Giving Waste the Boot

It has been almost a year since I have posted last and while I am still baking up a storm, thanks to Pinterest, I have not taken as much time to post or take pictures of what I have made.  I did decide however to change slightly the focus on the blog.  I will still be posting about baking and cooking and all things tasty, however I wanted more flexibility to write about things which inspired me creatively...so I have changed my tag line and given the page a face lift of sorts.

Now with free reign to write as I please I want to share a book I have reciently finsihed reading and which I am sure my friends and family are sick and tired of hearing about.  It is called Zero Waste Home: The Ultimate Guide to Simplifying Your Life by Reducing Your Waste.  Blogger Bea Johnson was doing an interview on WYPR to promote her new book and when I caught some of her message I knew I had to read it.


Since completing the book, I have started to re-evaluate all of the "stuff" which has accumulated in my house and started taking small steps to produce less waste and keep what is truly necessary.  The message from Zero Waste Home is not necessarily about minimalist living, but rather about decreasing the amount of waste you or your family produces to have a positive impact on the Earth.  It is about having less "stuff" to worry about or clean, so you can spend more quality time with your family and friends.

The first step I took was to clean out all of the plastic containers from the cupboard where they had been piling up for that day-when-I-would-need-them.  In the spirit of Zero Waste, I recycled what was there and have switched over to storing my leftovers in glass containers, which are reusable, instead of the plastic which will eventually have to be disposed of.  I would post a picture, but I did not take a "before" shot, but I am sure you can just look in your container drawer and get your own visual.

So what is the problem with plastic containers?  Well...eventually they break down and give off gasses which could be harmful to your health when heating food, but additionally it takes much more energy to recycle those plastic containers, no matter how long you may re-use them and so in the end your carbon foot print is a size 9 opposed to a size 8.  Along with getting rid of the plastic, I am making the conscience choice to avoid items packaged in plastic when possible to keep it out of the house.  It is taking some adjustment, but I am slowly getting the hang of it.