Attempting to reduce waste from my kitchen

[auntieannie]

Now that I live on my own, and that I pay for my own taxed binbags, I am attempting to limit what i put in them as much as possible.

The composting thing helps a lot.

The buying a few things from the place without packaging helps too.

Buying loose fruit and veg as much as possible, from the other shops helps too.

However, I'm not yet leaving the packaging at the till as some do now that they've heard they can.

The mostly cooking from scratch does it.

So... what currently occupies my binbags?

- any plastic wrapper
- any wrapping that contained either meat or fish
- the skins of mandarines and other citrus fruit
- the skins of garlic as that does not go into the composter.
- the plastic yoghurt containers. thankfully some of them come with thin plastic and a layer of cardboard outside so the cardboard goes into the cardboard recycling. I cut the plastic yoghurt containers so they take less space.
- dust, hair and what comes out of my (bagless) vacuum cleaner.
- the "skin" of gruyère cheese
- the skins of peanuts. I am not sure I can put them in the composter.

I use a 17lt binbag and for the moment, I've been able to make them last about a month. Which is not bad. However, the bin is already outside as it starts to stink after a short time and I worry about summertime.

Shall I bring my own washable, reusable containers for meat and fish, which would reduce the stink factor?
Shall I consider purchasing a yoghurt maker or shall I use a "thermos" type thing and make my own yoghurt?
What else shall I do?

[shrjeff]

if you have an oven light, making yoghurt yourself is a cinch: take a deep dish, fill with milk, mix in a bio yoghurt (so the culture is still active) and place overnight in the oven with the light on for heat... voila!

oh, and why do you throw out the cheese skin? can't you just add to soups, etc. for flavor?

[OnlyMark]

I used to make our own yoghurt. Never could make enough though.

What about stuff like feminine hygiene products, dish washing liquid container, clothes washing container, dish sponge, dish cloth (or whatever you use instead of all that), teabags, egg shells and so on.............

[auntieannie]

Jan 15, 2020 14:37:47 GMT 2 OnlyMark said:

I used to make our own yoghurt. Never could make enough though.

What about stuff like feminine hygiene products, dish washing liquid container, clothes washing container, dish sponge, dish cloth (or whatever you use instead of all that), teabags, egg shells and so on.............

feminine hygiene products: mostly finished with that. thank you very much. My nieces seem to all use a reusable mooncup or similar.

dishwashing liquid container. I've got one and will buy recharges to fill it next time. it takes a few months to use a bottle.

clothes washing container: I bought a refill bag rather than a bottle. will see if it is workable at the end of it and if not, I'll buy a bottle and refill it.

dish sponge: that is something I still use

dish cloth: I've got washable ones but am planning on knitting some more from 100% cotton for the future.

teabags: I'm mostly using loose stuff to infuse. I still have a few teabags but gently phasing most of them out.

eggshells go in the composter.

[slowcoach]

At the end of doing the washing up, if you do this by hand, you could wash/rinse anything that contained food that has left a residue. That should reduce smells due to decomposition.

Consider whether other produce that whilst quite dry initially might rot if put into a plastic bag could be kept in something that would promote drying prior to going into a plastic sack. E.G. a net type bag of the sort that vegetables sometimes come in.

Any dry household dirt, dust, hair, sweepings etc., could be put first into any smallish plastic bags that you happen to need to dispose of to keep this material away from anything that might rot and so that it can be more easily compressed prior to going into the sack. E.G. several bags pressed into the final dirt bag.  

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I am surprised that yoghurt puts are not recycled.

I have tried to look at a Swiss recycling website but it defied my attempts to use google translate.

[slowcoach]

Jan 15, 2020 14:37:47 GMT 2 OnlyMark said:

I used to make our own yoghurt. Never could make enough though.

FWIW, when I made yoghurt back when it was still a bit of an oddity, I did so on a catering scale. I still think it is technically easier to make larger quantities as the mixture's temperature is more stable, it takes longer to cool. If the object is to produce yoghurt overnight (>12hr) that is ready to eat at breakfast time, a large amount in a container wrapped in some textile insulator, towels, blanket, etc., would yield a product that is quite cool enough to consume.

I feel I must reiterate that I was making large amounts, e.g. a few gallons at a time, but today, I purchase 3-5litres (~1gal) at a time, which is a substantial amount, and just enough to last between supermercado visits.

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ETA: I purchase a Greek style yoghurt, that is good enough and given that it works out at less than €1.50/litre there would be no great savings to be made by home production.

[Scrubb]

Here, plastic yoghurt containers are recyclable - is there someplace you could take yours?

Also, although I've heard that citrus peels shouldn't be composted, I always put mine in and have had no problems at all. I also put in my garlic skins, and peanut skins. And tea bags.

When I take the compost out of the bottom of the composter, sometimes there are things that are not entirely broken down - usually large pieces of citrus peel and egg shells. I put them back in the top, and pretty much by the next time I take stuff out the bottom, they are gone. But I have a very large bin - if it was a smaller one, maybe they would clog it up too much. Anyway, the garlic skins and teabags are always gone.

Our garbage bag has some plastic packaging (like the bags pasta comes in, styrofoam and wrap from fish, plastic bags that my chicken comes in). Any bones and fish scraps after eating. Dust, hair, etc., from the bagless vacuum.

Mr_S even put shrimp shells in the compost yesterday - not sure that was a great idea, but we'll see how things look in the summer when the compost thaws and gets stirred.

[auntieannie]

Mind the material the teabag is made of. might not be good for compost these days.

I am very unsure about recycling of plastic.

[Scrubb]

I will double check what's in the teabags, but I think they are some kind of paper.

PLastic is very easy to recycle, actually. From what I've read, it's straight forward and efficient compared to paper or glass.

[kerouac2]

I threw away too many things this week. Spoiled salad, mouldy hummus, ratatouille that had worn out its welcome. It was a bad week for food at my place.

[auntieannie]

However, I hope it was a good week for all other facets of your life, K2.

[Scrubb]

Jan 18, 2020 7:31:05 GMT 2 Scrubb said:

PLastic is very easy to recycle, actually. From what I've read, it's straight forward and efficient compared to paper or glass.

...that said, reducing use of plastic is a much better choice than recycling it.

[auntieannie]

Scrubb, about your eggshells. Do you crush them a little before putting them in the composter? We do that and it seems it helps break down faster.

[Scrubb]

Yes, I crush them a bit and it helps. Although sometimes I forget, so I imagine those are the ones that don't break down as fast.

[mockchoc]

Annie here in Queensland we can buy bags full of peanut shells to use as mulch on our gardens so for sure you can compost your shells.

[auntieannie]

thank you mockchoc! I'll know for next winter.