Have you seen this? IBM Chef Watson takes whatever you have in your fridge and turns into in a bon appétit recipe. There's a short video on TestTube about how it can help you solve your food waste problems.
How The Food Industry Plans To Help Cut U.S. Food Waste In Half By 2030 - Huffington Post
5 No Waste Tips for Using Stale Bread - Food & Wine
How to Avoid the Food Waste Traps During the Holiday Seasons - Huffington Post. Shop wisely, don't buy more than you really need, make room for leftovers and plan how you will use them.
Investigation reveals millions of pounds of food wasted everyday - Food suppliers are throwing out tons of food before they get to the retail market.
Friday, November 13, 2015
Wednesday, November 11, 2015
ZW Book Share: Overdressed: The Shockingly High Cost of Cheap Fashion
by Elizabeth L. Cline
A great explanation of the rise of cheap trendy clothes and how it's effecting our society and environment.
Goodreads Review:
Until recently, Elizabeth Cline was a typical American consumer. She’d grown accustomed to shopping at outlet malls, discount stores like T.J. Maxx, and cheap but trendy retailers like Forever 21, Target, and H&M. She was buying a new item of clothing almost every week (the national average is sixty-four per year) but all she had to show for it was a closet and countless storage bins packed full of low-quality fads she barely wore—including the same sailor-stripe tops and fleece hoodies as a million other shoppers. When she found herself lugging home seven pairs of identical canvas flats from Kmart (a steal at $7 per pair, marked down from $15!), she realized that something was deeply wrong.
Cheap fashion has fundamentally changed the way most Americans dress. Stores ranging from discounters like Target to traditional chains like JCPenney now offer the newest trends at unprecedentedly low prices. Retailers are producing clothes at enormous volumes in order to drive prices down and profits up, and they’ve turned clothing into a disposable good. After all, we have little reason to keep wearing and repairing the clothes we already own when styles change so fast and it’s cheaper to just buy more.
But what are we doing with all these cheap clothes? And more important, what are they doing to us, our society, our environment, and our economic well-being?
In Overdressed, Cline sets out to uncover the true nature of the cheap fashion juggernaut, tracing the rise of budget clothing chains, the death of middle-market and independent retailers, and the roots of our obsession with deals and steals. She travels to cheap-chic factories in China, follows the fashion industry as it chases even lower costs into Bangladesh, and looks at the impact (both here and abroad) of America’s drastic increase in imports. She even explores how cheap fashion harms the charity thrift shops and textile recyclers where our masses of clothing castoffs end up.
Sewing, once a life skill for American women and a pathway from poverty to the middle class for workers, is now a dead-end sweatshop job. The pressures of cheap have forced retailers to drastically reduce detail and craftsmanship, making the clothes we wear more and more uniform, basic, and low quality. Creative independent designers struggle to produce good and sustainable clothes at affordable prices.
Cline shows how consumers can break the buy-and-toss cycle by supporting innovative and stylish sustainable designers and retailers, refashioning clothes throughout their lifetimes, and mending and even making clothes themselves.
Overdressed will inspire you to vote with your dollars and find a path back to being well dressed and feeling good about what you wear.
-----------------------------------------------------
ZW Book Share
I'm a librarian, so I'm always reading a book. These are books that I've read and recommend to you to learn more about ideas and issues surrounding the Zero Waste Lifestyle. I hope to share a book a week with you. I do love to find the perfect book for the right reader, so I hope I can share books that you can add to your "To Be Read" pile.
Borrow these great books from your local library or buy the book and pass it on to a friend.
Until recently, Elizabeth Cline was a typical American consumer. She’d grown accustomed to shopping at outlet malls, discount stores like T.J. Maxx, and cheap but trendy retailers like Forever 21, Target, and H&M. She was buying a new item of clothing almost every week (the national average is sixty-four per year) but all she had to show for it was a closet and countless storage bins packed full of low-quality fads she barely wore—including the same sailor-stripe tops and fleece hoodies as a million other shoppers. When she found herself lugging home seven pairs of identical canvas flats from Kmart (a steal at $7 per pair, marked down from $15!), she realized that something was deeply wrong.
Cheap fashion has fundamentally changed the way most Americans dress. Stores ranging from discounters like Target to traditional chains like JCPenney now offer the newest trends at unprecedentedly low prices. Retailers are producing clothes at enormous volumes in order to drive prices down and profits up, and they’ve turned clothing into a disposable good. After all, we have little reason to keep wearing and repairing the clothes we already own when styles change so fast and it’s cheaper to just buy more.
But what are we doing with all these cheap clothes? And more important, what are they doing to us, our society, our environment, and our economic well-being?
In Overdressed, Cline sets out to uncover the true nature of the cheap fashion juggernaut, tracing the rise of budget clothing chains, the death of middle-market and independent retailers, and the roots of our obsession with deals and steals. She travels to cheap-chic factories in China, follows the fashion industry as it chases even lower costs into Bangladesh, and looks at the impact (both here and abroad) of America’s drastic increase in imports. She even explores how cheap fashion harms the charity thrift shops and textile recyclers where our masses of clothing castoffs end up.
Sewing, once a life skill for American women and a pathway from poverty to the middle class for workers, is now a dead-end sweatshop job. The pressures of cheap have forced retailers to drastically reduce detail and craftsmanship, making the clothes we wear more and more uniform, basic, and low quality. Creative independent designers struggle to produce good and sustainable clothes at affordable prices.
Cline shows how consumers can break the buy-and-toss cycle by supporting innovative and stylish sustainable designers and retailers, refashioning clothes throughout their lifetimes, and mending and even making clothes themselves.
Overdressed will inspire you to vote with your dollars and find a path back to being well dressed and feeling good about what you wear.
-----------------------------------------------------
ZW Book Share
I'm a librarian, so I'm always reading a book. These are books that I've read and recommend to you to learn more about ideas and issues surrounding the Zero Waste Lifestyle. I hope to share a book a week with you. I do love to find the perfect book for the right reader, so I hope I can share books that you can add to your "To Be Read" pile.
Borrow these great books from your local library or buy the book and pass it on to a friend.
Monday, November 9, 2015
Zero Waste Reader 11/9/15: Decluttering with kids, consumption, economy, solar, indoor gardens
Is it Possible to Declutter When You Have Kids? See Why Minimalism Expert Marie Kondo Says Yes - PopSugar.
This is easier to do with some kids than others. I also think it has to do with age. My youngest (7 years old) doesn't have an easy time with parting with things. My oldest (10 yrs) has no problems. I don't know if it's age or personality.
A New, Minimalist Economy - Becoming Minimalist. Moving away from a consumer economy won't ruin the economy, but it will change it.
You know you're consuming too much – how to stop before it consumes you too - The Guardian. Overconsumption and advertising/marketing go hand in hand.
Germany to get 33% of its electricity from renewables this year (193 billion kWh!) - TreeHugger. This is awesome!
The Grove is a smart indoor garden that lets you grow lettuce year round - TreeHugger. This is a really great idea.
This is easier to do with some kids than others. I also think it has to do with age. My youngest (7 years old) doesn't have an easy time with parting with things. My oldest (10 yrs) has no problems. I don't know if it's age or personality.
A New, Minimalist Economy - Becoming Minimalist. Moving away from a consumer economy won't ruin the economy, but it will change it.
You know you're consuming too much – how to stop before it consumes you too - The Guardian. Overconsumption and advertising/marketing go hand in hand.
Germany to get 33% of its electricity from renewables this year (193 billion kWh!) - TreeHugger. This is awesome!
The Grove is a smart indoor garden that lets you grow lettuce year round - TreeHugger. This is a really great idea.
Friday, November 6, 2015
Zero Waste Reader, 11/6/15: Food Waste Friday
Why supermarkets’ love of use-by dates leads to food waste - The Guardian. Food labeling of "best before", "use by" dates is kind of a mess.
Reduce food waste with leftovers - The Independent. Quick tips for leftovers.
Talking trash: Farm-to-table has arrived, but where is garbage going? - Atlanta Journal Constitution (subscription-1st article free). Metro-Atlanta desperately needs curbside/industrial composting, especially for apartment dwellers.
Reduce food waste with leftovers - The Independent. Quick tips for leftovers.
Talking trash: Farm-to-table has arrived, but where is garbage going? - Atlanta Journal Constitution (subscription-1st article free). Metro-Atlanta desperately needs curbside/industrial composting, especially for apartment dwellers.
Thursday, November 5, 2015
Zero Waste Reader, 11/5/15:
Declutter your life and improve your health - Michigan State University Extension. Brief, but interesting article about the wellness benefits of less clutter in your life and brain. Also contains a link to a neuroscience report about clutter effecting your ability to focus.
Veering away from Zero Waste topic a bit, but still about living a low impact life by living in a walkable area:
Stay in your lane: Liverpool opens fast lanes for pedestrians - Christian Science Monitor. Dedicated walking lanes for fast walkers vs. the regular lane with the texters and window shoppers....carpool lane for pedestrians!
Home-made Solutions for the Seemingly Impossible - The Suburban. Tips for making some items that are hard to find without packaging. Check out her Facebook page for more tips: Live Waste Free
Everyday Things You Aren't Recycling, But Should Be - Huff Post. More tips for where things can go when you declutter.
I love this! Great book choice for the Big Read (one community, one book).
Boise High School teachers use Garbology inside–and outside—the classroom - Education Innovation. I haven't read this one, yet. When I do, I'll put up a review.
Have any Zero Waste News that I've missed? Please comment or send me an email.
Veering away from Zero Waste topic a bit, but still about living a low impact life by living in a walkable area:
Stay in your lane: Liverpool opens fast lanes for pedestrians - Christian Science Monitor. Dedicated walking lanes for fast walkers vs. the regular lane with the texters and window shoppers....carpool lane for pedestrians!
Home-made Solutions for the Seemingly Impossible - The Suburban. Tips for making some items that are hard to find without packaging. Check out her Facebook page for more tips: Live Waste Free
Everyday Things You Aren't Recycling, But Should Be - Huff Post. More tips for where things can go when you declutter.
I love this! Great book choice for the Big Read (one community, one book).
Boise High School teachers use Garbology inside–and outside—the classroom - Education Innovation. I haven't read this one, yet. When I do, I'll put up a review.
Have any Zero Waste News that I've missed? Please comment or send me an email.
Wednesday, November 4, 2015
ZW Book Share: Garbage Land by Elizabeth Royte
by Elizabeth Royte
What actually happens to the things that we throw "away"? Follow your trash from the garbage can on the street through the many waste stream possibilities.
Goodreads Review: Out of sight, out of mind ... Into our trash cans go dead batteries, dirty diapers, bygone burritos, broken toys, tattered socks, eight-track cassettes, scratched CDs, banana peels.... But where do these things go next? In a country that consumes and then casts off more and more, what actually happens to the things we throw away?
In Garbage Land, acclaimed science writer Elizabeth Royte leads us on the wild adventure that begins once our trash hits the bottom of the can. Along the way, we meet an odor chemist who explains why trash smells so bad; garbage fairies and recycling gurus; neighbors of massive waste dumps; CEOs making fortunes by encouraging waste or encouraging recycling-often both at the same time; scientists trying to revive our most polluted places; fertilizer fanatics and adventurers who kayak amid sewage; paper people, steel people, aluminum people, plastic people, and even a guy who swears by recycling human waste.
With a wink and a nod and a tightly clasped nose, Royte takes us on a bizarre cultural tour through slime, stench, and heat-in other words, through the back end of our ever-more supersized lifestyles. By showing us what happens to the things we've "disposed of," Royte reminds us that our decisions about consumption and waste have a very real impact-and that unless we undertake radical change, the garbage we create will always be with us: in the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the food we consume. Radiantly written and boldly reported, Garbage Land is a brilliant exploration into the soiled heart of the American trash can.
-----------------------------------------------------
ZW Book Share
I'm a librarian, so I'm always reading a book. These are books that I've read and recommend to you to learn more about ideas and issues surrounding the Zero Waste Lifestyle. I hope to share a book a week with you. I do love to find the perfect book for the right reader, so I hope I can share books that you can add to your "To Be Read" pile.
Borrow these great books from your local library or buy the book and pass it on to a friend.
Friday, October 30, 2015
ZW Reader 10/30/15: Food Waste Friday
Everyday people fighting food waste and helping those in need:
New Westminster man takes food from grocery stores and gives it to charities - CBCNews - BC
Avoid food waste by understanding the "best before" and "expiration" dates:
Best before dates lead to waste by consumers - Global News
What you can do to avoid food waste:
Fighting food costs: 13 ways to reduce food waste and better utilize the freezer - The Oregonian
How to Make Food Last Longer - Food Network Healthy Eats
5 Tips to Avoid Food Waste While Traveling - Quick and Dirty Tips
A Business Idea to deal with supermarket food waste:
'Bargain' shop tackles food waste and caters to hard-up locals with items priced at just 25p - ITV
The Real Cost Of Food Waste - Mother Earth News
Not really about Food Waste, but so cool...
How Food Trucks Are Making School Lunch Cool - The Atlantic
New Westminster man takes food from grocery stores and gives it to charities - CBCNews - BC
Avoid food waste by understanding the "best before" and "expiration" dates:
Best before dates lead to waste by consumers - Global News
What you can do to avoid food waste:
Fighting food costs: 13 ways to reduce food waste and better utilize the freezer - The Oregonian
How to Make Food Last Longer - Food Network Healthy Eats
5 Tips to Avoid Food Waste While Traveling - Quick and Dirty Tips
A Business Idea to deal with supermarket food waste:
'Bargain' shop tackles food waste and caters to hard-up locals with items priced at just 25p - ITV
The Real Cost Of Food Waste - Mother Earth News
Not really about Food Waste, but so cool...
How Food Trucks Are Making School Lunch Cool - The Atlantic
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