I've come across enough reports of plastic's toxic effects on humans that I am starting to try to cut it out of my life wherever I can. Since heating food in plastic containers (particularly ones not specifically marked "microwave safe") can leach toxins into food, I am particularly looking for alternative containers for food. (I'd love to never microwave my food at all, but I don't have a stovetop or hot plate at work with which to heat up my lunch.)
I use plastic containers to pack my lunch, to store food in the refrigerator, and to freeze seasonal foods for use all year.
I've started using small Pyrex bowls with lids to bring food to work. I remove the plastic lids before heating the food in the microwave.
I also use Happy Sacks instead of plastic baggies to bring in non-wet items like bread, cake, cookies, chips, carrot sticks, etc.
In order to eat locally and frugally, I freeze and can a lot of food in the summer. Canning jars are wonderful containers made of glass (with a ceramic/rubber lid), and can also be used for freezing. However, I freeze most of my veggies in plastic freezer bags. I'd love to find alternative containers for purpose. Until then, I will try to plan meals ahead and transfer frozen veggies into the fridge to thaw so that I don't have to use the microwave. In a pinch, I can soak the bag in a bowl of hot water to thaw the veggies.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
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6 comments:
I love that Pyrex containers come in so many sizes and shapes! I use some of them to pack lunches.
I'd never heard of Happy Sacks before! How cute!
I LOVE my mason jars!!!! Like I really really really like them for some reason, it's sad *L* All leftovers, chopped veggies, soups, sauces, etc are stored in these or my one Pyrex bowl. The Pyrex bowl usu. has a chicken in it for the cats. Greg has gotten used to me packing his meals in jars too. I have wide mouth quarts, wide mouth pints, wide mouth half pints and 4 oz. jars. These are fine for the fridge, the freezer, the pantry (I have sooo many jars of beans, grains, seeds, baking goods there) and are easy to heat leftovers up in if you set it in a pan of water on the stove. Then you can eat out of the jar and the pan is clean, just wet! Water for plants or something!
You can see some of my jars being used here for ground cat food for when we go away (the sitters use ground, not whole) And b/c I am really a dork, I took a photo of my grains and beans one night when I took home a new batch
HOWEVER, when I make wraps they get wrapped in a little towel, sandwiches and salads go in the low square plastic containers that I STILL have. Those are the only plastic containers I still have :( For some reason salad in a jar still seems wrong. Are their any Pyrex dishes similar in size to those plastic cheap-o sandwich containers? I want some Happy Sacs for those sandwiches!
Ooooh, and I love these Indian Stainless Steel Tippins: http://www.angelinhome.com/category.aspx?categoryID=6 and http://www.reusablebags.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=669
Although I have not purchased any yet, they would be an awesome alternative too!!
Oh, that reminds me, i heard an interesting article on NPR about carbon "counting", linked here, which pointed out that buying locally does NOT always save carbon, depending on how the produce was produced. The example the New Yorker science writer gave was that apples grown in Upstate NY require more watering, fertilizer, etc. than apples grown in New Zealand, so much more so in fact that the carbon required to transport New Zealand's apples is still less than that used in Upstate NY apples.
Baby stuff is a huge problem. If you are a "mom on the go" glass bottles are pretty tough to deal with. There's been a lot in the news about Bisphenol-A in baby bottles, but we're using Medela, which appears to be safe (or as safe as you can get with plastic bottles). For food containers, we use Baby Cubes, which aren't available in the US (of course) but can be purchased from retailers in Canada, the UK, and France. Baby Cubes meet the EU's regulations on food safety/containers. As for me (nursing mom), I try not to eat anything heated in plastic, but I'll be honest that I eat a lot of take out. If I bring lunch, I too carry it in pyrex. Go pyrex!
Zandperl: Why did watering count toward a carbon footprint? Also, if fruits are organically grown then their fertilizer is not petroleum based, which would significantly decrease that number.
Even for non-organics, I'm pretty skeptical that a little extra fertilizer would use as much petroleum as shipping produce from literally the other side of the world. That's a 24-hour plane trip! I'd like to see the numbers from that report. I'll see if I can look it up on the NPR website.
For me it's also not entirely about the carbon footprint of my food - it's also about supporting local economies and local farmers ("eat the view"), and about the fact that shipping food is killing off food variety. In this time of incredible plenty, we're literally one good crop disease away from starvation. Humans get some crazy amount of their calories - 80%, I think - from only 8 plant species. Think about what would happen if one of those species got wiped out.
It is also a fact that mass-produced grocery store food is less good for you, even if it's raw ingredients like veggies or eggs or meat. Not only has the flavor been bred out of most fruits and veggies in order to make them bruise less easily and be more shelf-stable, but the way industrial meat is raised (even organic industrial meat) means it is less nutritious for you. Pasture-raised eggs have GOOD cholesterol and lots of important vitamins and compounds (omega fatty acids, etc). Ditto for corn-raised meats.
I'll take my many locally-grown apple varieties over mealy New Zealand apples any day. Not only do I get a more delicious and nutritious product, but I get to support my neighbors and enjoy having farmland around me instead of (sub)urban sprawl.
Why did watering count toward a carbon footprint?
Electricity is required to power most water systems. Even when water is stored in a water tank, pumps have to get it up there somehow. If the pressure in the system doesn't come from gravity from water in the tank, then it comes from pumps within the system. In addition, building the watering system would require electricity and the use of resources that may not be renewable, but other than repairs/maintenance that's a one-time carbon cost.
Also, if fruits are organically grown then their fertilizer is not petroleum based, which would significantly decrease that number.
True, but not eliminate it entirely, as you still need to transport the organic fertilizer.
shipping produce from literally the other side of the world. That's a 24-hour plane trip!
The New Yorker guy implied two things: (1) that the New Zealand apples were shipped by boat, not flown, and (2) that shipping via boat has a very small carbon footprint. I admit to not doing my research to know whether these are true, but he mentioned the latter quite a few times.
For me personally, I weight the carbon footprint roughly equally to the many other benefits to eating locally/organic (such as diversifying the human food chain, and preventing overuse of antibiotics).
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