Author: N

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Why zero waste?

Zero waste is a philosophy advocating for the indefinite cyclical reuse of materials and resources, often in a way that mimics how resources are reused in nature (e.g. composting). The idea of zero waste has been around for a while, since the 1970s, but has recently been adopted as an individual lifestyle, thanks in large part to Bea Johnson of Zero Waste Home. The goal of a zero waste lifestyle is to produce zero waste.

However, “waste” is rather ambiguous in this context. It can refer to garbage sent to the landfill, or garbage and recycling, or sometimes garbage and recycling and compost.

Additionally, I don’t like the phrase “zero waste”. It’s unreachable, depending on how waste is defined, and thus misleading. And it encourages perfectionism, which is exclusionary and off-putting. I prefer to talk about “waste reduction” or a “low waste” lifestyle, which everyone can adopt to some extent.

So the question becomes:

Why would anyone want to adopt a low-waste lifestyle?

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10+ easy things you can do to produce less waste

It can seem really daunting to try to reduce the amount of waste you produce. The extremes are so extreme: hoarders at one end, and the (unreachable) goal of zero waste at the other. Instead of trying to be perfect right from the beginning, make small changes that will have a big impact in your life! You’ll likely find that a majority of your trash is generated from just a few activities; if you can reduce the waste associated with those activities, your overall trash production will go down a lot!

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Banana Bread recipe

The recipe for the banana bread seen in J’s previous post is from the Cook’s Illustrated cookbook (not sure what year, but it’s kinda old).

Banana Bread

2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup toasted, coarsely chopped walnuts

3 very ripe, soft, darkly speckled large bananas, mashed well

1/4 cup plain yoghurt

2 large eggs

6 Tb butter, melted

1 tsp vanilla extract

Mix dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking soda, walnuts). Mix wet ingredients (banana, yoghurt, eggs, butter, vanilla). Mix wet and dry ingredients together until just combined. Batter should be thick.

Bake for ~55 min (knife inserted into center should come out clean) at 350°F in greased loaf pan.

Modifications

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Garbology Book Review

I recently finished Garbology by Edward Humes. Basically, it talks about some interesting stuff, but has problems staying on topic. The book jumps back and forth as if it forgot to add some important detail before. The different sections don’t connect well and don’t build on each other. The author never really reaches a conclusion (what are we supposed to do about this problem?).

Additionally, the author doesn’t use that many citations (certainly much fewer than I expected, considering how many claims he makes), and I saw one incorrect statistic which made me doubt the veracity of the others.

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Sewing at the library

On Saturday, I went to sewing hour at my local library. (There are sewing machines available for public use!) There are always more projects to work on, and items to repair!

I’ve been modifying a shirt I made a few months ago. The collar was a little short, and I had forgotten to trim the seam allowance to make room for the collar buttonhole. I’ve been reading Shirtmaking by David Coffin, which spurred me to try to make improvements.

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Blender woes

I bought a blender from someone on Craigslist a while ago (very convenient! I highly recommend Craigslist; there’s even a free section). It was meant to replace a very low-quality, very hard-to-clean food processor. There are a few blended things I make (hummus, falafel, soymilk) that justified a slight upgrade, but I didn’t want to spend a ton of money.

At this point, I can’t even definitively say that the blender is better than the food processor. It does have a glass pitcher and takes longer to smell like burning plastic 🙁 but it doesn’t chop things as finely. Hummus is a struggle; falafel and soymilk don’t get ground finely enough to be even close to correct.

I discovered that the food mill (I don’t have the very useful tripod stand) works great for hummus, but it won’t work for harder things (like falafel, where the chickpeas are still raw) and it seems that the question of the safety of aluminum cookware is still undecided. What is the most versatile tool for my blending/grinding/chopping needs that isn’t electrified, will last forever, and/or can be bought used?

Ideas:

  1. Mortar and pestle (my sibling finds this very suitable)
  2. Handcrank food/Grain mill
  3. KitchenAid stand mixer with grinding attachment (would also replace bread machine)
  4. Suggestions?
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San Mateo County Fair

J and I went to the county fair last weekend. J already wrote his review.

I was mostly interested in going for the crafts and animals. Of course I’ve gone to county fairs before when I was growing up, but I haven’t been since I’ve gotten more into crafts and heritage stuff (which includes livestock breeds!).

There was the requisite quilt competition, along with homemade clothing (not much), and crocheted and knitted items. I was excited to see a group of spinners (the Elkus Ranch Spinners) and a sustainable living section!

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