The Zero Garbage Challenge

FOOD

Bread

Here is a recipe for the easiest homemade bread.

Bulk Food

Need to buy beans? Oats? Popcorn? Raisins? Buy in bulk, and you can cut back on lots of packaging. In many grocery stores, you can find flour, snacks, grains, beans, dried fruits, nuts, and much, much more. In the Cville area, you can bulk it up at Integral Yoga, Rebecca’s, or Whole Foods, to name a few.

Herbs

Check your grocery store’s bulk section - you’ll probably find spices too. You can store your bulk spices in some of those disposable plastic spice containers lining your cupboard.

Coffee and Tea

I don’t drink coffee, but if you take your own bag to the grocery stores, you can fill it with beans instead of using those disposable coffee bags.

I do drink tea, and lots of it. I had to give away a lot of my tea at the end of 2008 because of the individual wax-lined paper wrappers. Now I buy my tea in bulk (usually kept right next to the spices in the bulk section of the grocery store). And when I’m in the mood for a store-bought tea, I can buy The Republic of Tea.  Their tea comes without the individual wrapper, in a reusable canister.

Butter

Do you love butter? Much to my relief, butter wrappers are compostable.  Here are four more tips for reusing butter wrappers, instead of tossing them. 

Chocolate

I do consider chocolate to be food. And therefore it is important that I have at least one reliable source of garbage-free chocolate.  Divine Chocolate is fairtrade, and it comes wrapped in foil and paper. 

Dumpster Diving

Most of the articles that I’ve read about Dumpster Diving begin with “It’s not for everyone, but…”  And then comes the list of magnificent benefits, mostly centered around the moral and financial satisfaction of eating good food for free while also saving it from a landfill. I’ve never tried the art of dumpster diving, although I frequently stop and pick up non-food items left on the side of the road. And I’m very impressed by an anonymous relative’s recent dumpster prize of 11 (!) bottles of extra virgin olive oil.  My anonymous relative saved at least $200, just by going to the trouble of putting on a black outfit, walking behind a store in the dark, and peeking into a dumpster with a flashlight (did I mention that entering dumpsters is illegal?) Nonetheless, if you want to learn more about turning garbage into grub, Click Here or Click Here. There is even a How-To book: