffee cups are called mugs and every kitchen has one. But if you want to be cheeky about it, check out these mugs that are made to look like its disposable counterpart*. The same can be said for disposable cutlery and plates - just use the real deal and hold off on the waste.

• Cloth shopping bags
  Someday I am going to remember to take all the cloth shopping bags to the store and actually use them. Until that time, I will prompt everyone else to do so and I can feel a little better about myself for spreading the good word.

• Green(er) cleaning products
  The green movement is a hard sell because it ultimately hinges on consumers paying more for green products. With easy-to-find green product lines coming out from manufacturers like Method, 7th Generation and even Clorox - a little can go a long way. So dedicate yourself to one or two eco-friendly products and perhaps work your way up. I am loving Method handsoaps (Hollyberry scent is awesome), Method granite cleaner and 7th Generation counter spray and dishwashing soap (in Lavender floral and Mint).
  


• Bamboo
  Bamboo products are showing up by the dozens in kitchen products - from cutting boards, picnic ware to knife blocks (see picture). This sustainable material has a naturally stylish grain that designers are really taking to, which makes bamboo products easy-to-find, very diverse and oh so chic. I went too far with the "oh so chic" part, didn't I?




• Compost pail
  This was at the top of my wish list last Christmas (twisted, I know) - but my best gift-giver got it for me and it has been awesome. Although it is not necessary for maintaining a compost pile - it allows you to be lazy about composting. You can throw the compostable goods into the pail and take it to the compost pile when the desire strikes or the compost pail is jam-packed, without the smell.

• Food
  Making good food choices can also make a huge impact - when possible, select local items that haven't had to make the boat/plane/truck/train ride to your part of the world. Also buying organic can be about more than what you are ingesting - many times it is said that you don't need to buy organic if the fruit is peeled, since the pesticides won't be in the fruit; however, chemicals were still sprayed on those peelable fruits that may affect the workers or environment where they were grown (my sister, Alyse, made me aware of this after she witnessed the affects in Nicaragua). Can/do I always get organic? No - but concessions here and there.

*The great debate rages on - is 'being green' really better for the environment: According to this report you need to use said ceramic cup for 3-4 years for it to be more green than the disposable polystyrene option (production, transport and water to clean the mug offset the option to recycle the disposable cup). So find yourself a favorite mug and tuck in.

Spring Crop Report

For 2 springs running I have successfully planted seeds that produced seedlings (and later plants) - this is a major accomplishment to a black thumb. This year the potential crop is a mix of herbs and flowers that I am hoping to transplant to large outdoor container pots when the weather warms up. Now if only I could remember to water my plants...

At last - after some unsuccessful attempts at getting seedlings to reliably sprout, I have unlocked the secret formula for planting seeds indoors:

1. Moisten a batch of soil with warm water. The soil mixture shouldn't be mud, but should be fairly wet.
2. Load the soil into your planting containers - skim some soil off the top to account for your planting depth. The seed packet will give you the planting depth (1/2 inch, 1 inch or do not cover, etc.)
3. Placed the seeds on top of the soil and then place enough soil to fill your container, or to achieve your planting depth.
4. Key step: Cover your container with plastic wrap.
5. Place your containers near a sunny South-facing window.
6. Pull back the plastic wrap and spray soil with water every day. Permanently remove the plastic wrap, but continue to water when the seedlings start to come up.
7. Transplant seedlings when they get too big or too crowded for the container.

Blacklisted Green.list.ed: ...and the kitchen sink

Mark your calendars - Earthday 2009 draws near (April 22). I didn't want to bombard you with all the eco-related posts running rampant in my head during one week in April, so I thought the considerate thing to do is spread it out over March and April.

Today's topic is repurposed furniture. Take a listen:

Bath tub chair
Hate to say it, but there are plenty of fugly bath tubs out there that will never see the light of day (not you, claw foot tub, you are beautiful). If they can be repurposed into some chic...or at least a conversation starter, then why not? Cool design idea from reddish studio.






Shopping cart chair
They took off that wonkey wheel that made you plow into the left side of the aisle and made it into something useful. Reestore has this and more...they are clever ones.

Vintage rail headboard
Take one wrought iron rail (or other metal rail from a posh estate), pin it to the wall and make it your headboard. The result is a fantastically unique headboard (they don't make 'em like they used to) and prevent a cast-away from going to the dump...like it was going to, but let's be positive.






Measuring tape light
How cute and clever is this? Very cute and very clever. Just refrain from putting it into someone's toolshed or craft area, otherwise I think it is good design.



Coffee book coffee table
I admit, I love me some Pottery Barn design. And they have managed some serious green design in this room - they stacked books of similar size and made a solid coffee table. Love it.


Burnt out lightbulb lamp
I have now been threatening to buy this kit and make this lamp for exactly one year...but I will make it happen, I have over 6 burnt out light bulbs sitting around waiting for me to order the kit.


Antique level ledge/shelf
From the archives of yours truly...in our miniature downstairs bathroom we put a antique wooden level (found in many antique shops for a steal - I paid $4.00 for a useless level) at the base of a mirror to act as a shelf. By the by, the mirror is a castaway from a rehab building we worked on as volunteers. Both the mirror and 'shelf' give the bathroom a bit of whimsy and character it needs.