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Zero-Waste Chef

f-ing gross plastic waste

Posted on April 11, 2014by Zero-Waste Chef
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A kayaker paddles around a sea of plastic waste

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When I recently posted a Story about repairing my When I recently posted a Story about repairing my Birkenstocks, I couldn’t respond to all the DMs I received. Seems like many of you also love your Birks. So I thought I would elaborate more here. I bought this pair of Birkenstocks in 2015 and have had them repaired three times. I've had the soles repaired twice. First, the cobbler repaired the heels (they wear out first... maybe I literally drag my feet..). Later, I had the entire sole replaced. I've had the corks replaced once. I bought these from a local business in Palo Alto, @thecobblery, which also repairs shoes, including Birkenstocks. Having my Birks repaired is not inexpensive but it does cost less than buying new ones and I've supported a local business. After the repairs, the sandals look like new. (I haven't had them repaired for a couple of years and wear them constantly, so they don't look new here.) Several people had asked if I repair my shoes myself. (No... see above.) If you can't find a shoe repair shop near you and your Birks desperately need some TLC, you can order the parts you need, in your size, from Birkenstock and try to repair the sandals yourself. Look for a how-to on YouTube. For anything you need to repair, you’ll find a video that explains how to do it.
Captain Moore discovered the Great Pacific Garbage Captain Moore discovered the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. What an honor! I spoke with Captain Charles Moore (@algalitacapnmoore) and Shelly Moore (@shelly_moore_ca) of The Moore Institute for Plastic Pollution Research. After Captain Moore discovered the Great Pacific Garbage Patch in 1997, he founded @Algalita to research plastic pollution. Realizing that nano plastics required their own dedicated research, Moore recently founded The Moore Institute for Plastic Pollution Research. Listen and find out how these tiny plastic particles threaten the biosphere, why our local communities need to produce our own food (and everything else) and why, despite the deluge of bad news, Captain Moore believes a utopian society is possible.
We have about a week left of @plasticfreejuly! Hav We have about a week left of @plasticfreejuly! Have you taken the challenge to cut your plastic this month? It's never too late to start. Every piece of single-use plastic we refuse is one fewer piece of plastic in the waste stream. If you took the challenge for the first time and have fairly painlessly cut the Top Four for Plastic Free July—single-use plastic bags, water bottles, throw-away coffee cups and straws—you may be looking to move onto some next steps. Link in profile for 50 simple ways to cut plastic.
For every dollar we spend at the grocery store, th For every dollar we spend at the grocery store, the farmers who feed us receive on average, 15 cents, according to a recent joint investigation by @guardian and @foodandwaterwatch. A big chunk of our dollar goes toward food processing and marketing. When we shop at the farmers' market, on the other hand, about 90 cents of our dollar goes directly to the farmer, according to the Farmers Market Coalition (@fmcorg). If you can, please support small, local farmers, either at the farmers' market or by ordering a CSA (community supported agriculture) box. You’ll support a small farmer and eat incredibly delicious food! 😋
A group called Bay Area Bag Ladies (bayareabagladi A group called Bay Area Bag Ladies (bayareabagladies.com) sells these upcycled denim bags at several independent grocery stores around the Bay Area and a portion of the sales goes to food banks. . My daughter Charlotte bought one of the large bags several months ago—and uses it constantly—but I only recently noticed the small bags at the store. If you don’t live in the Bay Area and would like one of these bags, the small ones especially would make a great beginner project. . Sewing, like cooking, mending and gardening, is a small act of rebellion. I hope to have some time this weekend to rebel a bit in my yard. How about you? What is your favorite small (or large) act of rebellion?
Doing @plasticfreejuly and want to eat your favori Doing @plasticfreejuly and want to eat your favorite foods sans plastic? There’s a recipe for that! I’ve recently updated my recipe index. There, you’ll find recipes for breads, nut and seed mills, natural sodas, broths, crackers and other staples that replace store-bought versions packaged in plastic (and they taste better). Link in profile.
I have two compost bins on the go—one that sits I have two compost bins on the go—one that sits and cooks (on the right) and one to fill with new food scraps (on the left). Rogue potatoes and tomatoes have sprung up in the open, cooking pile. A few rogue seedlings (likely melons) have also recently germinated in there. I've transplanted those to a large pot (two survived). 🌱 Do I wish these compost bins were made of natural materials rather than plastic? Absolutely. Would chicken wire or bins made from wooden pallets look better? Yes. Am I tossing and replacing these? No way. I bought the large bin 20 years ago before learning about the horrors of plastic and am not about to add it to the landfill. (I don't know where the bin on the right came from; I haven't lived in this house for 16 years.) 🌱 During @plasticfreejuly, please do not feel pressure to purge your home of all your existing plastic items, toss them into the trash and replace them with new and expensive plastic-free versions. That wastes resources and your hard-earned cash. The goal of Plastic Free July is to reduce the consumption of single-use plastic items—the water bottles and bags, throwaway coffee cups (plastic lines the interior), food wrappers and so on. I plan to continue to use these bins until they break, which might not happen for at least another 20 years. 🌱 And if these bins do completely deteriorate and become unusable, I probably won't replace them and instead toss my food scraps on the ground in a discreet corner of the yard (I don't seem to attract critters besides a so-ugly-it's-cute opossum).
If players like @exxonmobil oppose stopping the fl If players like @exxonmobil oppose stopping the flow of plastic waste into our oceans, fish, soil, us… that’s our first hint that addressing the plastic pollution crisis matters. . Last week, @greenpeaceuk released undercover video of Keith McCoy, senior director of federal relations at @ExxonMobil, confirming the company’s shocking-not-shocking MO: The oil giant is fending off regulation on plastic pollution by sowing doubt, just as it did with climate change, and writing any legislation that Congress might propose to address the plastic pollution crisis. These slides are a transcription of a secretly recorded interview McCoy believed he was having with a corporate headhunter. I’ve cleaned up some of the “ummm”s and “errr”s. . Thank you @greenpeaceuk for the brilliant sting operation. And thank you ExxonMobil for making my writing job so easy today—the words belong to you, 100 percent. You can watch the plastics portion of the video in a recent Rolling Stone article I’ve linked to @zerowastechef profile. Oh and in that article, also learn how ExxonMobil created PFAS. . Please share these slides for those out there who still think reducing plastic pollution doesn’t matter.
My tips for a less trashy July 4th cookout are in My tips for a less trashy July 4th cookout are in the latest issue of @revealmag! ✨ As with all things waste, a bit of planning prevents food and packaging waste before you shop. ✨ First, take into account the number of guests, how long they’ll stay (a few hours or all day) and the size of their appetites. ✨ Remember that for every additional menu item you add, the less of it people can eat. ✨ Choose reusables to set your table (or picnic bench). ✨ Compost during prep and at the end of the meal. ✨ Ask your guests to each bring an empty container for leftovers. Who doesn’t want to take home leftover pie?!
Behold this glorious mother of vinegar! I'm very Behold this glorious mother of vinegar! I'm very excited about my latest experiment. For Memorial Day this year, I made two batches of tepache for two different events. Tepache is a fermented drink made from pineapple peels and cores, water and sugar (the full recipe is in my book 😉). After making a couple of drinks with the peels and cores, I started a large batch of pineapple scrap vinegar, which tastes fabulous—not merely vinegary but also fruity. Last night, for a cook-along I taught, hosted by @plasticfreejuly, I added a bit of the vinegar to complement the random vegetable fried rice I cooked. So tasty! My scrap vinegars often grow what I thought were SCOBYs but I learned from @kirstenkshockey’s latest book, Homebrewed Vinegar, that they are actually MOVs (mothers of vinegar). My pineapple grew the thickest, healthiest MOV I've ever had. The few holes resulted from her growing around floating pieces of pineapple peel. I think she's a beauty! 😍 She needs a name though. Please leave your suggestions for a name in the comments! Also back on Memorial Day weekend, my daughter MK came home with a bottle of white wine, opened it and left it here. When she came home again for mother's day and saw the open bottle in the refrigerator, she made an ewww face and said "You can’t drink that now!" True, but it should make excellent white wine vinegar. I poured the wine into a jar, stirred it up to get some air into it, added water and the MOV and covered the jar with a tightly woven cloth, fastened with a rubber band. I then set the jar aside on the counter with its new fermenting friends. I hope the vinegar will be ready in about a month. Thank you for your help getting this white wine vinegar started @kirstenkshockey ❤️
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