Column: Start of ’23 with sustainable meal habits
By Amanda Haffele
Happy New Year!
How about making a resolution to waste less and recycle right? I challenge each and every reader to swap one meal-related wasteful habit for one less wasteful alternative at least one time per week – extra credit if you do more than one! This will not only save you money, maybe even a few calories, but a lot of unnecessary resources and accumulated trash.
Morning Commute
Swap single-use drink pods, (Keurig pods, etc.) for reusable ones or a pre-programmed coffee maker. Single-use drink pods are not recyclable due to multiple layers of materials mixed together and due to their small size, toss them into the trash. There are a bunch of reusable pods out there, fill each morning or prefill once per week. Coffee makers don’t need to make a full pot, my husband makes just enough each morning to fill his travel mug.
If making coffee or tea at home is not your thing or your daily splurge is a specialty brew, bring a travel mug to use at your local coffee shop or gas station. Or if you’re like me and can wait, fill your mug up once you get to the office. As a reminder, disposable cups, lids, and straws are just that, disposable.
Don’t put them in your recycling bin.
Try swapping premade breakfast cookies or bars for prepackaged bars or morning snacks. Foil or plastic wrappers, pouches, or cling wraps are not recyclable, trash them. Plan ahead once per month to make and freeze breakfast burritos or pancakes. The morning of, remove them from the freezer and pop them into the microwave or toaster for a quick, yet less wasteful breakfast.
Lunch or Snack Time
It’s easy to buy a bunch of prepackaged lunches or salads (my go-to) and toss one into the lunch box. Almost everything that lunch is packaged in is trash; juice boxes or pouches, wrappers, cling wrap, plastic or aluminum trays, bags, silverware, and yes, the box it may come in. Our paper mills do not use any chemicals to break down the wetting agents used in making boxes specifically made for the fridge or freezer and therefore it ends up in the landfill anyway. Recycle any bottles, cans, or yogurt containers.
Swap a prepackaged or fast food meal for a cheaper and less wasteful make-at-home meal. I can’t think of anything from a fast food restaurant that is recyclable besides a plastic milk bottle or plastic apple sauce container. Leftovers are a great choice for lunch.
For long car rides, I like to make my own “lunchables.” I keep meat, cheese, fruit, crackers, etc. separated by using reusable silicone muffin tin liners and/or small containers inside one larger container. Try swapping apple sauce pouches for plastic recyclable ones (foil is trash) and a reusable spoon. Take it one step further, fill up small containers from a large jar. This works great with yogurt, pudding, hummus, guacamole, salsa, and condiments.
Swap plastic sandwich or snack-size bags for reusable ones. I’ve been using mine for five-plus years. I turn them inside out and then wash them with my clothes then air dry them. You can find them online, at big box stores, or at local wasteless stores. There is also a huge selection of metal and plastic containers for packaging your items.
Dinnertime
Splurging once in a while with a meal delivery kit, like HelloFresh or Blue Apron, is a wonderful treat but try not to make it a weekly habit. These kits rarely have anything recyclable in them. Shrunk-wrapped foods have a non-recyclable film around them, and meat trays, or clamshells (think plastic strawberry, lettuce, or herb containers) are not recyclable either. Aluminum trays are not recyclable in your curbside bin because of the low-grade materials they’re made of. You can however drop off clean metal trays at a metal salvage yard. As a reminder, plastic bottles or jugs need to be bigger than your fist to make it through sorting equipment.
There are so many other tips and tricks out there to reduce your waste while eating, such as buying ice cream in a cone versus a throwaway bowl and spoon, or keeping a reusable cup, mug, or set of silverware at work or in your lunchbox.
Whatever you do to make your life a little less wasteful, I applaud and thank you for your effort. As always, give us a call if you’re unsure if something is trash or recyclable.
Amanda Haffele is the Portage County Solid Waste Director and she works at the Material Recovery Facility, 600 Moore Rd., in the Plover Industrial Park. It can be reached at 715.346.1931 or www.co.portage.wi.us/department/solidwaste.
