Day: March 29, 2021

Here’s a list of my favorite kitchen scraps to regrow! They’re super simple to do with everyday items you already have in your home. Regrowing food is a great way to practice sustainability, and it works in small spaces.

TLDR: Here are the videos with my kitchen scraps after one week and two weeks!

 

1. Green Onions

Green onions are one of the easiest kitchen scraps to regrow! Find some fresh green onions with the roots intact from your grocery store or farmer’s market. All you have to do is slice off the bulbs’ ends with the roots intact, fill a small jar with water and place them. Make sure you have enough water to cover the roots but not the tops. It only takes a few days for the onion to start growing shoots! I’ve repotted my green onions in soil (pictured), and they’ve already grown so much in only two weeks.

2. Lettuce

Lettuce is simple to regrow. All you need is water and a jar. After you’ve used your lettuce, cut off the ends and just place it inside a jar of water. Keep the tops out of the water, with the ends submerged. After a few days, you’ll begin to see fresh new lettuce sprouting from the top. The water will need to be changed frequently (whenever it starts getting murky and green). You can repot this into dirt to keep growing, but I decided to leave it in water. Here’s how mine’s looked after one week!

3. Tomatoes

Regrowing tomatoes is easier than you might expect! Did you know you can propagate store-bought tomatoes? Start by cutting up a tomato into thin slices and placing them directly into a pot of soil. Cover the tomatoes with more soil and water frequently. After about a week or so, you’ll see sprouts begin to pop up, and once these sprouts get big enough, separate and repot them to allow them to grow nicely and evenly without clumping together. Another method I found on YouTube that might produce better tomatoes adds an extra step where you strain the tomato to separate the seeds before potting. This way, the seeds are growing away from the decomposing tomato itself, which helps with the process. Either method works, and you’ll be able to get some great tomato plants from this trick! You can see my tomatoes’ progress using the sliced method after only two weeks in the photo below.

4. Mint

Did you know you can regrow the mint you find at grocery stores? Start with cutting a few inches off the stem, right below the bottom nodes where the mint leaves start. Remove the mint leaves near the bottom and place them in a jar of water. Not only will your mint stay fresh, but it’ll also start growing more leaves! I find it best to use mint with a thicker stem for regrowing. I’ve been using this trick for about two weeks now, and the mint looks fresher than ever. The mint I had started with was pretty wilted, and this is how it looks now, outside the fridge! This trick works with other herbs, like basil and cilantro as well.

5. Garlic

To regrow garlic, grab a small jar for your garlic bulbs – keep the cloves in its skin and place it inside the jar of water with the flat end down and pointy end facing up. Keep this on a sunny windowsill and change the water out when it gets cloudy. After a week, you’ll have garlic greens ready to harvest! The tops of garlic greens are best, so snip off the first few inches and keep regrowing. You won’t grow new garlic bulbs from this trick, but you’ll get delicious garlic greens to use as garnish. I’ve repotted my garlic along with my green onions in soil, and this is how it looks after two weeks.

6. Carrot

You can sprout carrot tops just by placing them inside water! You won’t be able to regrow the actual carrot, but you can get some really neat carrot plants from this trick. Cut one inch off the top of a carrot, stick toothpicks into the sides and place it on top of a jar with water. Submerge the bottoms of the carrots into the water while keeping the top out. Place this somewhere it gets light and watch it sprout! Mine’s been growing for about a week now, and I’ll be potting it in soil soon once it gets more root growth.

 

Composting is something that has always seemed very daunting to me. However, I’ve found an easy method to get started with composting – in an apartment! This method doesn’t require worms, though you can use them if you want to do vermicomposting.

First, you’ll need to get a bin or container for your compost. You can find specific compost bins online or simply use a storage bin. There’s a ton available that are small and compact enough for an apartment countertop or balcony.

Next, you’ll want to start collecting organic matter for your compost. There are two different types of materials you want to incorporate into your bins.

1. Green ingredients – this includes all your vegetable scraps (raw or cooked), fruits (avoid citrus), and other nitrogen-rich ingredients like tea leaves, coffee grinds, eggshells and grain products.
2. Brown ingredients – These include paper towels, cardboard, newspapers, pet fur and human hair, leaves, and other items that are rich in carbon.

What you want to avoid are meat and animal products, as well as plastics and bones.

I started collecting kitchen scraps in my freezer and other materials in preparation to assemble the compost bin. When putting the compost bin together, I layered dirt, green ingredients, and brown ingredients while mixing in some water to keep the compost pile moist. Once you have this set up, all you have to do is wait. Check on it once a week to ensure that it’s decomposing well. Turn the compost and add water. Turning the compost helps to add oxygen which can help speed up the process. If you find that your compost smells, add in more dry brown ingredients and mix the compost. If you find that it’s too dry, add some water while turning.

Once the compost is ready, as quickly as two-to-three months, you’ll be able to use this nutrient-rich soil in your garden! Composting is a great way to divert food scraps away from the landfill and provide you with rich soil to grow plants! The City of Edmonton will be rolling out green bins this year, so this is the perfect time to start getting into the habit of collecting food scraps and learning how we can help our environment.

Sustainability blogs were written by the Community Assistant, Karman Ngan

 

Looking for an easy way to learn about sustainability and the impacts we have on our earth? Check out this list of my top 10 favorite sustainability documentaries to binge!

 

1. A Life on Our Planet

David Attenborough, English broadcaster and natural historian, explores the history of life on Earth and our current impacts on the planet, with the loss of wild places due to climate change. He offers his vision for the future and hopes to save our environment and natural habitats before it’s too late. Available on Netflix.

 

2. Broken

Broken is a docuseries investigating the means of production for everyday consumer products and their impacts on society and the environment. It speaks on consumer habits, overbuying and the effects of this global crisis. There are currently four episodes in season one available on Netflix, which explore different aspects of consumerism and its products.

 

3. There’s Something in the Water

This Canadian-centric documentary brings attention to the struggles of rural and minority communities and their fight against corporations and the dangerous effects of industrial waste. The exposé calls for government action against environmental hazards that disproportionately affect low-income POC communities in Nova Scotia. Available on Netflix.

 

4. Fools & Dreamers

Fools & Dreamers is a 30-minute long documentary about Hinewai Nature Reserve in New Zealand and botanist Hugh Wilson’s work in regenerating this native forest. Hugh spent 30 years turning degraded farmland into a 1,500-hectare forest where wildlife and waterfalls are abundant. This is an excellent documentary about conservation and allowing the planet to restore itself, one forest at a time. It is available for free on YouTube and Vimeo.

 

5. The Biggest Little Farm

This documentary follows a Los Angeles couple’s 8-year journey in turning a 200-acre abandoned, depleted farmland into a biodiverse and sustainable farm. It provides insight into the world of farming and the Chester’s efforts in living in harmony with nature. Available on Netflix.

 

6. Chasing Coral

Chasing Coral follows a group of scientists, photographers, and divers in their work documenting our coral reefs’ disappearance and its impact on our ecosystems. This documentary shows the effects of coral bleaching and the coral reefs’ death but offers hope in saving our oceans and preserving nature. Available on Netflix.

 

7. A Plastic Ocean

A Plastic Ocean is another great documentary that explores our pollution and environmental impacts on the ocean. When filmmaker Craig Leeson ventures out to film the blue whales, he’s instead met with plastic waste. This documentary urges us to think about the plastic we consume and how it affects our ocean. Available on Netflix

 

8. Where the Future of Fashion is Headed

This documentary explores the world of fashion and how destructive fast fashion is to our planet. It focuses on the future for sustainable fashion and how we can stay trendy yet environmentally friendly and supporting a circular economy. Designers use plants and organic goods to create fabric and textiles, rather than contributing to the tonnes of fashion waste that ends up in our landfills. Available to watch on YouTube and documentaries.io.

 

9. Down to Earth

Zac Efron and wellness expert Darin Olien travels the world to explore healthy and sustainable ways to live. This series shows how different places in the world tackle sustainability differently and may give you a new perspective on helping our planet. Available on Netflix.

 

10. Kiss the Ground

In this documentary, science experts and activists look at how we can preserve our planet by fighting climate change in examining the importance carbon and earth’s soil has on our environment. Regenerative agriculture could be the key to saving the world and solve the soil erosion crisis. Available on Netflix.

This challenge was taken by SAMU staff members Karman and Macey.

Karman

This week I attempted the Low-Waste challenge, where I tried to make as little waste as possible and document all the garbage that ended up in the landfill. I live with my partner, but we tried to list just the waste that I created. The challenge was a really fun experience and opened my eyes to how much trash and unnecessary plastic waste we create.

 

Monday

I started the week okay and didn’t make too much trash! I ended up making salmon and veggies, so most of the veggies were able to be composted (Check out how to compost here [link to compost blog]!) I’m collecting my scraps in this container in my freezer until I can transfer them into my compost. Unfortunately, we can’t recycle chip bags and styrofoam, so those ended up in the trash.

Sustainability tip: bring produce bags when shopping for fruits and veggies to reduce the amount of little plastic bags used!

 

Tuesday

Tuesday ended up having a considerable amount of waste compared to Monday. I received an order from Sephora, so that contributed to a lot of the garbage from today. Produce like mushrooms usually come in these little plastic containers, but they do typically stock them in bulk so you can bring your bags and avoid waste. I made curry for dinner, which also created a lot of waste. However, I added the carrot scraps to the compost container. I also collected the paper towels and produce tags in a container to be composted along with the veggie scraps, although I ended up using more paper towels than usual.

 

Wednesday

We had leftover curry for dinner on Wednesday, so no extra waste was created, which is always a bonus when making food in bulk. However, I did make congee for lunch and collected the plastic container. Each little egg was also wrapped in its own plastic packaging, which created more waste than I would have liked. However, I was able to rip up the paper towel rolls for the compost bin! I usually don’t buy coffee, but I did today and wasted a little plastic cup. I miss being able to use our reusable cups, but we aren’t able to because of COVID health restrictions. Therefore, I try to have more coffees from home.

 

Thursday

Today was a takeout kind of day, so I ended up with plastic waste from lunch (and a disposable fork, unfortunately). Ordering takeout/delivery usually creates a lot of non-recyclable waste. With COVID, restaurants aren’t able to use containers you bring in, so that’s something to keep in mind if you’re trying to be more conscious of your waste. I made more congee for dinner with the leftover pork here, so the styrofoam tray is now collected as waste. I used some strawberries and placed the waste with the organics for composting, which is exciting!

 

Friday

Last day of the challenge! My partner ended up ordering Bahn Mi’s, so our lunch came in plastic wrap, and our salad rolls were in these styrofoam trays with more plastic wraps and little sauce containers. We also finished our box of Chips Ahoy, which unfortunately wasn’t able to be recycled. The only waste here that was recyclable was the paper towels I collected and a can of Bubly. We ended up finishing the curry today, so we were able to go a few days without more waste from our evening meals.

 

From this challenge, I realized how much waste I make that can’t be recycled or composted (and how little vegetables I actually eat in a week… oops). I think being aware of your carbon footprint and how much you contribute to the landfill is important, and collecting my own garbage for a week really highlights that. This challenge has also motivated me to find alternatives to some of the products I use to be more environmentally conscious.

 

I recommend everyone try doing this challenge and hopefully reduce their own trash! There are many different versions of this challenge, a popular one being collecting all your waste that would end up in a landfill and trying to fit it into a 1L jar. That is something I would definitely try to do again, although it might be a little more difficult during a pandemic.

 

Macey

It has been quite some time since bringing focus to my waste and how I consume products during this pandemania. However, I realized how diminished my efforts have become when I recycle, compost or preserve produce. The low-waste challenge itself forced me to think much slower in how I prepare meals. I found, with more intention cooking and using all parts of a vegetable; a ripple effect was created that made portion control a significant focus. Intention cooking also spotlighted how I try and cut corners in the shuffle of working from home. Before having more disciplined routines working from home, I would let my scraps and waste collect in smaller bowls that I would then throw away since I do not know where to safely take my compost in the downtown core during winter months. With more research on sustainable composting for apartments or urban cities, I discovered compostable bags that break down over time just right in the trash bin. It was quite the pleasure to see the waste visually I was living with, and I have already adjusted my daily routine to keep my waste low and my reusables items in a healthy rotation. All in all, this experience was very simple and brought a gentle awareness to my consumption, waste, and preservation of produce.

This is five days’ worth of recycling and items I could not contribute to my kitchen scrap bin. I was happy to use a lot of paper waste in my fireplace as kindling.

This is seven days’ worth of composting goodness. I will admit I needed quite a bit of lemon juice, and their carcasses took most of the room. I plan to add soil and some earth scarps to let this batch live on my garden patio until it starts its cycle.