Waste free Rooms, waste free homes(The Kitchen)
The kind and quantity of waste generated can be easily sorted and minimized if we trace it back to the source. We don’t expect you to change it all at once and impose stringent zero waste rules on your families. Rather aim at first streamlining our present day lifestyles in order to reduce consumption. Therefore we categorized various wastes originating from different rooms in order to figure out some solution.
The place where it all starts is the kitchen. Kitchen generates 70-80 percent of total waste in a home. Be it food waste, packaging, disposables etc.
Food waste and scraps
Once we started composting we observed that our waste generation was reduced drastically. But still there are a number of practices in a common household that generate tremendous waste.The previous article has already routed all the compostable trash to compost bin/pile. composting in a bin brings a new positive change in the household. Since you are already aware that there is a certain amount of trash load your bin can accommodate daily, the food waste and scraps will reduce greatly. The rule is simple; we produce more waste when we don’t have to deal with it.
Food choices
Food choices have great impact on waste generation. A household with an inclination towards homemade fresh food will generate almost no waste as compared to the one with junk food addictions. Ready to eat meals, Instant soups and noodles, canned food and fruits are meagerly low on nutrition and produce significantly high waste.
Same is the case with type of diet. Meats and eggs bring in a lot of packaging, so are dairy products. But does that mean we have to go vegan? No, you can continue with your diet, get the nutrition you want but mind a few things. Buy packaging free products like in India you can get freshly milked milk at your doorstep poured directly into your vessel rather packaged milk. Make your own juice at home or get a bottle filled at fresh juice corner rather buying juice packs that hardly contain 20 percent juice concentrate packed months ago. So the next you get your food supplies please check if they generate any extra waste.
Buying Whole
Each month grocery adds a load of plastic trash in an average Indian household. A bit of research helped me find a shop in our locality that sells good quality pulses, cereals, spices etc in bulk. In fact before the advent of globalization this was the only way of shopping in India. But, to my surprise all such stores pack bulk foods in individual plastic packaging for it is convenient for people to carry. And this spoils it all. So, this store manager was quite amazed when I asked him to pack the food supplies in my divided cloth bag. The move was contagious as a number of people asked from where I got that. Have you got one?
Cleaning and packaging
How many times a year do you replace kitchen sponge? Do you use tissues and foils? The most common incompostable waste generated in the kitchen is the packaging materials and cleaning supplies. That pair of tissues, a straw, breads in aluminum foils and salad in cling foil packed in your tots lunchbox may seem like love to you but are actually harmful for his health and the planet’s future. All these can be easily replaced by packing spill able food in boxes, breads in muslin washable tissues, straws with reusable steel straws and tissues with muslin washable hanky. Similarly kitchen sponges can be replaced with khus(vetiver scrubs) available throughout the country.