bemoreeco

In the UK we throw out an estimated 6.7 million tonnes of household food waste every year which accounts for around a third of all the food we buy.

Approximately half of this domestic food waste is edible food which translates into a financial cost of £250 to £400 a year for every British household. In addition to the economical impact, food wastage has an enormously detrimental effect on the environment impacting on landfill and contributing to the production of greenhouse gases.

By adapting a number of simple measures such as planning when to shop for food and only making necessary purchases consumers can considerably reduce their food waste. Food storage is also an important factor and proper storage eliminates premature ageing of fruit and vegetables which in turn reduces the amount of wasted food.

The Eco Cooler is an innovative new hand made terracotta fruit bowl and root vegetable store with natural cooling properties. Water poured in the bottom plate is absorbed by the terracotta. As the water evaporates it cools, helping to create the ideal cool, damp, dark environment to store potatoes, onions, garlic, swede and other root vegetables inside. Root vegetables last longer if stored 3-4 degrees below room temperature and in an environment a little warmer than a fridge. Fruit likes to be slightly chilled, but stored in the open air and light, so Eco Cooler also has a bowl on top which cools fruit just a couple of degrees.

Another nifty gadget which can help food last longer is the Ethylene Gas Guardian (RRP £3.99) This ingenious little egg shaped device can save households money by absorbing the ethylene gas fruits and vegetables give off in the fridge thus keeping them fresher for longer.

Many fruits and vegetables, especially if they have been damaged, give off ethylene gas as they ripen. Although harmless to people, much of the fresh produce in fridges is sensitive to the presence of even very low levels of ethylene gas and the refrigerator acts as a trap allowing the ethylene to build up to damaging levels.

The easiest way to combat this and save the costs of prematurely aged produce is to declare the refrigerator an ethylene gas free zone. By keeping the ethylene gas guardian on duty in the refrigerator, a very low presence of ethylene is assured regardless of what produce is stored there and users can continue to enjoy fresh produce for longer whilst saving money at the same time.

Both the Eco Cooler(RRP £69) and the Ethylene Gas Guardian can be bought online at Ecoutlet.

A website recently delineated a simple list of 10 ways that you can reduce your environmental footprint through changes in your food choices.

The list is fairly straightforward and involves changes that any person in any country can make to reduce their carbon footprint.  Substantive facts for each item are also laid out and explained along with a brief description of how the change can affect the environment in a positive manner.

Here the list of changes you can make to your food choices to reduce your environmental footprint:

    * Eat less beef, pork, and lamb

    * Eat out at restaurants less often

    * Eat fewer dairy products

    * Drink fewer soft drinks

    * Eat seasonal and local fruits and vegetables

    * Eat fewer packaged snacks and junk food

    * Upgrade to an energy efficient refrigerator

    * Eat wild fish that are not endangered

    * Drink less bottled water

    * Walk to your local farmers market or grocery store

Source; Eat Drink Better

Buying organic makes sense for the health of the earth, farm workers and your family … But if you’re pinching pennies (and who isn’t these days?), choose from this list to avoid pesticide residue.

So these are the 15

1. Onion - Less pest threat = less pesticides.
2. Avocado - Think skins = less pesticide build up.
3. Sweet Corn - Unlikely to end up with any pesticides on kernels.
4. Pineapple - Tough skin protects form pesticide residue.
5. Mango - Flesh protected by thick skin.
6. Asparagus -  Less pest threat = less pesticides.
7. Sweet Peas - Sweet peas are among the least likely vegetables to have pesticide residue.
8. Kiwi - The peel provides a barrier from pesticides, but wash before cutting.
9. Cabbage - Less pest threat = less pesticides.
10. Aubergine/Eggplant - Think skins = less pesticide build up.
11. Papaya - Pesticide residue stays on papaya skin, but be sure to give them a wash before slicing open.
12. Watermelon - With that rind, watermelon has a natural defense against the onslaught of any chemical.
13. Broccoli - Conventional broccoli doesn’t retain so many pesticides because the crop faces fewer pest threats, which means less spraying.
14. Tomato - Not sure why!
15. Sweet Potato - Not only are sweet potatoes unlikely to be contaminated with pesticides

Source & Full Article - The Daily Green

All those people who scorn at green ideas, here’s the Mother of Them ALL, and its by biggie Philips, so lets see what you’re gonna do about it! Biosphere Home Farming is a structure that houses fishes, root veggies, grasses, plants and algae all under one roof. It takes all your kitchen-trash as fodder for the farm and manages to generate food, water and cooking gas for the family.

In short you consume your trash in a more refined way! Ok, enough of green bashing hit the jump to see what exactly Philips has to say about this concept.

“Biosphere home farming concept generates food and cooking gas, while filtering water. The concept supplements a families nutritional needs by generating several hundred calories a day in the form of fish, root vegetables, grasses, plants and algae. Unlike conventional hydroponic nurseries this system incorporates a methane digester than produces heat and gas to power lights, similarly algae produces hydrogen and the root plants produces oxygen, which is fed back to fish. CO2 is pumped into the plants. It is a closed loop interdependent system. The system uses waste water and non-consumable household matter and delivers food in return.”

Source - Yanko Design

You should this foodie quiz at Planet Green to see if you are an “Eco eater’. 

How green are you when it comes to your food? Don’t worry, it won’t taste bad!

Finally you be surprised to find out what a ‘locavore’ is.

One is a fruit drink made by a boutique company with a clutch of foodie awards and an impeccable ethical brand, which even boasts a halo on its logo. The other is a fizzy pop, famous for rotting teeth, made by a corporate giant almost synonymous with globalisation.

But when it comes to the environmental issue of the moment - the carbon footprint of their products - the bottle of Innocent smoothie comes off worse than a can of Coke. At least at first glance.

Coca-Cola today becomes the biggest global brand to publish the greenhouse gases produced by making, packaging, transporting, chilling, and disposing of their most popular products. The study, done with the government-funded Carbon Trust, shows a standard 330ml can of Coke embodies the equivalent of 170g of carbon dioxide (CO2e), and the same sized Diet Coke or Coke Zero 150g.

Coke’s UK business follows Innocent, which helped the Carbon Trust pioneer its footprinting, and whose 250ml bottle of mango and passion fruit smoothie has a carbon footprint of 209g.

Source and full article: The Guardian

We’re not going to take your big, greasy pizza away from you. Sure, you could mak yours vegetarian or vegan, or you could make your own pizza dough—no preservatives, nothing hydrogenated—in only five minutes a day. Or you could be tired and lazy and more in the mood to log in and click up The Natural from Pizza Hut. Ok. We can run with that idea. The thing is, what are you gonna do with that big, greasy cardboard box afterwards?

If you suspected that you probably shouldn’t be sneaking your grease-soaked pizza box into the recycling bin, you were right. Earth911 lays it out in black and white: “Pizza boxes that are tarnished with food, or any paper product that is stained with grease or food, are not recyclable—unless you remove the tainted portions.” Umm, “tainted”? Ouch!

For the full article at Super Eco <click here>

Source; Super Eco

So you’re packing your kid’s lunch to avoid the whole Mystery Meat thing. Food from home is better than whatever’s slopped onto the tray by the Lunch Lady, right? But what about what you pack that lunch IN? Many insulated vinyl lunchboxes are chock full of lead, not exactly what you want cozying up to the homemade or organic treats you’ve lovingly prepared. So what to do? Alternatives, baby. And they’re not as hard to come by as you might think.

Laptop Lunches is one-stop shopping for lead-free lunchware. Their Laptop System includes an uber-cool bento set, insulated carrier, and a water bottle. I’d exchange the plastic bottle pictured for a stainless steel version, though; Kleen Kanteen makes several sizes and they’re BPA-free, reusable, incredibly durable (mine have lasted years now), and eco-friendly..

Want just the bento? Ichibankan has a great selection.

Brown-bagging it? Not recommended—kids already toss an astounding 67 pounds of lunch trash per year. Each. That’s a lot of baloney sandwiches and mushy apples. Instead, go reusable with a stainless steel food jar containing last night’s leftovers, tucked into washable canvas lunch bag. Or go one better with the Eco Lunch kit, a cotton bag containing a 2-tier stainless steel lunch container, bamboo utensils, and cloth napkins. No fuss, no waste. Score!

Go retro. Remember when lunch boxes were made of metal? They still are.

Want more ideas? Go here.

Source; Super Eco

Shoppers are sticking to their ethical principles when it comes to Fairtrade and locally sourced food – but organic food seems to be losing its appeal. The number of British shoppers who buy ethical food – including Fairtrade and locally sourced – has increased since 2006, a new survey by IGD has revealed. However, the number of consumers opting for organic products has fallen, according to the Shopper Trends 2009 report.

A quarter of shoppers said they had purchased at least one Fairtrade item in the past month, compared with 9% in 2006. The percentage choosing locally produced food has almost doubled to 27%, while those who regard food provenance as a priority has risen from 16% to 23%. The results also revealed the proportion of shoppers supporting high animal welfare standards had doubled to 20%.

Almost a half mentioned animal living conditions when asked about food production concerns, compared with 30% in 2006. Organic products was the only ethical food area where the number of shoppers had fallen, to 19% compared with 24% last year.

“We believe this is partly due to a swing towards other ethical options, mainly among more casual organic shoppers,” said Denney-Finch.

Shoppers’ values ran deep when it came to doing the right thing, said Fairtrade Foundation director of communications Barbara Crowther. Traidcraft marketing director Larry Bush added: “This survey reinforces that Fairtrade is not a fad; it’s a result of consumer education and awareness of the benefits of Fairtrade to developing world producers.”

Shoppers were more price-sensitive, but were not leaving their ethical concerns at home when they went  shopping, said IGD chief executive Joanne Denney-Finch. “People are scrutinising closely to get the best value for their values,” she said.

The Soil Association insisted that although the recession had destabilised organic sales the impact had not been catastrophic.

Source; The Grocer

UK supermarkets produce too much packaging, almost 40% of which is non-recyclable, local councils say. The Local Government Association argues supermarkets should pay towards the collection of their packaging as an incentive to cut back.

In a survey of 29 common grocery items, it found Waitrose had the most wrapping while Tesco had the least, but Waitrose said it had cut the weight of its packaging by a third since 2001 and believed the report was misleading. Lidl had the least recyclable packaging on their products, Sainsbury’s contained the most.

How much packaging could be recycled

• Sainsbury’s - 67%
• Co-op - 66%
• M&S - 66%
• Tesco - 65%
• Morrisons - 64%
• Waitrose - 62%
• Asda - 60%
• Lidl - 58%

(Based on sample of 29 items Source: LGA)

Higher bills

Since the LGA’s first report in October 2007, the amount of food packaging created has decreased on the whole, but the amount recycled has stayed almost exactly the same. At a time when people are trying to tighten their belts, this excessive packaging is leading to greater use of landfill sites and therefore higher council tax bills, the LGA said.

Councils currently pay £32 in landfill tax for every tonne of rubbish they throw into landfill, and this will continue to rise. Councillor Margaret Eaton, chairman of the LGA, said that less packaging of food would make life easier for the businesses themselves as well as consumers.

“If we had less unnecessary packaging it would cut costs and lead to lower prices at the tills. When packaging is sent to landfill, it’s expensive for taxpayers and damaging for the environment.

“If retailers create unnecessary rubbish, they should help taxpayers by paying for it to be recycled.”

The LGA said that the cost of all this packaging is undermining householders’ own recycling efforts. Marks and Spencer (M&S), which had come second to last in both previous surveys for its heavy packaging, has risen to second best. The head of food packaging at M&S, Helene Roberts, said that it was all part of the company’s “Plan A”.

“We have taken 2,600 tonnes of packaging out of our food products since the launch of Plan A in January 2007.

“An example to illustrate this: Over 60% of the packaging used in all M&S pizzas has been stripped away, totalling almost 500 tonnes of cardboard and 83 tonnes of plastic to be saved in the next year.”

Reduces waste

Waitrose said it had cut product packaging weight by over a third since 2001.

“We are currently going through the report and believe it to be misleading. It fails to use accurate comparisons - a 500g tomato punnet at Waitrose is compared to a 250g punnet at most other stores,” the company said in a statement.

“Around 20% of all our fish and meat sales are over the counter but this study chose to only compare the pre-packed option,” it added. The British Retail Consortium (BRC) said the survey did not recognise the key role packaging plays in preserving food, which cut down on waste.

The BRC’s head of environment Bob Gordon said: “It’s a nonsense to suggest that retailers swathe their goods in masses of unnecessary packaging. This would simply be a pointless cost. Packaging reduces waste by protecting and preserving products.

“Retailers pay over £5bn a year in business rates towards local authority funding. The biggest barrier to recycling is local authorities’ failure to agree on which materials they’re prepared to recycle.”

Source; BBC News