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We can all help stop this. Everyone can reduce their contribution. I cut out nearly all packaged food, which reduced my garbage to where I empty it less than on

by spodek 7y ago

We can all help stop this. Everyone can reduce their contribution. I cut out nearly all packaged food, which reduced my garbage to where I empty it less than once a year (I last emptied my trash in September 2018) http://joshuaspodek.com/avoiding-food-packaging-2 http://joshuaspodek.com/avoiding-food-packaging-2. I was pleasantly surprised that doing so cost less, reduced food preparation time, increased diversity of food, and led to more social interaction with friends and farmers. It's more accessible for people in food deserts and without time. For the record, it took a couple years of practice to go from weekly garbage to monthly to yearly. That's just one example. Everyone can reduce some. The more you start, instead of just accepting and throwing your hands up, the easier each next step. The producers will see the trend and stop buying plastic. Of course there are other ways to act: legislation, creating healthier alternatives. The point is: everyone can act starting here and now and they will find joy in it. It may take time, but acting on one's values is rewarding.

flaviojuvenal 7y ago
It would be motivating to know cases where "everyone can act now by themselves" really worked. I don't know any. Big change usually happens through organizations lobbying for something. Organization is the keyword here. Individual change rarely makes a difference if not organized.
- dmos62 7y ago
  > organizations lobbying for something The more generic term is politics.
- reureu 7y ago
  Why not both? You can stop personally contributing to the problem while you also advocate for system-level changes. Also, there's likely personal benefit (e.g., improved health, decreased cost) that comes with making these changes.
  - flaviojuvenal 7y ago
    I agree. But without tools, marketing, lobbying, policy-making, etc., it's hard to make lasting changes.
    - reureu 7y ago
      Don't worry about lasting change, worry about what your contribution to the problem is. I think the veg*n community is a good example where a proportionately small group of people stuck to personal commitments to not eat meat or animal products, and have (decades later) gotten mainstream acceptance for that. You can now have a vegan meal at Burger King, but only because a group of people weren't worried about making lasting change they were just worried about living in line with their values :)
afarrell 7y ago
I poked around on your blog for a bit, but couldn’t find any practical suggestions. How can a city-dweller with an oven, chest freezer, instant pot, and fridge acquire meal without packaging and without 8 hours of administrative overhead per week?
- dragontamer 7y ago
  My opinion: just use steel cans. Steel has a 80%+ recycling rate, and even if thrown in the garbage... steel is one of the easiest materials to "mine" out of a garbage pit. Just shove everything into a blast furnace, and the things that don't burn is probably steel. Obviously a bit simplified: but that's the secret to glass, aluminum, and steel recycling. The high-temperature "purification" process of these materials makes for a very easy recycling process, even if there are contaminants in the material. In contrast, paper and plastic becomes useless due to contamination very easily. ------------- The amount of food available in steel cans is quite significant. Tuna, Salmon, Chicken, Peas, Carrots, Corn, Apricots, Peaches, Spinach, Pineapples, Beans, Potatoes, tomato paste... to name a few. Subsisting on canned food is boring, but doable. You've got meats, every major veggie, starches and fruits. Mix it up with some grains (ex: Rice, Flour), fresh starches (Potatoes keep well and don't really need to be in a can), fresh veggies (Onions keep well). --------- A combination of fresh fruits + cans manages to keep my trips to the grocery store down to once-per-week. Most fresh foods don't keep for a whole week (ex: Fresh Peppers, Fresh Basil, only stays good for a few days... while fresh ground beef / fresh chicken only stays for about 2 or 3 days). ---------- The counterargument to steel is that it is heavier than plastic. So it arguably takes more energy to ship steel cans than plastic containers. I haven't done the math however, but I assume steel is overall better for the environment.
  - shiftpgdn 7y ago
    Steel cans have a plastic liner (acrylic and a polyester, usually.) Reusable glass with bottle deposit is probably the way to go.
    - dragontamer 7y ago
magashna 7y ago
Comparing one's individual waste to something like 1 cruise ship is like a grain of sand to a beach. It shouldn't be the focus.
- spodek 7y ago
  I think of it more like comparing running a marathon to taking a single step. I've run many marathons, each a single step at a time. Or maybe it's more like comparing one post of mine to my strategy. This podcast episode describes a lot of my strategy: https://shows.pippa.io/leadership-and-the-environment/episodes/224-clarifying-my-strategy https://shows.pippa.io/leadership-and-the-environment/episod.... It might give you more context than just one response to an article. I'd appreciate your thoughts on it.

by spodek 7y ago

flaviojuvenal 7y ago

It would be motivating to know cases where "everyone can act now by themselves" really worked. I don't know any. Big change usually happens through organizations lobbying for something. Organization is the keyword here. Individual change rarely makes a difference if not organized.

dmos62 7y ago
> organizations lobbying for something The more generic term is politics.
reureu 7y ago
Why not both? You can stop personally contributing to the problem while you also advocate for system-level changes. Also, there's likely personal benefit (e.g., improved health, decreased cost) that comes with making these changes.
- flaviojuvenal 7y ago
  I agree. But without tools, marketing, lobbying, policy-making, etc., it's hard to make lasting changes.
  - reureu 7y ago
    Don't worry about lasting change, worry about what your contribution to the problem is. I think the veg*n community is a good example where a proportionately small group of people stuck to personal commitments to not eat meat or animal products, and have (decades later) gotten mainstream acceptance for that. You can now have a vegan meal at Burger King, but only because a group of people weren't worried about making lasting change they were just worried about living in line with their values :)

afarrell 7y ago

I poked around on your blog for a bit, but couldn’t find any practical suggestions. How can a city-dweller with an oven, chest freezer, instant pot, and fridge acquire meal without packaging and without 8 hours of administrative overhead per week?

dragontamer 7y ago
My opinion: just use steel cans. Steel has a 80%+ recycling rate, and even if thrown in the garbage... steel is one of the easiest materials to "mine" out of a garbage pit. Just shove everything into a blast furnace, and the things that don't burn is probably steel. Obviously a bit simplified: but that's the secret to glass, aluminum, and steel recycling. The high-temperature "purification" process of these materials makes for a very easy recycling process, even if there are contaminants in the material. In contrast, paper and plastic becomes useless due to contamination very easily. ------------- The amount of food available in steel cans is quite significant. Tuna, Salmon, Chicken, Peas, Carrots, Corn, Apricots, Peaches, Spinach, Pineapples, Beans, Potatoes, tomato paste... to name a few. Subsisting on canned food is boring, but doable. You've got meats, every major veggie, starches and fruits. Mix it up with some grains (ex: Rice, Flour), fresh starches (Potatoes keep well and don't really need to be in a can), fresh veggies (Onions keep well). --------- A combination of fresh fruits + cans manages to keep my trips to the grocery store down to once-per-week. Most fresh foods don't keep for a whole week (ex: Fresh Peppers, Fresh Basil, only stays good for a few days... while fresh ground beef / fresh chicken only stays for about 2 or 3 days). ---------- The counterargument to steel is that it is heavier than plastic. So it arguably takes more energy to ship steel cans than plastic containers. I haven't done the math however, but I assume steel is overall better for the environment.
- shiftpgdn 7y ago
  Steel cans have a plastic liner (acrylic and a polyester, usually.) Reusable glass with bottle deposit is probably the way to go.
  - dragontamer 7y ago

magashna 7y ago

Comparing one's individual waste to something like 1 cruise ship is like a grain of sand to a beach. It shouldn't be the focus.

spodek 7y ago
I think of it more like comparing running a marathon to taking a single step. I've run many marathons, each a single step at a time. Or maybe it's more like comparing one post of mine to my strategy. This podcast episode describes a lot of my strategy: https://shows.pippa.io/leadership-and-the-environment/episodes/224-clarifying-my-strategy https://shows.pippa.io/leadership-and-the-environment/episod.... It might give you more context than just one response to an article. I'd appreciate your thoughts on it.