Mark’s Lunch, An Attempt at Waste-free

Early on, I decided I wanted to give Mark a lunch that was as close to no-waste as possible but totally satisfied him (and that didn’t require special detail — he could do it on his own.)

This is how I do it.

Sandwich: Local bread (has waste — the bread comes in a plastic bag. Still looking for an alternative. I try to reuse the plastic bag), cheese (also has waste, the plastic around it,) ham from whole foods (I have them put this directly into a glass jar for me), cucumber, tomato, red onion, mushroom. Wrap it in a cloth.

Then I give him some organic trail mix, which I get from the bulk section at Whole Foods, and put it in a glass jar (this glass jar actually once had cheesecake in it from a local company. We ate it, and I saved the jar. They’re super handy!)

Then he fills up a stainless steel water bottle, puts it all in one of our cloth grocery bags, takes it to work and voila, a lunch!

I don’t keep plastic wrap, paper towels, or aluminum foil in the house right now. Instead, to keep foods fresh, I use bowls with plates on top, casserole dishes with lids, or just a bowl with no plate on top. We use cloth napkins. I got a whole bunch of them at Goodwill for $3 and when we start getting low I do a load of laundry.

I do keep compostable wax bags in the house, because that’s what I used when I lived with my mom, but we actually use them very rarely and I probably won’t both to buy them again.

This is not to say we’re close to waste-free. We’re soooo not. But I do feel like we’ve put a significant dent into the amount of trash we produce by buying in bulk, thinking ahead, and avoiding plastic when possible. I would still like to do more.

Right now, my dilemma is: what do I do with food scraps now that I can’t compost them? I thought about a worm bin but the idea really creeps Mark out. I could potentially freeze them and then bring them with me whenever I visit my mom (she has both of my compost tumblers now) but I’d like to do something locally so that I can pass the information on. Still looking for any farms that will take compost in the area.

What are you doing to try to be a little more waste-free?