Taking Responsibility

[helwen]

Thinking about ways to cut back on trash and stuff...

Fitzw and I pretty much fail on the driving part because of going down to the valley, we do pretty well on the other things. We're fixing up his dad's old car to use some of the time -- it gets better mileage than the minivan so we can cut down a little on fossil fuel usage. Getting back to smarter usage of daylight will help too, and I'm thinking about quilted hangings and stuff like that again.

Our trash output has been at less than 10% of the average American's for years now -- but I still want to improve on that. I'm working on a few ideas, here and there.... like trying to make tea for the drives so I'm not buying tea at DDs -- at least I usually have my travel mug with me but... my tea doesn't come in a package and theirs does... and if I forget the mug then there's that frickin' styrofoam cup with the plastic lid. And I really do need the tea so...

Meals on the road are a big thing too -- still working on that one. When we have time, I prefer stopping at restaurant for dinner because that's the easiest way to avoid generating packaging waste, but of course that's expensive, and to a certain degree we're still promoting waste because we don't have control over whatever the restaurant's food is packaged in. *sigh* Fastfood-wise, the sushi at Big Y is tolerable and better than most of the cr*p out there, but it comes in plastic... I'm working on figuring out a way to re-use them at least but...

Comments

[loosecanon.livejournal.com]

I grew up on packed food for road trips and bagged lunches for school. Thinking of it that way helps.

An insulated bag or small cooler and some carefully chosen water-tight packaging which fits well inside are helpful.

A small menu of selections which can be managed easily enough and supplemented quickly will save frustration.

Our usual road food consisted of hard eggs, grapes, apples, oranges, or pears, fresh or dried, nuts, and rolls.

Sometimes Mom would make a biscuit pinwheel stuffed with cheese and either olives, tuna fish, or rattatouille. She could make it weeks in advance and freeze it, raw or baked depending on what need she anticipated.

For a kid-pleaser, she would make a dessert that describes like baklava stuffing; nuts poached in lemons and honey, til the honey is a hard candy. That held for weeks.

If you like tuna and have a brand you are comfortable with, a can of tuna and some from-home italian vinaigrette mixed up in a canning jar makes a decent lunch, and the container is easily managed. I make a mark in paint on my "used" lids so I know they are for transportation, not canning.

There are some good brown-bagging sites which might inspire you. All you need are 4 recipes you both agree are right for you.

I just finished a nice batch of palak paneer which I will be using as road-food on Thursday. It came out well.

[helwen.livejournal.com]

The eggs, fruit, and nuts work for me, but I suspect not so much for L. The brown bagging sites sound interesting. Tuna shouldn't be more than twice a week, but definitely valid choice for me -- we don't usually have bread in the house, so I've been trying to come up with non-sandwich options that can be held while driving, hence the difficulty coming up with stuff.

L and I will have to talk about what sorts of things would be acceptable to him, seeing as we're usually on the road at least 3 times/wk for class, and sometimes a 4th for choir or other stuff.

Any recipes for some sort of oats/nuts/fruit/etc. thing out there?

If we do sandwiches, I suppose I can buy a loaf and freeze half of it -- since I've cut way back on wheat, they would be only for him and even he's not going to be able to put away a loaf/week.

[loosecanon.livejournal.com]

I have owed you this reply for some time, my apologies.

I think you would like
http://vegetarian-recipes.suite101.com/article.cfm/cold_spring_rolls_recipe

for wheat-free, vegetarian, low refrigeration, one handed, and portable.

There are a lot of choices, if you make a list of what the priorities are.

I use a book called "lip smackin backpackin" for a lot of portable food. It's all dehydrated, so if I don't eat it it can live in the car for a few days comfortably.

We have made oatcakes by making overcooked oatmeal and spreading it thinly on foil, then baking til dry in the oven.

For a handful of protein,
http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=9920.0
These can be fun to eat, and with different seasonings they can substitute for bagged snacks.

This will sound odd, but this concept might change things for you;
http://www.amazon.com/Manifold-Destiny-Guide-Cooking-Engine/dp/0375751408
(the book is not great, the idea is)
Use your trips to town to cook dinner. Find a place on the manifold, make a fitted cooking pot, seal the food in, and cook as you drive. Anything that works in a crockpot works in an engine box.

My protein bar recipe:

1c Whole rolled oats ( rice flour would work, but higher fiber works better )
1/2c Rice Protein ( ingredients; brown rice, vanilla )
1 banana
1/2c peanut butter ( ingredients; peanuts, salt )


Options; choc chips, minced dried fruit, cocoa powder, honey, agave syrup, apple sauce instead of banana, different nut butters ( make sure there's enough salt )
If you want to bake them, add a teaspoon of baking powder, bake at 300 for about 10 mins.

Freeze in 2 ounce portions

A tablespoon of this an hour can carry me a whole day. Not the best thing for only intake, but it serves a need.

[lauradi7.livejournal.com]

My trash/recycling problem is at the other end - actual stuff, not packaging. I have an attic full of things that aren't really give-away worthy but seem too good to throw away - boxes full of fabric scraps (which I know are used by some factories to make floormat backing, but I don't know how to get them there), broken chairs that I don't know how to fix (and which may not be fixable), and so forth.
Before we can downsize to a smaller (and presumably therefore more energy efficient) home, I have to at least partly empty out this one, and I get stuck.

[helwen.livejournal.com]

Oh, I have that to deal with too -- I was thinking more of trying to minimize bringing in More Stuff. I work at it here and there -- sometimes quite a bit, sometimes just one box gets sorted.

On the fabric scraps, maybe there's a group that does quilting? I hate to sound stereotypical, but there are some women's groups at churches that make quilts for kids and that sort of thing. I gave a bunch of stuff earlier this year to a lady I met who makes toddler clothing from used, scrap, and unwanted fabrics (preferably cotton).

Some other scraps and some clothes that are too ratty to give away I'm going to use to stuff a punching/kicking bag. I figure if the stuffing gets too worn out from use, we can take it out and make paper or something :D

Maybe tackle one type of thing at a time? Like having a handy person look at just the chairs, for instance. Since those can take up a bit of space, that would be a good one to start with.

Another thing I've been doing when I have the energy for it (and not gardening or whatever), is instead of making decisions right away, I work on getting all of the Like things together. When we moved, it was quickly and then I had shoulder surgery, so things have been kind of a mess ever since. But organizing things this way lets you know if you have 4 of something, for instance. Then you can decide if you want to have 4 of that thing.

In our case, we usually accumulate cups :D