Hi guys, let me tell you a little bit about my zero waste journey so far. To be honest with you when I committed to this whole zero waste thing I thought that it was going to be easy, but boy was I wrong.
Sure I got my reusable water bottle and I reuse the jars from the shopping. I bring my tote bag and I have a bamboo toothbrush, I shave with my double sided razor and I store my food in a stainless steel container. But I still find a lot of plastic zip lock items in the trash.
Bread, for example, is in a plastic bag. Even if I go to my bakery in the morning the Croissant comes in a bag that has a little plastic window. I mean really I know that I just bought a croissant. There is no need to showcase my croissant to anybody else.
I pretty much can’t go to our local supermarket any more since they even wrap broccoli in plastic now. (It feels like some places are going backward)
However, what I find the most difficult is when those cravings kick in. I mean pretty much every time I go into the supermarket my sweet tooth kicks in. Walking past the cookie aisle isn’t always that easy and especially the chocolate section is hard to avoid.
But all chocolate is wrapped and my current favorite Ritter Sport Marzipan is wrapped in plastic. Sure it has the little recycle symbol on it and it is made from PP plastic.
But what are the chances that this actually getting recycled? We now know that the chance is very slim 9% slim to be precise.
That sucks right?
Does it come down to making everything ourselves again? We did make some homemade chocolate and while it was also somewhat healthy and amazing in taste not everyone has time to do that.
Here is a recipe in case you want to try it:
Ingredients:
- ½ cup of cocoa butter or you can use coconut oil
- ½ cup of cocoa powder
- 3 tablespoons of honey or maple syrup
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
That is pretty much it. Bring the butter to melt over a pot of boiling water and slowly mix everything together. You can also add peanut butter or chili or rose leaves or sea salt or anything you like really. And once the creative part is done let it set in a form. Preferably on a tray so that you can spread the chocolate like you see chocolate in the shops.
All you do know is chuck it in the fridge.
Prep time is 10 min | Ready to eat in 1 h
Warning, this stuff is addictive and will melt in your hands. Keep refrigerated
See how easy that is and it is probably the best chocolate you have ever eaten.
But I totally get it, not everyone has time to cook or even wants to make their own meals every day.
Man, when my fiance leaves on a business trip I eat pasta most of the days….
I am getting a little more creative now and since you can pretty much just type in the ingredients from your fridge into google and it will spit out a recipe, it has become a lot easier for the non-cook to eat healthily.
But yeah it is just so much easier to just turn on the oven/microwave and throw your premade meal in there, right?
Not all hope is gone and I found some good solutions for the zero waste man in the making.
Solutions:
Alternatives that come to mind are services that do the shopping for you like
Ourlittlefarm only grows organic food and for just $37.50 a week you can get your veggies delivered to your door for 16 weeks.
Depending on the area you live in if you google’veggie box delivery’ you will most likely find a farmer in your area that will deliver fresh produce to your home.
Usually, they will come in a cardboard box and most of the items are loosely packaged, plus you are getting organic veggies and you safe time. You can avoid the supermarket completely.
Now my zero waste lifestyle has also brought me to become more conscious of what I eat. Since I am doing a lot of research in this area I noticed that one of the best silent protests I can do is stop eating meat and dairy. Those two industries are the biggest polluters in the world.
If we would put all our cattle farms together in one place it would be the size of Africa.
And diary, well I do like cheese but milk/ Personally I don’t drink milk anymore and this came with a few benefits. I always had a bit of psoriasis on my elbows and since I don’t drink milk anymore that is almost gone. I do however very rarely eat cheese and maybe that/s why it isn’t completely gone.
But in my opinion and in many scientists opinions milk is made for baby cows and not for humans. In fact, it actually takes the calcium out of our bones and makes us weaker.
How I make my own Almond Milk
I make my own almond milk at home and it takes me about 3 min, here is how:
- Soak organic almonds overnight in water
- Rinse on the morning and put a handful in the Nutri-bullet.
- Add water to max line
- Blend in Nutri bullet
- Use a cheesecloth to drain the milk
- add a pinch of salt and maple syrup.
- Use the almond flour for cookies or cake or energy bars
That’s it.
Easy right? It may take you 5 – 10 min the first time you make it but it soon becomes a routine and you have fresh almond milk in your fridge. It is delicious. I am yet to try it out with oats and other nuts.
~ note drink within 2 – 3 days, so don’t make 3 liters in one go unless you live off of muesli.
There you go, these are my tips for today. I hope they give you some inspiration and feed you with healthy ideas and cookies, damn now I want cookies and dip them in milk.
