Your kitchen and the environment
October 16, 2007
Filed under Miscellaneous
In case you didn’t notice, I was displaying the Blog Action Day badge on the sidebar for over a week. The campaign culminated yesterday, October 15th, with almost 20,000 blogs participating, including Pinoy Cook. What is it about? It is about the little things that we can do to help save the environment. Until the last minute, I couldn’t decide whether I was going to post an entry here or write an op-ed column. After all, the environment is everyone’s concern, not just us food lovers. So, I wrote the column and it was published today. You can read Reusable, not disposable over at Sassy Lawyer’s Journal. Only after it has been published did I realize that there was more that I wanted to say. Hence, this entry.
I was going through the list of 50 things you can do and felt, for once, a bit glad that I am living in the Third World where, with the horrendous cost of electricity, we are always conscious about our consumption. No water heaters (not that we need one in this climate), no clothes dryer, no dishwasher, no unnecessary lights turned on, CFCs all over the house, manual lawnmower, rechargeable batteries…
When it comes to food… well, just a couple of weeks ago while doing the grocery, I was telling my husband how much has changed with our supermarket habits. Minimal canned goods, zero instant noodles, zero powdered juice drinks… I can’t even remember the last time we bought hotdogs. Few may realize it but less processed food produced means less factories that pollute. Of course, companies like Coca-Cola will say a lot of people will lose their jobs but then is there no reason why Coca-cola can’t diversify into less harmful, unhealthy and useless food products so that it would have no reason to shut down?
But, politics aside, right here at home, there’s more than I can do. I can cut down on the use of disposable items in the kitchen — aluminum foil, wax paper, cling wrap, plastic bags… I’m going to get a reusable spoon and fork container for the kids’ lunch boxes instead of using disposable plastic bags. And no more sandwich bags either after the last pack is used up. I can put their sandwiches in reusable plastic containers just like the ones that contain their rice and ulam. It might not sound like much but with a reusable container for the spoons and forks, and the sandwiches, that’s four plastic bags less for five days a week. Multiply that by the number of school days in one year and, well, I don’t think that’s a negligible effort.
What about you? Can you think of more things that you can do at home to help save the environment?
Comments
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In focus
Connie, the points re processed food is quite valid. Besides using reusable containers, I’ve been bringing my own plastic bags to the supermarket for a long time. (When we were still in Philippines, the bagger boys in Shopwise know what to do when they see I’m the one in the check-out counter). Where I am now, I bought those reusable “green” bags which I bought to hold my groceries as well; I even bring it to the wet market to put the veggies and fruits that I buy. I told my maid if we can save 5 plastic bags each from the weekly visit to the wet market & supermarket, that’s 250 less plastic bags in a year… If 1000 people will do it … do the math
Also, when I buy take-out food, i bring my own reusable container as well, to avoid using more plastic containers (or worse, styropor).
Bringing a reusable container for take-out food sounds great. Even for leftovers when we eat out. And even for the supermarket. I think I can manage that too. Thanks, Arlene.
you just gave me an idea to sew a spoon and fork container (good timing kasi last na ung plastic kanina) for my son’s lunchbox and maybe instead of wrapping it first in tissue before finally putting it in plastic labo, i’ll just wrap it in a table cloth napkin. the sandwich - i’ve been using a reusable plastic container similar to his rice container para makatipid sa sandwich bag at para hindi “mapipi” ang bread at mapunta lahat sa tissue ang dressing.