For years I make new year’s resolutions that linked the food we eat and/or how we cook to making positive environmental changes. And then I started working for “the man,” which has been great (I love a good 9-to-5 existence, actually…go figure) but has also put the blog (and sometimes cooking) on the back burner. But that focus on the environment had an impact on my kids (yay!) and now they are calling me out on my slacker-ness. My girls and I talked this weekend and decided we need to get back on track.
We took a minute to look back at our past resolutions and decided to focus on the following for 2023:
1. Eat less meat
For several years our focused on eating less meat and more plant-based foods. It went pretty well! And then I just didn’t make it a priority any more. But this graphic is constantly popping up in my mind:
This so clearly shows the impact that food products derived from pigs and cows on carbon emissions, it’s pretty mind boggling. The girls and I have decided to start focusing on those three middle columns again, which should be hard since we’ve done it before!
2. Reduce (or eliminate!) one-time use items like plastic and paper towels
This one is tough. I will say that our previous efforts have not been for nothing…we definitely use less paper towels and plastic products than we did before and I think we’re still pretty good about it. But I’ll admit I’ve gotten lazy over the last few years. It’s time to be more disciplined once again! Like remembering reusable bags in the back of the car for grocery shopping (thanks, COVID-19, for breaking that good habit). Only using paper towels for grease clean ups. Eating out less. Resisting the urge to pull out the plastic wrap.
So here we go! Back on the wagon again!
If you have made similar resolutions, please share! If you want to join along in the journey with us, please do! If you have any tips or favorite products that have helped with either of the above, please put them down in the comments! Here’s to one small change at a time making a difference.
Hi! My name is Jane Maynard and you've landed yourself on my blog, This Week for Dinner™. Every Sunday I share a weekly menu...and count on you to share yours! You'll also find other deliciousness that I hope you'll enjoy!
I’m back to using reusable bags again. By accident, I stumbled upon using IKEA bags for groceries, and they are great! They are super strong, can hold a lot, and can live in the trunk of our SUV. I figure that, at least in the summer, keeping them in a car that heats up in the sun probably helps some with germs.
And as for plastics, I try to recycle grocery bags that I inadvertently get at times like grocery pickup. I think that they might take other plastics, too?
Please keep us updated on your resolutions and any tips you find!
Funny you should mention ikea bags – I just saw some photos of people using them as dog carriers in NYC. 😉 Multi-purpose for sure! great idea for groceries.
I will for sure keep everything updated and share tips!
Thanks to you and other helpful bloggers, I have started planning meals out of my pantry and freezer for a week to 10 days out. I don’t usually assign days to meals (unless something is going to spoil) but I plan what will work with what I have and make a grocery list and a plan, and I post it on the fridge so I don’t forget. I try to do a soup weekly (little or no meat) and try a new recipe (hopefully healthy/from scratch) every 10 days or so. So much less waste and so much less stress at dinner prep time!
I LOVE this. It is absolutely amazing how meal planning makes cooking actually happen…which in turn has a huge impact on food and container waste. love your comment, thank you!
Over the past couple years, we’ve cut out paper towels (except when my mother-in-law visits…) and I use a kitchen composter. This year, I want to cut out plastic packaging in my home goods – cleaning, laundry, toiletries. There are a couple stores in the Detroit area that I’m excited to visit!
I am SO excited because our town has added food scraps to the compost bins service. It’s been amazing!!!
what kitchen composter do you use?
I just visited a store like that here in san diego…it was very cool. love that the concept is really taking hold!
We are looking to purchase reusable silicon bags. We have transitioned to glass food storage containers, but we still use too many Ziplock type baggies for sandwiches, small items to store, etc. We plan on buying some reusable bags hoping to cut down on our waste more. That’s the 2023 plan 🙂
We do meatless/vegetarian one day a week. Soups and salads are the easiest way for me to do this. Today we had a hearty lentil soup based on this recipe(I used more veggies, and leftover squash) https://www.thekitchn.com/palestinian-red-lentil-squash-soup-266068? I also save all the grocery plastic bags and reuse or recycle them. I rinse zip bags and reuse if they did not have raw meat in them. We compost food scraps for our garden.