h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

In facebook Spain, I follow two groups called Realfooding and Zero Waste (the names in English)

My main interest is to find ideas that I can apply in my classroom (kids from 6 to 11 years) and to share what I do/know.

In the first group I´ve had arguments with some people whenever I point at the over use of plastic wrapping since I think that eating healthy is related or should be related to the care of the environment.
The heavier and longer discussions are about the GMO, the agroindustry practices...

Most of the cases it is just about sharing recipes, places to do bulk purchase, etc.

So, do you have anything to share about that? Do you use soap to avoid plastics, avoid processed food? etc.

Our town is quite small, and yet the recycling facility is very good. It deals with almost anything that isn't organic. And for that, there is also a bin to accommodate even bones. We use some canned and packaged goods, but almost never "prepared meal" things. I am fairly handy in the kitchen with fresh meats (paper-wrapped at the butcher shop) and veggies and fruits.

About all that I can suggest as a starter is to stay away from frozen meals and snacks. They usually have very little nutritive value, and more packaging than content.

I harvest rainwater as it drips from my roof. I use it for flushing the toilet in winter, and watering the gardens in summer. Because of this, I use less tap water, so the wear and tear on underground pipes is not so great.

I'm growing as many vegetables as I can find space for. I'be already picked beet greens twice. Spinach and kale are still very small, but I will pick them when they get big enough. I'm growing bush beans and pole beans. They should start blooming soon, and within three or days of that, there may be beans big enough to eat.

The zucchini got a late start, but I see little buds there, so maybe within three weeks I can have a zucchini big enough to pick.

I rotate my garden crops so that things never grow in the same place two years in a row. The beans put nitrogen in the soil, enriching it.

"(paper-wrapped at the butcher shop)"
Always was paper the wrapping, for everything. A waxed One for meat. Now it is plastic trays wrapped in plastic.


Paul, that kind of knowledge should be compulsory at schools. Many schools have an orchard and some even relate the curriculum to it.
In my utopic school there would be few subjets, two of the stem ones should be: How to grow food and Arts. From them, science, language... would branch.


Yesterday I saw a trailer of a doc called Food Coop. It´s about a cooperative supermarked in Brookling.

In Spain there are a few of them. To belong to it you have to work once a month, a week... depends on the cooperative. In exchange you can buy there at low prices.

The experiences in Spain try to avoid plastic, or at least the non-reusable one, and to offer ecological food and products from local farmers.

There are also people that join together and buy from local or near producers. ONce a week they go to a meeting point to get the purchase ordered previously online. They are called Grupos de consumo.
Also SHared Orchards. Usually a particular or the council lend lands and people cultivate them.

There are also social coins and time banks that work in small communities.
The bulk purchase is growing too.
France has forbidden the plastic tools for eating.

I hope all these experiences grow. It is difficult, but humans have no other alternative than stopping the waste and looting of resources that are causing so much harm.

I'm hoping that my garden soil will gradually get richer because of the way I garden.

Oak leaves are the best possible mulch for many local plants. Because I live in a city, though, I have neighbors who would think leaf mulch was just messy. So I buy bark mulch, which looks neater, and has some nutrients in it.

But whether your mulch is leaves, pine needles, or bark mulch, it gives the ground a nice soft feel when you walk on it.

We're pretty good really. Most weeks our food bin only contains genuine waste and inedible stuff like vegetable peelings/ fat off-cuts, etc. Occasionally there will be the odd bits of soggy salad or meat leftovers that we left too long to incorporate into a meal, but we very rarely throw out entire unopened food purchases

I dunno, it just seems natural to use up the older stuff first and plan meals around what needs using up. Never done it any other way, so just don't get people who chuck out half their shopping every week . It's not that hard; if it's been rattling around in your fridge for longer than it should- use it up; don't eat something from the freezer or a carryout that day.

I've picked three zucchini since yesterday morning. Plus two handfuls of beans. Naturally I will find people to take what I can't use. I avoid throwing away food by making exactly as much as I will be able to eat.