Before you toss that container of food - Are you sure it's bad?

Food Labeling - What does it mean?  "Best By", "Sell By", "Enjoy By" and "Use By"....they sound simple enough, but in truth the timelines are not well understood and are not regulated consistently.  A recent report from Harvard and the Natural Resources Defense Council - Called The Dating Game:  How Confusing Food Date Labels Lead to Food Waste in America, found that some changes to the system could prevent a lot of food from being trashed, and provide food to some who would be going hungry otherwise.  

As our food system changed from a farm system in the 1940's to a highly processed system now, each state has adopted different policies for these confusing little labels.  What is required in California is different, than the regulations in the next state over. 

Because of the lack of regulation, most of the labels indicate how the food will taste in it's prime freshness, but most people think the food is no longer safe to eat after that date.   Think about it from a producer standpoint - they want you to have the best crunch for your chip, or correct chewiness for your cookie.

But the flip side of this, is that edible food is being tossed and or donated... when it is still perfectly safe to eat, because it is no longer at the freshness level the producer has determined is ideal.

In fact food waste is such a problem, that former Trader Joe's President Bill Rauch, is opening a market in Massachusetts,  by taking perfectly edible produce slightly past its sell-by date that ends up in the trash, and repurposing it into deeply discounted meals.  His place is going to be priced to sell meals that would compete with a fast food restaurant.

It is estimated that American's toss about 40% of all food that is produced in our nation.  Some is at the store level, but part of this is because we look at those labels, and say, "oh, darn this is bad."  But is it?  Maybe it just isn't as fresh as the producer wants us to experience.  It might be perfectly edible.
 
Please note - I am NOT suggesting you ingest dairy, seafood or other highly perishable items after their expiration date.  But that box of cookies that is 3 days past their prime, might be just fine.   How you can make less food waste?   Before you toss, think about what the label is on, how it has been stored, and what your common sense tells you.

Here's to less food waste in our One Big Bin!  

Don't Trash your Summer - Plans for Being Waste Free this Summer

I don't know about your house, but in the last few weeks of school we get buried in mountains of school projects, completed homework and masterpieces of art.  The amount of "stuff" that comes back home is a bit overwhelming, so we devised a plan.

We put all the papers in a stack.  Luckily virtually every worksheet was printed on both sides, so after celebrating the hard work, we set those aside for recycling.  The special projects that the kids are most proud of get saved.

A bag full of desk supplies, like pencils, markers and crayons are sorted.  New pencils, glue sticks, etc., are set aside for next year.  Broken crayons go into our crayon bin - we will melt some of those down into new "rainbow crayons" as a fun summer project sometime this year.  Pencils, markers  and erasers go into their home desks for use here.  We make good use of these things throughout the summer - they are on hand for our art projects, and then we don't have to run out and buy art kits to keep the kids entertained.

About a week before school let out, we visited the local library.  We all picked at least one book that had projects and activities we were interested in doing this summer.  Projects include making musical instruments (from household items!), recipes for dog treats, and other art projects.  This saved us money because we didn't buy books that we would toss after the summer is over.

Other plans for a waste free summer...

When going to / hosting  potluck parties - encourage everyone to B.Y.O. - Bring your own plates, cups, napkins and utensils.  At minimum - have my own family not use disposable dinnerware.

Always have a filled reusable water bottle in the refrigerator, so you can grab and go.

If the kids need to take a lunch to camp - pack a waste free lunch.  Looking for a waste-free camps and activities?  Check out creative reuse centers (Like reCREATE), or activity based camps - like gymnastic or karate.

The summer has such a bounty of wonderful produce - We will be seeking out loose, un-packaged fruits and vegetables, so we don't have to deal with all that excess packaging.  Scraps and peels from all of the yummy fresh produce will go into our worm bin, not the trash can.

Road Trips / Outdoor Adventures:  Pack out whatever we bring in, plus more.   We have made a habit of trying to leave a place cleaner than we found it, which means either picking up extra garbage others have let when we go to the beach, or playing a game to see who can find ten pieces of garbage on a hike,  that we pick up and dispose of at the next trash can.

Now that we have some free time on our hands, we also check out closets for stuff that can be donated.  Clothes, toys and other things we just aren't using anymore.   And did you know that clothing doesn't have to be in perfect shape to be donated?  This is a good article to explain how donated clothing is processed. 

Drinking from a Straw Doesn't Have to Suck

For me, Earth Day is every day, But since Earth Day is "officially" in April, I wanted to celebrate  by giving away some reusable items that helped me create less waste.

I'm a mom who runs a small nonprofit, has two kinds in elementary school and a husband who travels at times for work.  Sometimes, I don't have the time / energy to cook at home so we do eat out a few times a week.   That said - I hate how much waste gets generated at restaurants, and if there was a less wasteful way to eat out, we'd probably eat out more often.  If you set aside all of the packaging for the food, and just look at the waste from drinks - it is CRAZY.

If you just take the single largest fast food chain, McDonald's - you will see they serve over 64 million meals each day.  That means that if each meal had a drink, with a straw, over the course of a year, McDonald's generates about 23,360,000,000 plastic straws in their waste.  That number is too big for me to even try to say.  Perhaps only a portion of the people get a drink, but if you add the drinks for Subway, Burger King, Wendy's and the other fast food chains - the amount of waste is overwhelming. 

A while back, I had a chance to hear Beth Terry, the Author of My Plastic Free Life, speak.  She shared a number of reusable products that helped her reduce her plastic consumption down to practically nothing.  I was intrigued by her Glass Dharma Straw, so I ordered one for each person in the family, and we all love them!

If you are already a pretty eco-minded, minimal waste person, this is for you.  If you already have your reusable cup and bring your own shopping bags/containers to the store, this could be your next step for reducing waste.

We have a gift pack of three Glass Dharma (an amber shorty straw, a smoothie straw, a beautiful bend straw, as well as a cleaning brush)  glass straws you can win.  These straws are sustainable, reusable, durable, easy to clean and suitable for hot or cold drinks.    Glass straw - but will it break?  I can tell you we have accidentally dropped one on our tile floor, and it didn't break.  They are made of glass, but they are incredibly durable!

To be entered to win the prize, please leave a comment below.  Tell us how you try to reduce the amount of plastic waste you generate in your day-to-day life, and one thing you already do to make less waste.    Be sure to leave me an email/contact if you win!  Winner will be announced on April 22nd!  You must be a resident of the U.S. to participate.

Sorry for the late announcement for the winner... The Random Generator chose #2  - Congratulations Annette - you win the prize pack!!