Minimising Waste with Empathy - The journey to reduce waste, often referred to as "Moving Towards Zero Waste," doesn't demand perfection; rather, it calls for heightened awareness. It's about recognising how every decision we make impacts our well-being, our local economy, and our global footprint.
It’s researched that 30-40% of our food goes to waste and when that food waste goes to landfill it produces the greenhouse gas Methane which is a major problem here in NZ. The best way to help to divert as much food waste from landfills as possible is making sure that you have a system in place that works for you and your household. Read up on the options and which food waste system might be best for you.
These Seed Crackers are honestly the easiest thing that I make each week to have on hand as a zero waste, healthy, gluten-free, nutrient rich snack for platters, hummus dipping or to add with a salad or lunch. Like every other recipe on our blog they take minimal time to make - less than 2 minutes to prepare and there is no kneading or rolling just simply pop onto your tray and flatten out. Give them a try this week.
This is a go-to recipe of ours which we have at least once a week just about every week. It's meat free, cheap, easy to make and I know that I can pop lots and lots veggies in there so I know the kids are getting loads of different types of veggies in one dish. This dish is also super versatile and can be used as a base for Spaghetti Bolognese, as a Mexican dish or in a vego shepherds pie.
These are a great protein filled quick snack which have a different wee twist on the standard chocolate flavoured bliss ball. You can make up a batch and pop them in the fridge for a easy, delicious snack. They are great for kids as don't contain any cacao like a lot of regular bliss balls.
Lets be honest, when you have children and a busy life in general, waste reduction and choosing the zero waste option all of the time can sometimes fall off the priority list. Often zero waste options can be seen as more work, more expense and less convenient. To give you some ideas on really simple, maybe different, maybe not so different ways to help to reduce waste in your household I have put together some of the tips and ideas we use. Some of these may be new to you and some you may have been doing forever. Hopefully you find a few of them useful!
Christmas can get a little bit out of hand with the amount of waste that is created and whilst we love Christmas - the traditions, the joy and the overall excitement that comes with it. There is a downside to it which we all probably need to get a little more aware of, and that is the mass amount of waste that’s generated over this time of year. To help combat this we have put together our practical, simple tips to help you have a Christmas with less waste. One where we actually take the time to choose more wisely, more consciously and therefore think about the effects on our wider environment.
This laundry powder recipe is so ridiculously simple and so much more affordable than buying or refilling your laundry powder every few weeks. Plus means you can cut down on more packaging and waste in your house even further.
The ingredients are 100% safe and natural with no dodgy ingredients that you aren't sure what they are exactly. I use this on all of our clothes and also on our reusable nappies and find it it works really effectively, washing everything thoroughly and depending on what oils you add to it, it can add a nice natural fragrance to your washing too.
This our own tried and true recipe for the natural, zero waste tooth powder which we have been using for over a year now. This recipe is a natural blend of 3 ingredients which are easy to access waste free.
The baking soda in this recipe provide the anti-bacterial properties as well as helping to clean tartar off your teeth. The peppermint essential oil is said to have energising properties and it has also been said to help to eliminate harmful baceteria. The stevia in this recipe acts as a sweetener. It is important when choosing the stevia to use in this recipe that you 100% all natural stevia powder - which is derived from the plant. Typically the more natural forms will be green as they are less processed and 100% plant derived.
These are our go to bliss balls which we make almost weekly to have a super easy, chocolate protein packed snack on hand. Not only are these little balls of goodness loaded with protein and refined sugar free you can make them with no waste or packaging at all from refilling all of your ingredients.
