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One Woman Making a Difference

Posted on January 21, 2021February 5, 2021by The Zero-Waste Chef

After working on global climate solutions, Stephanie Miller wanted to reduce her own footprint. She began with a request at her dry cleaners.

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4 Comments
  • ZWC Book

It’s a Book!

Posted on September 30, 2020November 12, 2020by The Zero-Waste Chef

I’ve been working on this for a while! My book is now ready for preorder.

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37 Comments
  • Zero-Waste Basics

Plastic Free July: The Pandemic Year(s)

Posted on June 30, 2020June 30, 2020by The Zero-Waste Chef

Like much else in 2020, Plastic Free July will look a bit different this year. Here are 17 ways to participate during the pandemic.

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15 Comments
  • Zero-Waste Basics

12 Ways to Fight the Pandemic Plastic Push

Posted on May 18, 2020May 18, 2020by The Zero-Waste Chef
unpackaged produce from the farmers' market

Just when we had begun to make big strides against plastic pollution, some businesses have banned reusables. Here’s what we can do to cut plastic waste.

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9 Comments
  • Fermentation

Bake Sourdough Bread Without the Expensive Tools

Posted on March 29, 2020January 12, 2021by The Zero-Waste Chef

Don’t let a want of fancy tools squelch your dreams of baking delicious sourdough bread. You may have most of the gear you need.

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19 Comments
  • Zero-Waste Basics

I’m Quitting Plastic. What Do I Do With My Plastic Stuff?

Posted on March 12, 2020March 12, 2020by The Zero-Waste Chef
food stored in jars reduces food waste because you can see what you have on hand

You’ve decided to wean yourself from single-use plastic. But what do you do with all of the plastic stuff you still have in your home?

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13 Comments
  • Zero-Waste Basics

Will the Coronavirus Kill the Zero-Waste Movement?

Posted on March 5, 2020March 5, 2020by The Zero-Waste Chef
empty toilet paper roll

Should we abandon the low-waste lifestyle during the coronavirus outbreak, avoid reusables and choose single-use throwaway items?

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23 Comments
  • Zero-Waste Basics

How Does Recycling Work and Should I Bother?

Posted on March 1, 2020March 2, 2020by Mary Katherine Glen
baled cardboard at the recycling center

What gets recycled? What doesn’t? Why does recycling differ from place to place? A waste management student reveals these mysteries and more!

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6 Comments
  • Zero-Waste Basics

7 Staples I Stock at All Times

Posted on February 3, 2020February 3, 2020by The Zero-Waste Chef

With these 7 basic staples on hand, I have the foundations for a variety of delicious, healthy dishes. When any of these run out, it’s time to shop.

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7 Comments
  • Zero-Waste Basics

7 Ways to Spot Greenwashing and How to Avoid It

Posted on January 30, 2020January 31, 2020by The Zero-Waste Chef

We consumers want to do the right thing and marketers know this. Hence the vague language, fuzzy animals and other greenwashing tactics.

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9 Comments
  • Zero-Waste Basics

Wash Laundry, Not too Much, Hang to Dry

Posted on January 22, 2020March 1, 2020by The Zero-Waste Chef

Wash dirty laundry in cold, use as few products as possible and hang to dry. You’ll save money and your clothes will last longer.

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20 Comments
  • Zero-Waste Basics

Plan to Reduce Waste

Posted on January 19, 2020January 26, 2020by The Zero-Waste Chef

When in human history have we ever not had to plan ahead for our needs? Overnight shipping is only a recent development.

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12 Comments
  • Zero-Waste Basics

How Do I Make My Parents Live More Sustainably?

Posted on January 15, 2020January 15, 2020by The Zero-Waste Chef
food stored in jars reduces food waste because you can see what you have on hand

“I’m a teenager living at home with unsupportive parents. What can I do to make them stop using so much plastic and be more sustainable?”

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16 Comments
  • Zero-Waste Basics

A 9-for-1 New Year’s Resolution

Posted on December 30, 2019January 19, 2020by The Zero-Waste Chef
unpackaged produce from the farmers' market

Have so many vices that you can’t decide on a new year’s resolution? One resolution automatically covers many others.

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9 Comments
  • All Recipes

9 More Foods to Make not Buy

Posted on December 16, 2019February 12, 2021by The Zero-Waste Chef

These 9 easy-to-make staples will save you money and they taste delicious.

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10 Comments

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THREE copies up for grabs of the book “Plastic F THREE copies up for grabs of the book “Plastic Free: The Inspiring Story of a Global Environmental Movement and Why It Matters”...
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One person can make a difference! In July 2011, Rebecca Prince-Ruiz (founder of @plasticfreejuly) challenged herself to go plastic free for the whole month. Starting with a small group of people in Western Australia, the Plastic Free July movement has grown to an estimated 326 million strong community across 177 countries, empowering people to reduce single-use plastic consumption and create a cleaner future.
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From the book description: “This book explores how one of the world’s leading environmental campaigns took off and shares lessons from its success. From narrating marine-debris research expeditions to tracking what actually happens to our waste to sharing insights from behavioral research, it speaks to the massive scale of the plastic waste problem and how we can tackle it together. Interweaving interviews from participants, activists, and experts, Plastic Free tells the inspiring story of how ordinary people have created change in their homes, communities, workplaces, schools, businesses, and beyond.”
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TO ENTER:
1. Like and comment on this post and tell us about one single use plastic item you are choosing to refuse. 
2. Follow @plasticfreejuly
3. Follow @zerowastechef
🌊
Conditions: This giveaway is open internationally and prizes will be shipped to all countries excluding Australia and New Zealand. There are 3 books in total to be given away. Entry closes on Saturday, February 27th at 11:59pm PST. I will randomly choose the winners and notify them by DM. This giveaway is in no way administered, sponsored or endorsed by Instagram.
This weekend’s shopping includes a smallish farm This weekend’s shopping includes a smallish farmers’ market haul on a new-to-me background. Total cost of the background: $0.
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On Saturday, I “shopped” at something like a moving sale or estate sale where everything was free. A friend of a friend left town just as the lockdowns began last year and hasn’t been back since. She has decided to stay on the East Coast and from there is co-ordinating the move of her belongings from here on the West Coast. She’s leaving behind loads of stuff, a lot of which would go to landfill. So, on the weekend, several of us descended upon her home—masked and socially distanced—and cleared out boxes and boxes of useful stuff. I’ve posted just some of the things I grabbed.
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I’ve wanted a table to put in the window for taking pictures and voila! (The burlap sac came from a local café that roasts its own beans and tosses these bags out.) We had no glasses; now we do (not shown: half a dozen more that I need to wash still). The little teabag rest is smaller than the ramekin I’ve been using (and it frees up a ramekin). My oven mitts are shot and this pair still has the tag on them. Charlotte needed a desk lamp; one magically appeared. Finally, I grabbed this never used, unopened Blu-ray player to post in my Buy Nothing Group (we don’t own a TV). Several people asked for this right away and I need to randomly pick a recipient today.
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I say this all the time on here but when I need or want something, if I’m patient, it eventually shows up. I can’t tell you how often this happens.
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I hope everyone’s week is off to a good start.
I haven’t made kimchi for about four months. I s I haven’t made kimchi for about four months. I spent $7 on the vegetables and already had on hand the ginger, garlic, kimchi spice and a small amount of dried kelp granules (dried kelp is optional but does add a nice fishy flavor).
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For this new batch, I decided to swap out the daikon radishes for small Japanese turnips (and I found a use for one of the twist ties—swipe to see that). I couldn’t find green onions, so I used a small white onion instead. You can also use other types of cabbage, although I do prefer Napa. As long as you have gochugaru (the dried hot pepper flakes), the kimchi tastes amazing.
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I reserved the turnip tops and am making green pasta with some of them today. We also make pesto or sauté the greens with a bit of olive oil and garlic. They taste delicious and you can sometimes get them (as well as other varieties of greens) free at the farmers' market. At ours, when customers ask vendors to remove the tops, they put the greens in a free bin for people to take who have chickens or humans at home to feed.
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Link in profile for the simple kimchi recipe.
More book news! Canadian retailer @Indigo has sele More book news! Canadian retailer @Indigo has selected my book (shown here with the Canadian cover) as one of its most anticipated books of the spring and is featuring it in another Most Anticipated promotion, this time as a Most Anticipated COOKBOOK! Preorder now through Sunday and get 30% off plus 500 plum points. Link in profile to preorder from Indigo. The book will be out in less than two months, on April 13th 😮
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Thank you very much to everyone who has preordered in the US, Canada and overseas! I really appreciate your support 🙏😊
This is what sustainable soda packaging looks like This is what sustainable soda packaging looks like: bottles that can be refilled over and over again. The left and middle bottle contain ginger beer, the right, kombucha flavored with orange zest.
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Last week, Coca-Cola, the biggest plastic polluter in the world, announced its limited rollout in select states of a new 100% recycled PET bottle. It says the bottle will reduce its use of new plastic in the US by 20%. Globally, the company produces 3 tons of plastic per year, the equivalent of 200,000 plastic bottles per minute.
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While the company unveils a new bottle, it also pushes the old myth of recycling as the solution. In the company’s press release, the general manager of sustainability for North America said, “While we still have a lot of work to do to reduce plastic waste, by educating consumers about recycling and the potential for plastic bottles to become new plastic bottles, we see this as a big move in the right direction.” In other words, the company shifts the onus of cleaning up unmanageable amounts of plastic onto consumers (and overwhelmed municipalities).
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Just about anything has the potential to be recycled. Slapping the word “recyclable” in green all over a plastic package doesn’t mean it will be recycled. Following Coca-Cola’s logic, I could honestly tattoo all over myself “100 percent able to win the lottery.” Both claims squander ink.
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We need refill schemes.
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Link in profile for my latest blog post, “Why I’m not Excited About Coca-Cola’s 100% Recycled Bottle.”
Incredibly delicious homemade pappardelle pasta . Incredibly delicious homemade pappardelle pasta
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A couple of weeks ago, when my daughter MK said she craved pasta, I said use 2 (pastured) eggs for every cup of flour. I also told her to make the pasta directly on the counter. Frustrated by my insufficient instructions, MK grumbled a bit while she made pasta from scratch. But now she is a pasta-making fiend and can't stop making the stuff, which is fine by me!
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You don't need a pasta drying rack like this for your pasta. You can instead twirl the pasta into several small nests on your counter or work surface while it rests for a few minutes before cooking. Miraculously, it doesn't stick together when you cook it. If you do want to hang it, rest a broom between two chairs and drape it over the broomstick.
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You also don't need a pasta machine to make pasta. I can't be bothered setting up the machine so I will roll it out by hand as thinly as possible and then form my shapes. MK rolled this dough out into sheets using our machine, rolled the sheets up into logs and then sliced off strips.
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We ate this with pesto MK made out of free carrot tops from the farmers’ market (they often give them away) and 4 or 5 kale leaves that needed to be used up asap. I liked the addition of the kale leaves to balance out the carrot greens. You can also add spinach, parsley or other herbs.
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I also make pasta without eggs. My cookbook includes a version with semolina and water, and my blog has one with flour and pumpkin purée. Link in profile for this pasta recipe and for the vegan version.
I hope you find these conversions helpful. Please I hope you find these conversions helpful. Please note: I’ve rounded a bit on the conversions from US to metric, so you’ll notice some slight inconsistency as the measurements scale up (I rounded 1.892 liters to 1.9, for example).
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Also please note: Fluid ounces differ greatly from dry ounces! Fluid ounces measure ingredients by VOLUME and dry ounces measure ingredients by WEIGHT.
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1 tsp = 5 ml
1 tbsp = 3 tsp = 15 ml
1/8 cup = 2 tbsp = 30 ml
1/4 cup = 4 tbsp = 60 ml
1/3 cup = 5 tbsp + 1 tsp = 80ml
1 cup = 8 fl oz = 237 ml
1 pint = 2 cups = 16 fl oz = 473 ml
1 quart = 2 pints = 4 cups = 946 ml
1/2 gallon = 2 quarts = 8 cups = 1.9 liters
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Fluid ounces fl oz (volume)
1/2 oz = 1 tbsp = 15 ml
1 oz = 2 tbsp = 30 ml
2 oz = 4 tbsp = 60 ml
8 oz = 1 cup = 237 ml
16 oz = 2 cups = 473 ml
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Dry ounces (weight)
1 oz = 28 g
2 oz = 56 g
4 oz = 1/4 pound = 113 g
8 oz = 1/2 pound = 227 g
16 oz = 1 pound = 454 g
Happy National Pizza Day! . To mark the occasion, Happy National Pizza Day! 
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To mark the occasion, here is a picture of the recipe "Sourdough Pizza with Tomato-Garlic Sauce" from my cookbook, The Zero-Waste Chef, out soon on April 13th! The overnight proof of this naturally leavened dough renders a wonderfully chewy crust that's well worth the wait. The sauce, like the dough, contains simple ingredients.
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My book is available for pre-order and once again, a big thank you to everyone who has already pre-ordered! I greatly appreciate your support! Link in profile to pre-order. 
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📷credit: Ashley McLaughlin @edible_perspective
Don’t have a rolling pin? A wine bottle or even Don’t have a rolling pin? A wine bottle or even a jar does the trick.
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The marketing industry has trained us to buy products that will supposedly solve all of life’s problems. But with a little creativity and resourcefulness, we can often find more sustainable and less expensive solutions to our predicaments than new goods.
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So here is a challenge: The next time a kitchen gadget breaks or your jeans tear or you run out of the goop you like to put in your hair, before searching for a product to buy, see if you can come up with a different solution, using the resources you already own.
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A friend’s husband once told me that when he was a broke student, he stayed with friends for a night in a hotel in Las Vegas on his way home from a camping trip. After promptly losing his last $20 in the casino, he returned to the room hungry. He still had some food left from camping, including tortillas and cheese, so he (carefully) made a quesadilla in the hotel room with the iron and ironing board, using the iron’s steam setting to soften his tortillas. I aspire to that type of MacGyver-esque thinking.
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What problem have you solved lately with a bit of creativity?
Use number 37 for glass jars: utensil storage . I Use number 37 for glass jars: utensil storage
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I keep these by the stove on my kitchen counter. The large free jars came from two different restaurants that my daughter MK used to work in. Restaurants, bars and cafés can be excellent sources of free jars—just ask!
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The short jar had a small, simple paper label that slipped off easily after soaking the jar for a few hours in water (to conserve water, I’ll soak jars in a larger container or bowl that has been sitting in my sink, awaiting washing and capturing water).
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The tall jar originally had a stubborn label stuck to it. Often, after smearing with oil and letting the jar sit overnight, a label will peel off fairly easily (the oil dissolves the label’s glue). Or you can make a paste out of oil and baking soda if you like, smear that on, allow the glue to dissolve, then scrub off any residual glue. Or use a copper scrubber to scrub the jar.
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Link in profile for more on removing labels and desmellifying  jars. The comments on that post also include lots of good info.
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