Week 7 of Zero Waste

This week we had a bit of lazy week - we got the shopping down to 2 shops (supermarket and butcher), I did a tally of the recycling we've gathered for the last 4-6 weeks (I can't remember when we stopped bringing down the recycling - we are stock piling to bring to the recycling facility ourselves) and I made some Reese's Peanut Butter cups.

Shopping

We liked the vegetarian dishes so much last week we are doing them again this week, this cut down on cost and the number of shops we had to go to (as we already had lots of quinoa, rice and beans left from last week). We are hoping that once we get into more of routine (especially for winter) we'll be able to buy more things like beans, rice and quinoa in bulk so that we don't have to go to too many different shops.

Shops/Cost

66€

Dunnes - everything in the photo minus the chicken - 61€

Butcher - chicken - 5€

Again the only things over 2€ were g/f beer, mouthwash, g/f rolls, lucozade and catfood (almost all have plastic)

Meals

Scrambled eggs
Chana Masala (enough for 2 meals)
Bean Burrito
Taco Salad
Pork, veggie stir-fry, potatoes
Burgers

New recipe reviews

Taco salad

The taco salad was our favourite of the 3 new dishes we tried it's essentially this: quinoa cooked and then add taco seasoning (made up my own from here so I have enough for many salads to come), black beans (this was a bit time consuming as I had to soak over night and then boil but I have enough for the next one), chopped peppers, grated carrots, green onion, avocado all on top of romaine lettuce. Dressing is mayo with lime. The mix of warm and cold is really nice!

Bean burrito

The bean burrito was really good too (on my homemade gluten free shells (again I made enough for two meals)) - here is a photo of the outcome

Chana Masala

The chana masala was a bit bland but we had left overs and it tasted better the second time - so this week I might add a bit more spices and leave it sit for a day before we eat it.

Peanut butter cups

I used the recipe from this video though I didn't have existing chocolate to melt so I made my own out of cocoa, coconut oil and honey, next time I'll get some store bought chocolate or find a better recipe as it's very bitter. Once the cups were frozen the peanut butter taste came through more but the chocolate is still quite bitter - photo below - not the most photogenic but still scratches the itch when I want a treat. Next time I will make them thinner too.

Recycling

We've been stock piling our recycling to bring it to the recycling facility ourselves since the apartment we are in does not recycle. I can't remember when in the last 7 weeks we started saving this up but it was at least 4-6 weeks. Glass is not pictured as that is the one item the apartment does recycle.

In sorting out the recycling - when I went through the plastic pile it was reassuring to see that most of it we don't buy anymore and was just left over from before we went zero waste. It still amazes me how we are still getting rid of pre-zero waste items.

We're also learning that there are few items that are particularly bad from a recycling perspective as they use multiple forms of plastic or mixed materials which makes it hard to break apart for recycling. Lucozade for 1 uses 1 plastic for the label, 1 for the lid and 1 for the bottle. Pringles uses cardboard, metal and plastic. In sorting the recycling I noticed there are quite a few products that have parts that are recyclable and others that aren't - like sparkling water - the label is not recyclable - this all has to be removed at the recycling facility before it can be processed - either that or the whole thing is discarded if it cannot be separated. It's eye opening when you really look at your trash this way.

And so in the order of most recyclable to least here is our breakdown (4-6 weeks worth)

Paper/cardboard

Metal

Buying more tins now as we are buying less meat - a trade off I think is fairly ok - I can get chickpeas and kidney beans loose now too but didn't have enough bags with us last time.

Plastic

Of the below these are the items we are no longer buying or have found replacements for:

Nesquik - I make with cocoa and sugar - far better since nesquik changed their recipe
Yogurt - going to try making my own
Laundry soap - make my own
Sparkling water - use a soda stream
Milk - buy tetra packs
Rice - buy loose
Fruit containers - buy loose
Bacon container - buy loose

Still buying/haven't found replacements yet

Lucozade - for Colm's sugar lows (he's T1 diabetic) - sourcing out some local apple juice in glass bottles
Cat food - until we can get some supplements for the chicken we are also feeding him to ensure he gets all necessary nutrients - chicken on it's own is not enough and he won't eat the bones and organs
G/f spaghetti noodles - waiting for my pasta maker to arrive and will try making our own