Zero Waste Reader: October 2015

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

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

Wednesday, October 28, 2015

ZW Book Share: Junkyard Planet: Travels in the Billion-Dollar Trash Trade

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.

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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.

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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

Zero Waste Reader