How green is your kitchen?

[TicTac]

Indeed.  Which is why it is our responsibility to be mindful of such things and endeavor to each do our part in lessening the environmental impact.  I have yet to throw out a cloth napkin.  Once they are no longer suitable, they get turned into 'shmatas' to clean with.  

 

Don't get me started on the paper plates and plastic utensils!

 

 

[palo]

I favour paper napkins, paper plates and plastic utensils...but that's just me.

 

p

[dcarch]

6 hours ago, kayb said:

FWIW, having worked in the heart of timber country in Southwest Arkansas, trees used for pulp, which is then turned into all sorts of paper,

 I  have had some dealings with a very well known big pulp manufacturer. I am sure you know them too.

But let me tell you a 1/2 funny food related story, 1/2 paper related story.

Had meetings with Parsons & Whittemore at their huge facilities in Perdue Hill Alabama. After a very tough day's meetings. I suggested to the fellows to go and have a nice dinner and some drinks.

I was told, " Sorry, we don't have nice restaurants in Perdue Hill, and this is a dry town, no drinks."

I asked, "Wow! what do you do if you want to have a special dinner and a few drinks to go with it?"

"No problem. We just take a short drive to Florida."

"Well, what are we waiting for? let's go."

On my way to Parsons & Whittemore, I was amazed that the major highway was named after the owner, and on it there were endless convoys of huge tractor trailers nonstop 24/7 shipping timber to the pulp factory. 

I was amazed at the big sign in front of the factory , "THE WATER COMES OUT FROM OUR FACTORY IS CLEANER THEN WHEN IT COMES IN." Of all the manufacturing industries, paper making uses the most water.

I was amazed at how much energy and chemicals are used in making paper.

 

I am suggesting using cotton towel to the OP not because of the environment. I feel functionally cotton towels has advantages which makes them a good option.

 

dcarch

 

 

 

 

Edited July 27, 2017 by dcarch (log)

[Shelby]

16 hours ago, DiggingDogFarm said:

Everything humans do has an impact.

Multiple rewashing of all those reusable 'napkins' and finally tossing them into the landfill has an impact.

And don't forget the manufacture, distribution, etc.

 

 

ETA: I would check with a restaurant supply vendor or a paper goods distributor for heavy-duty disposable napkins.

BTW: I use both disposable and reusable napkins depending on the situation.

 

 

 

 

 

I just use my shirt-sleeve.

 

 

 

[Thanks for the Crepes]

I'm really sad to see this article.

 

I take the time to dry out produce bags and wash out and dry frozen vegetable bags to take back to the grocery store that accepts them along with plastic grocery bags because Cary recycling program prohibits these materials. I take the time to remove staples from catalogs and that plastic glue stuff they use to stick mail together. I take time to open stuff I know is junk mail so it can be more easily processed. I wash out cans and bottles. I have washed a peanut butter jar and a mayonnaise one, but decided that not only was it too much work, but the water waste couldn't be worth it. I have packed the plastic bag and film waste on foot many times to the Food Lion or Harris Teeter that take them for two miles one way.

 

My brother said he talked to a sanitation worker and they put most of the recycling in the landfill. I thought he was being his usual hateful self, but perhaps not?

[Darienne]

It was enjoyable re-reading this thread and seeing how we all lived.  Of course, rules have changed in our area since I last contributed in 2015. 

 

Against the wishes of the entire township, our current mayor re-instituted garbage pickup but we hardly ever put out anything.  Recycling no longer takes foam of any kind...but the library collects used batteries.  We have county depots far away from our home where electronics and paint cans can be taken and we pay for that privilege.  We even dispose of our dog poop in a special container which Ed has moved once in 23 years.  Mostly they do their business out on the farm land during our daily walks.   I keep our backyard poop-free because of our constant exposure to giardia on the farm.  

 

As for throwing out food.  Doesn't happen.  Anything vegetable gets roasted and kept in the freezer for soup or enchilada making. 

 

Our pots and pans are really old.  Some made in Korea and Japan even.  And we have something you don't often find...a metal grilled cheese and waffle maker.  We all remember metal...we just don't see it anymore in a lot of appliances.

 

I hate washing plastic bags but do it faithfully.  We use cloth grocery bags...where we live you have to pay for plastic bags if you want them.  

 

I hate, hate, hate the plastic packaging which we buy.  Batteries for one.  Just about anything from Canadian Tire.  The packaging of supplements drives me slightly batty.  A bottle big enough for 1,000 pills I swear with 60 in it.  

 

We are not saints and not as green as I would like, but we do our own best.

 

PS.  And while we are on the subject (and here comes the ranting part):  We keep our house cooler in the winter and hotter in the summer than most visitors like.  For them I change the temperature settings.  But apparently Ontario, which has tremendous sources of electric power, and we are exporting much of this to the USA at a loss, has the most expensive electricity prices in all of North America.  There.  I'm finished.

Edited May 26, 2018 by Darienne (log)

[scubadoo97]

The only thing green in my kitchen is the wall paint 

[Anna N]

1 hour ago, scubadoo97 said:

The only thing green in my kitchen is the wall paint 

Ha ha.  My kitchen is also green – – paint that is. 

[kayb]

There are things in my kitchen that are green that should not be. (Time to clean out the fridge.)

[IowaDee]

The green in my kitchen is caused by the envy I feel seeing the amazing meals you all turn out!

[SLB]

I recycle happily in accord with the NYC law, although this podcast made me ashamed of my un-diligent rinsing:  http://outsideinradio.org/shows/onebintorulethemall

 

With respect to the arguments above, I do use cloth napkins.  I genuinely prefer them on function, but the actual reason I use them is because I am cheap.  I use about one a week.  

 

I still do use more paper towels than I totally understand, though.   I need to figure that one out.  

 

I do not have a toaster or a microwave; I use the oven or a double boiler for those functions, so I think this means that my energy use is incredibly inefficient.

 

I use a no-rinse dishwasher.  My understanding is that not only do most of the new dishwashers not require rinsing, but the theory of the current dishwasher detergent is that there is food-residue on the plates to prompt an enzymatic reaction; the detergent needs something to work against.  My dishes are definitely clean, unless I have failed to properly scrape.

 

I recently began segregating food waste for composting, which involves me deploying part of my freezer for collection and part of my time for hauling it to a collection site.  It's been startling to see how many vegetable trimmings I toss; my ancestors near and far have all got to be howling in their graves.  Honestly it's motivated me to begin to rethink a lot of things -- I don't think I can commit any more time to food prep, which is the commodity that seems required to make use of trimmings other than compost (I don't have animals to feed) -- but it seems to be kind of nuts.  I certainly wish I'd committed to composting years ago.    

 

And the other thing that has become unavoidably troubling is the fact that my non-recyclable (landfill) garbage is entirely soft-plastic packaging.  I don't even buy prepared food and I seem to have all of this packaging all the time!  It's stunning.  

[IowaDee]

I love non-stick foil so much that I just may have sponged it off and reused it!  Yup, might have happened.

Used to have a crazy neighbor who washed all those flimsy produce bags and hung them on her clothes line.

I swore I would never be as tight as she was.....but I worry about myself at times.

[Darienne]

21 minutes ago, IowaDee said:

I love non-stick foil so much that I just may have sponged it off and reused it!  Yup, might have happened.

Used to have a crazy neighbor who washed all those flimsy produce bags and hung them on her clothes line.

I swore I would never be as tight as she was.....but I worry about myself at times.

Hmmm....I never thought of myself as crazy, but there you are. 

 

We do recycle plastic bags and also reuse many of them and no matter which, they are washed out with soap and water and hung to dry in the garage.  My husband insists that they be washed out.  I hate doing it, but I do it faithfully.  And certainly in the summer, just storing them in the garage between recycling pickups would make the garage smell, particularly if the bag had contained meat of some kind. 

 

No, don't worry.  I am not hurt or offended at all.  

[Porthos]

I re-use large trash can bags. Most of our recycle goes to the curb in the blue recycle barrels. I keep aluminum cans and California CRV plastic bottles and recycle those for my "booze slush fund." I store up those items, until I have $20+ dollars worth to turn in, in the large trash bags.

[kayb]

I reuse the produce bags if they're fairly clean and can be turned inside out and rinsed off with hot water. They dry turned upside down over the bottle of dishwashing liquid on the back of the sink. I particularly wash out and reuse those green plastic produce bags. They're pricy.

 

[Thanks for the Crepes]

Erm, I reuse produce bags all the time. I thought it was normal, non-wasteful behavior. They are great for mixing up seasoned flour to shake proteins in before frying. Shake n Bake bags are too small. I don't use those even if I've bought SNB. I don't throw the bags out, though. I'm using a SNB bag now to thaw a slice or two of Italian bread from the freezer. With so much plastic ending up in the oceans, I want to at least get some mileage out of it before recycling it.

 

And no, I don't reuse or even try to recycle any plastic packaging that has touched raw or even cooked meat.

 

In this area, while the city garbage collection does not accept plastic bags for recycling, the grocery stores (Food Lion and Harris Teeter for sure, perhaps others) do. And yup, I wash out plastic produce bags, frozen veggie bags, and such and hang them up in the pantry/laundry room to dry and then save them for recycling at the grocery store. I don't think it's a bit crazy, rather smart if you care about the kids down the road having a decent planet to live on.

 

 

[ChocoMom]

Those green produce bags are wonderful to have, esp. in the summer. When I gather veggies from the garden, I pop them in the washed out bags and store.  

As for the plastic grocery bags....those things are like gold in this house.  They are magical foot warmers for us Yoopers.  After putting socks on, we slip the grocery bags over our feet, then put on our boots.  I cannot tell you how wonderfully warm those bags keep the tootsies! 

My kids use them for lunch bags, and deposit trash in them from their cars.  My husband takes them fishing, and puts the fresh catch(es) in.  They also make wonderful packing -stuffing for fragile type items. The glories of plastic grocery bags! 

 

As far as the "I shall never again.....".... let the chickens roam in my garden. I thought, since I wasn't yet finished planting, it wouldn't hurt to let them offer some fertilizer here and there. . No plants with produce are coming up yet.  But those little beasts actually dug up and ate my seed potatoes!  NEVER have I seen them do that! Grrrr.  I need to get the fishing line and do the lower ring around the garden.

 

 

[kayb]

8 hours ago, ChocoMom said:

Those green produce bags are wonderful to have, esp. in the summer. When I gather veggies from the garden, I pop them in the washed out bags and store.  

As for the plastic grocery bags....those things are like gold in this house.  They are magical foot warmers for us Yoopers.  After putting socks on, we slip the grocery bags over our feet, then put on our boots.  I cannot tell you how wonderfully warm those bags keep the tootsies! 

 

 

That's just freakin' brilliant. I'd'a never thunk it. And I am the original cold-footed person; I sleep in socks doggoned near year-round.

 

I keep them and use them for lots of things. Trashcan liners for small trashcans (bedrooms, bathrooms). Trash bags in the car (I keep a half-dozen or so in the console). A stash in the storage room so I can bring in three or four jars of something or packages out of the freezer without freezing my arms and hands off. A stash on the carport so I can grab a couple and use them to pick produce out of the garden (particularly handy if it's Attack of the Cucumbers and Zucchini season and I want to give a bunch of it away). 

 

And so on, and so on.

 

[IowaDee]

I feel bad that I mocked reusing produce bags.  I didn't mean the heavy ones that we all use for a bunch of different things.

My former neighbor washed and hung out the ones that come on a roll and take a minute or more to figure out how to

get them open.  I did notice that most have an "open here" label printed on them now.  

[JoNorvelleWalker]

What is this heavy produce bag you speak of?

 

[Anna N]

4 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

What is this heavy produce bag you speak of?

 

 The kind that Fat Guy used to liberate here. The kind that Costco uses. 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

9 hours ago, Anna N said:

 The kind that Fat Guy used to liberate here. The kind that Costco uses. 

 

Thanks but I'm still no closer to a clue.  Around here, bags near Earthbound produce rip when you try to put the lettuce in them.

 

[Anna N]

9 minutes ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

Thanks but I'm still no closer to a clue.  Around here, bags near Earthbound produce rip when you try to put the lettuce in them.

 

They are very substantial plastic bags that are worth washing and reusing.  One of our better class supermarkets uses them for produce.  They do come on a roll but they have no handles which many of the cheaper ones do.  They are just a rectangular plastic bag. I don’t even think a photograph would help. 

[MetsFan5]

On 6/11/2018 at 10:08 AM, Porthos said:

I re-use large trash can bags. Most of our recycle goes to the curb in the blue recycle barrels. I keep aluminum cans and California CRV plastic bottles and recycle those for my "booze slush fund." I store up those items, until I have $20+ dollars worth to turn in, in the large trash bags.

 

 

   A bit bewildered by the recycling in CA having to be in a bag. Seems like more waste. 

[Anna N]

56 minutes ago, MetsFan5 said:

A bit bewildered by the recycling in CA having to be in a bag. Seems like more waste. 

 Here it beats recyclables being blown all over town and into all the ravines on a windy day.