Here’s a neat idea: six Seattle area families held a contest to see who could cut the most weight from their garbage. The winning family trimmed its trash by 82 percent in just six weeks. Sure, it helps that King County allows residents to put food waste in the yard waste bin that is collected, [...]
Yesterday’s Times article has prompted some spirited discussion in this Boing Boing forum, which is wonderful. And healthy. I contemplated commenting in that forum, but had waaay too much to say. Instead, I’ve compiled some of my reactions to the comments here, with reference to the order of their appearance in the thread: (19) People [...]
Somewhere, Doc Brown is smiling. OK, OK, he’s a fictional character from Back to the Future, but still… If Metro Vancouver gets its way, it will soon build a plant to convert food waste to fuel. Instead of fueling Deloreans like Doc B did, the plant could power municipal vehicles. Apparently, this is done in [...]
It’s 2008, y’all (Happy New Year!), and high time to cut the amount of food going down the drain. Here are eight wishes for preventing food waste in this year: 1. Wal-Mart resumes food donations of edible but unsellable goods (The store halted its program two years ago). 2. More cities and towns follow the lead of Seattle, [...]
Last week, the kind people at Oliso sent me a Frisper Freshkeeper to test. What the heck is that, you ask? Why, it’s a vacuum food sealer of course. Basically, it’s a home version of the machines that vacuum pack meats, seafood and other food items. The Freshkeeper comes with ziplock-like bags into which you [...]
Say what you want about McDonald’s (and folks around the world have plenty to say), at least they’re experimenting with environmental responsibility. In the UK, anyway. The world’s largest fast food chain is currently undertaking two experiments. First, McDonald’s is finally doing what many companies have done–turning to biodiesel as an environmentally friendly fuel source. Sorry “grease car” enthusiasts, [...]
How much does refrigerator size play into food waste? I hadn’t considered that question until reading this interesting discussion of the pros and cons of small refrigerators. In her post, “futurebird” explains how she chose a compact 8.8 cubic foot model. Part of her rationale is that when we tend to fill our refrigerators, no matter the [...]
Picking tree fruit is a tricky business. Timing is vital, as apples, pears, etc. must be picked before they’re ripe. If not, they won’t survive cross-country shipping and great quantities of fruit are wasted. Making matters worse, orchard owners have a hard time finding pickers. In addition to standing on 15-foot ladders while balancing 35-pound bags of fruit, [...]
A few weeks back, I wrote about a mysterious magnet that preserves food. Well, Richard Chua, President of the magnet’s manufacturer (ESMo Technologies), read that post and graciously offered to send me a sample. The package arrived late last week and I’ll begin testing its powers as soon as I think of a scientifically appropriate experiment. In [...]
The National Restaurant Asociation’s 2007 Restaurant Show concluded Tuesday. While I wasn’t able to attend–they make journalists jump through many, many hoops–apparently environmental awareness was a big theme there. Exhibitors displayed plenty of recycling innovations like compostable cups made from corn. Much more exciting, though, LeanPath, Inc. unveiled its ValuWaste product. This product assesses the composition of food [...]
