Week 9 of Zero Waste
This week was a better week - going easier on ourselves has made a big difference. I'm also decluttering getting ready for our move (if we ever get a closing date) which is always a nice feeling. The kitchen cabinets are looking very organised and all the glass jars help to make it look nice but also easy to see what we have in stock so we can reduce our food waste (I threw out a lot of really outdated food from the black hole of corner press) and hope to reduce that going forward.
Shopping
Shopping is getting faster again as we now know exactly where to go for the things we get frequently and we can divide and conquer. We are also learning to buy larger quantities at a time of things that have longer shelf lives (quinoa, beans, rice, tea, coffee etc) and even meats that we can freeze (3 weeks worth of bacon) - this way we don't have to go to the market each weekend and can alternate between top ups in the normal shops and the market.
The shop attendants in the market are starting to recognise us and it really feels like we are part of the community which is nice in the city. The baker always makes a comment about our linen bags and this time showed the other workers.
Shops/Cost
106€
Maher's Coffee (loose tea and coffee) - 12€
English Market (everything else pictured) - 45€
Holland & Barret (bulk nuts/chocolate raisins, tea tree essential oil) - 15€
Dunnes (not pictured - mayo, wine, milk, apples, avocado and spaghetti sauce) - 29€
Blackpool butcher (chicken for the cat) - 5€
Meals
Spaghetti
Taco Salad
Pad Thai
Burgers
Eggs/Bacon
Chana Masala
Health
An unintended but happy consequence of going zero waste is that I am losing weight. I can actually see definition in my abs again which has not been there for a long number of years. I checked my fitnesspal app to see what my starting weight was (back in March of last year) and I was 67kg (147lbs), now I am down to 60kg (132lbs). Not all of this is due to zero waste as I was trying to eat better for a while but probably half of that loss is just from switching to the zero waste diet. I have not felt like I was on a diet but as a result of not buying packaged foods (including granola bars, crisps, jellies, chocolate bars, chocolate milk powder) they are not in the house and I don't miss them.
Eating whole foods also leaves me fuller longer and when I want a snack I eat fruit, olives, cheese etc. After even 2 weeks when I did get offered chocolate or cakes at work I could no longer eat the quantities I used to as it made me sick. I still eat all those snacks when they are offered or around me and even get pizza or mcdonalds on Friday nights but in general I'm eating healthier and the proof is in the scales. On the chocolate milk front I was drinking a glass almost every day, now I make my own which probably halves the sugar content from store bought and I only feel like it once every couple of days which is HUGE for me as I was hooked before.
Now I just need to get in exercise (though maybe lugging heavy grocery bags around the market for two hours counts? :P)
