Zero Waste Menu

Mrs Green has been looking at what packaging she gets from cooking a days meals, so I thought I'd do a similar thing here.

Here are yesterdays meals:bear in mind the boys are on school holidays, so permanently hungry.

Breakfast: fruit juice
toast & butter
eggs

Snack: Fruit & yogurt
water or squash

Lunch: Sandwich with Egg mayo or Tuna mayo or grated cheese
cucumber & tomato
homemade cake
water or milk

Snack: Fruit & yogurt

Dinner: Salmon fishcakes
chips
carrots, broccoli & cauliflower

Apple & Blackberry crumble
water or squash

Snack: Cereal & milk




Fruit Juice comes in glass bottles from the milkman and so are returned for recycling, the foil lid is saved in the foil ball for recycling. Toast is homemade bread which is made using ingredients whose packaging can all be recycled except the yeast wrapper, so once a month this goes into the landfill. Butter comes in a plasticised foil wrapper so is not recyclable but it is English butter so I stick with this, the wrapper goes into landfill once a week. Eggs these come from a farm in the next village so the tray gets taken back each time I buy more.

Fruit comes usually as Fairtrade Bananas, English Apples or occassionally seedless grapes, the apples and grapes come in Type 4 bags which I can take to HWRC. The bananas I buy loose. Yogurt I make this using the "Easi-yo" system so this does provide 2 plasticised sachets once a week, but that is 2 litres of yogurt. Squash this comes in a doorstep recyclable bottle and the top can be taken to HWRC.

Sandwich bread as before homemade, eggs as before, tuna comes in a can totally recyclable, mayo comes in a glass jar which goes to the bootle bank and the lid goes to HWRC, cheese I try to buy cut off a big block so as to minimise the waste plastic, then grate and freeze in 100g tubs. Cucumber & tomato these come in my organic veg box, so this time of year may be imported but they do not air freight, the tomatoes can either be standard sized in a paper bag or cherry in a type 1 tub this can be doorstep recycled (not ideal but!!). Homemade cake this is made using basic ingredients all of which the packaging can be recycled either in the doorstep collection or at HWRC. Water is filtered and I send the cartridges back to Brita for recycling. Milk the majortiy comes from the milkman in glass bottles which get returned and the foil lids are added to the foil ball, with some extra bought in type 2 plastic containers which are doorstep recycled.

Fruit & Yogurt as before.

Salmon Fishcakes, the salmon was given to us wrapped in a carrier bag so that has been washed in soapy water and will be recycled, potatoes for the mash for the fishcakes and Chips come from the farm shop in a paper sack which gets composted along with all the veggie and fruit peelings, Carrots, Broccoli & Cauliflower all come in the organic veg box and are grown on the company's own farm. Apple & Blackberry Crumble is made using apples & blackberrys foraged or given last summer and frozen, crumble topping uses ingredients all in recyclable packaging.The cardboard box the veg is delivered in goes back each week to be used again.

Cereal & milk, this depends on which cereal they decide to eat, although most have a plastic non recyclable inner, I do keep some for using to put cakes in the freezer or even to put my landfill waste into, milk is as above.

Throughout the day I will drink tea with milk or coffee with milk and sugar or water, the teabags are composted, the box is recycled and now the wrapper will be sent to STM for recycling. The coffee jar is taken to the bottle bank and the lid is taken to HWRC; milk is as above and sugar comes in paper bags which are doorstep recycled.