3-Point Plan for Sustainable Eating II

My sustainable eating voyage continues, slowly, but surely. I have made significant progress with composting and cooking plant-based meals. The rain barrel effort will see more action once I catch up with my other studies. Composting is the more passive and eating is inevitable, therefore in the following weeks you will see more updates concerning those aspects of the project.

Composting

Smelly compost. Emptying and cleaning the smaller container in my studio apartment sink has taken a toll on my nasal cavity, but that is my only complaint. Actually, I have so few fruit flies in my apartment because I keep my food scraps in the smaller airtight container. Today was the first day that I transferred those food scraps to the larger compost bin. I wrote “Compost: Do Not Move” on the top of the container and tucked it away in an inconspicuous location on the side of my building. Luckily, the stench will remain outside. The food scraps were mixed in with some moist dead leaves that will, hopefully, make for a rich soil when things begin to decompose.

Rain Barrel

The search for the rain barrel supplies continues, though I have not been actively searching. Since I am trying to build one without spending more than $20.00, I have started a list of local restaurants, grocery stores, and even carwashes that might have a bin that they are willing to let go. It will take some calling around town to find a sympathetic donor, but I am optimistic. I will begin calling next week. In the meantime, I have been watching instructional videos online. There are many but I will probably borrow ideas from the best of the bunch. The video below, for instance, is sponsored by Lowes and provides helpful suggestions. I refuse to use PVC pipe materials because of the harmful effects from the chemicals in the material. Does anyone know of any alternatives that are relatively inexpensive? I may resort to traditional metal pipes and materials.

Cooking Plant-Based Meals

Last week I made these Portobello and Zucchini Tacos
.My girlfriend introduced me to them and I have since made them twice. Although my food will not always be 100 percent locally grown and will include some packaging, I will try my best to use unpackaged fruits and veggies from BloomingFoods and the Farmers Market. I will resist the temptation to indulge at the larger supermarkets such as Kroger. My search continues for delicious recipes. Any suggestions?