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
Thursday, October 29, 2015
Zero Waste Reader 10/29/15: Fashion/Textiles, Minimalism
New Zealand Fashion Students Make Waste Wearable - Ecouterre
- Fashion designs created by re-using fabric from uniforms that would have otherwise gone to the landfill.
Minimalism mayhem: creating a capsule wardrobe - The Upcoming
Why should you become a minimalist?
Why Most Men Don’t Make Good Minimalists And Why It Matters - The Good Men Project
- Fashion designs created by re-using fabric from uniforms that would have otherwise gone to the landfill.
Minimalism mayhem: creating a capsule wardrobe - The Upcoming
Why should you become a minimalist?
Why Most Men Don’t Make Good Minimalists And Why It Matters - The Good Men Project
Wednesday, October 28, 2015
ZW Book Share: Junkyard Planet: Travels in the Billion-Dollar Trash Trade
by Adam Minter
Engaging look at the scrap metal trade from the USA to China. The book looks at how our metal junk travels to China and then returns to us in a new form to be purchased again.
I found the descriptions of how scrap recyclers function fascinating: everything from retrieving the copper from christmas lights to shredding cars. (Look up 'car shredder' on YouTube...incredible!)
Goodreads review: When you drop your Diet Coke can or yesterday’s newspaper in the recycling bin, where does it go? Probably halfway around the world, to people and places that clean up what you don’t want and turn it into something you can’t wait to buy. In Junkyard Planet, Adam Minter—veteran journalist and son of an American junkyard owner—travels deeply into a vast, often hidden, multibillion-dollar industry that’s transforming our economy and environment.
Minter takes us from back-alley Chinese computer recycling operations to high-tech facilities capable of processing a jumbo jet’s worth of recyclable trash every day. Along the way, we meet an unforgettable cast of characters who've figured out how to build fortunes from what we throw away: Leonard Fritz, a young boy "grubbing" in Detroit's city dumps in the 1930s; Johnson Zeng, a former plastics engineer roaming America in search of scrap; and Homer Lai, an unassuming barber turned scrap titan in Qingyuan, China. Junkyard Planet reveals how “going green” usually means making money—and why that’s often the most sustainable choice, even when the recycling methods aren’t pretty.
With unmatched access to and insight on the junk trade, and the explanatory gifts and an eye for detail worthy of a John McPhee or William Langewiesche, Minter traces the export of America’s recyclables and the massive profits that China and other rising nations earn from it. What emerges is an engaging, colorful, and sometimes troubling tale of consumption, innovation, and the ascent of a developing world that recognizes value where Americans don’t. Junkyard Planet reveals that we might need to learn a smarter way to take out the trash.
-----------------------------------------------------
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.
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.
Thursday, October 22, 2015
ZW Reader 10/22/15: Food Waste
- Your Call: How much food is America wasting? - KALW Local Public Radio
- How cutting waste in the kitchen can boost your family's food budget - Denver Post
- Produce with Purpose: An Interview with Hungry Harvest CEO Evan Lutz - FoodTank
- Tesco supply changes mean food will stay fresh 'for two extra days' - The Guardian
We need changes to eliminate food waste - Star Telegram
Wednesday, October 21, 2015
ZW book share: Plastic: a toxic love story by Susan Freinkel.
Plastic: A Toxic Love Story.
by Susan Freinkel
This book is very readable. It describes the journey of plastics into our homes through the lens of the most ubiquitous uses of plastic in our society: water bottles, medical uses, lighters, combs, etc. Plastic defines and has created the modern world.
Plastic is made from oil products that have taken millions of years to be created. We're making disposable items from this precious resource and then we just throw it away. Freinkel has written an engaging book to help us understand where we are and how we need to start making some hard choices to make a better future. - Heather
Goodreads review: Plastic built the modern world. Where would we be without bike helmets, baggies, toothbrushes, and pacemakers? But a century into our love affair with plastic, we’re starting to realize it’s not such a healthy relationship. Plastics draw on dwindling fossil fuels, leach harmful chemicals, litter landscapes, and destroy marine life. As journalist Susan Freinkel points out in this engaging and eye-opening book, we’re nearing a crisis point. We’ve produced as much plastic in the past decade as we did in the entire twentieth century. We’re drowning in the stuff, and we need to start making some hard choices.
Freinkel gives us the tools we need with a blend of lively anecdotes and analysis. She combs through scientific studies and economic data, reporting from China and across the United States to assess the real impact of plastic on our lives. She tells her story through eight familiar plastic objects: comb, chair, Frisbee, IV bag, disposable lighter, grocery bag, soda bottle, and credit card. Her conclusion: we cannot stay on our plastic-paved path. And we don’t have to. Plastic points the way toward a new creative partnership with the material we love to hate but can’t seem to live without.
-----------------------------------------------------
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.
Tuesday, October 20, 2015
ZW Reader 10/20: repair your stuff, declutter your garden, buy nothing, and more
- Singaporeans go green in small practical ways - (Strait Times)... my thought from the article: Wouldn't it be awesome, if Ace Hardware stores had makerspaces connected to the store where you could learn how to repair something?
- How to declutter your garden - Independent
- The eco guide to eating out - The Guardian
- October is Buy Nothing New Month.
Monday, October 19, 2015
ZW Reader, 10/19: recycling controversy, Plastic bags in the UK, wardrobe & weight fluctuation
- A Common Wardrobe Problem: Weight Fluctuation - The minimalist mom
- Declutter your wardrobe: Lessons from people who've done it - CNN
- 5 Simple Changes to move you closer to a Plastic-Free Home - Earth911
- Charge for Plastic Bags in Britain Draws Applause, Anger and Humor - NY Times
Recycling Controversy (Economics vs Environmentalism?):
- The Reign of Recycling - John Tierney in the NY Times
- Is the 'reign of recycling' really over? - Treehugger response
Friday, October 16, 2015
ZW Reader: 10/16
- Why Lauren Singer, the 'zero trash girl', is my crush of the month - awesome!
- Make Your Own Plastic Free and Zero Waste Mascara
- Slow Home Podcast: Simple city living with Rachel Jonat – SHP030
- 7 Cities with Awesome Independent Composting Programs
- Women in Waste spotlight: DSNY's Kathryn Garcia on maintaining the Big Apple
- UCLA puts issue of food waste on front burner
Sunday, May 31, 2015
Zero Waste Buzz, May 31, 2015
- Wasting away our future one trash bag at a time [Las Vegas Review-Journal]
- Old Boston Snow Piles now nasty mounds of trash [CBS Boston]
- Zero Waste Champion Eyes Historic Streetcar Garage Site For Big Sustainability Project [chicagoist]
- Sustainable Fashion And The Stress Of Buying Blue Jeans [Forbes]
- The Joy of Less: A systematic approach to minimalist living [Book Review: LifeHacker]
Tuesday, May 26, 2015
Zero Waste Buzz, May 26, 2015
- Is it possible for New York City to have Zero Waste? [Popular Science]
- 4 cities that are getting rid of all their garbage [fast company]
- Plastic Pollution: a social justice perspective [Huffington Post]
- Out of the classroom and into the woods [npr]
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)