The HOTBIN Weekender #08
How much food is wasted during Thanksgiving?
Here's a number that will make your head spin: In the USA, we waste 40% of all food produced ($165 billion). Of this total, $293 million is generated during thanksgiving alone. The same article quoted that while we throw this amount of food on this feast alone, an estimated 40 million Americans struggle with hunger.
We know that we cannot solve all all of these problems at once. However, we can make simple contributions that can go long ways. Here are three ideas to start reducing food-waste in our households and those of our loved ones:
1) Be conscientious when estimating the amount of food to prepare. You don’t have to cut on your favorite dishes, but in the amounts you cook.
2) Properly store left-overs and be creative in adding them on new recipes that can be consumed by your loved-ones in the following days, or before they go bad.
3) If you already have a composting bin, recycle food scraps, and turn them into rich compost for your garden; or call for local composting services to do it for you.
4) Last but not least, encourage home-composting to the chefs in your life by adding a composter bin for them to your gift-giving list.
Zero Waste Gifts
Finding the right gifts for everyone on your list is challenging. More so, if you are aiming to do some contributions to the environment by finding zero-waste products that are a good fit to some on your list.
You may be already looking for something special for your already sustainability-minded loved one; or you may want to help someone close to you adopt a zero-waste perspective; or take the next step on their no-waste journey; or are just reflecting on your own quest to become a more conscious consumer.
Regardless of the reason, here are some ideas and thoughtful gifts for everyone in your life from cooks to artists to kids:
- Look for products that avoid trashing.
- Think on products with reusable packaging, products that are repurpose-able, compostable, consumable, or can be properly recycled.
- Its not about avoiding plastics … but about refusing single-used plastics that do not fit in any of the above qualities listed on #2 above.
The ultimate goal is to give them a genuine and useful gift catered to their interests and the ability to protect our planet while using it.
Last tip: Search online… you may be surprised of how many gifts can fit the zero-waste purpose!
A Gift For the Chefs in Your Life
The kitchen can rack up waste fast. From the paper products used to wipe counters and hands to food waste, nearly everything we do while cooking has a by-product that ends up being thrown away.
Help the cooks in your life lessen their impact and reduce plastic pollution with a zero waste gift that is aligned to their day-to-day cooking activities.
Food waste accounts for 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions and releases methane, a gas much more potent than carbon dioxide produced by food-waste trapped in landfills. Preventing these emissions by composting food-waste, eliminates this harmful release, can turn waste into nutrient-rich soil, making giving a cook a compost bin, an incredibly impactful gift.
Whether the gift is a compost pick-up service subscription, a simple home-composting bin such as HOTBIN, the ability to compost will be a wonderful addition to your giftee’s life.
It always feels good to put food waste in the compost instead of the trash. Plus, if they have a garden, the resulting valuable fertilizer will be a gift that keeps on giving!
This week's videos:
- Make Compost in 4-6 weeks. (Allotment group)
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Crank Up the Heat with the Kick Start Bottle (Repeat by popularity)