serinde: (brew-up)
serinde ([personal profile] serinde) wrote2008-02-11 09:06 am

Sustainability, or at least a bit of it

1. I picked up some of the reusable grocery bags at the store (and am actually remembering to take them to the store). Yay, fewer plastic bags in the world--though I'll have to occasionally pick some up to scoop cat boxes into, I imagine.

2. I have dug out my faithful ol' Boxhill mug and have requested the nice coffee elves to put my morning dose in it, instead of a paper cup. This is a little bit of a nuisance to be hauling it around with me to and fro, but then I think of a year's worth of paper cups piling up somewhere and have no grounds to moan at all.

I have not advanced to the point of buying better-produced foods. I'd surely like to, but it's pricey enough feeding a house in the necessary manner as it is (if I upped the starch quotient, for instance, things would be a lot cheaper, but that would be a very bad health idea). Pondering this and hoping a solution presents itself. --At that, I don't know how virtuous Trader Joe's is. I should look into it; maybe we're doing pretty well as is.

[identity profile] shechameleon.livejournal.com 2008-02-11 02:38 pm (UTC)(link)
One must read labels VERY carefully at TJ's...a lot of the processed and frozen foods come from China and other less-than-ideal places.

Eating better-produced stuff is, of course, much easier on the wallet when there's more in season. I don't spend significantly more at Whole Foods than I did at J. Random Grocery Store, but I feel a lot more confident in what I purchase, and it's much easier to make informed choices about where my food is coming from and how it was produced. But it also helps that we get almost all of our meat from the CSA.

But yay for small steps!

[identity profile] syringavulgaris.livejournal.com 2008-02-11 02:59 pm (UTC)(link)
Yes! I meant to ask you for more info about your Meat Share Thing. Because I spaced the actual term for it.

Mind you, I keep parsing "CSA" as Confederate States of America.

The other problem with buying in-season stuff is that I haven't had the oomph to really cook from fresh ingredients most evenings. (Chop chop chop chop chop chop chop chop chop.) However we have just re-engaged our nice cleaning ladies so maybe I'll feel more like it when I don't have vacuuming to oppress me.

[identity profile] shechameleon.livejournal.com 2008-02-11 03:07 pm (UTC)(link)
CSA = Community Supported Agriculture, at least in this context. You can also purchase bulk quantities of organic/humanely raised meats on the internet, and google may show that there are actually farms not far from you which might offer what you're looking for.

[identity profile] briony530.livejournal.com 2008-02-11 04:22 pm (UTC)(link)
You don't have GROUNDS to moan about the coffee mug! BHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA...I slay me!!!

Yes, go talk about me now, you've earned the right.

(Anonymous) 2008-02-11 05:36 pm (UTC)(link)
Here's a good place to look for a local CSA:

www.localharvest.org

Also, here is a site about farms which sell happy meat, eggs and milk:
www.eatwild.com

Yum!

Kathryn