Did you spend one of the first days of 2010 chipping away ice on your sidewalk? After the huge storm that passed through Minnesota in December, I recommend you check out the article in our archives about de-icing your sidewalk (January 2009).
If you are looking for a New Year's resolution, try writing a green tip on the first day of each month on your wall calendar. Check out our suggestions on Facebook or make up your own. Happy New Year!
Full exhibitor and sponsorship details will be available in mid-January and pricing will remain in the same range as previous years. For more information, contact Kristi Gray Shepherd: 952-920-5875 or Kristi@eventarch.com.
Don't throw dinner in the garbage:
How to waste less food
For many people, December included a lot of food. Think back — did you buy too much? Were there leftovers you couldn't eat within a week?
Wasted food and the environment
In the United States, we waste a lot of food. A recent study of food wastes in the U.S. estimated that 1,400 calories of food per person are wasted every day — 39% of the available food supply in our country! Because growing and processing food uses significant freshwater and energy resources, wasted food means wasted resources.
There is an impact after the wasted food goes to a landfill, too. Food in a landfill is initially decomposed by aerobic bacteria, as it would be in a backyard compost pile, but after the oxygen has been depleted, the remaining waste is broken down by methane-producing anaerobic bacteria. Methane is a greenhouse gas more potent than carbon dioxide. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, significant methane production typically begins one or two years after waste disposal in a landfill and continues for 10 to 60 years.
Use all your food
Buying the proper amount of food and eating food before it spoils will save you money and reduce energy use, water use, and greenhouse gas emissions. Wasting less requires small shifts in the way we plan our meals and store our food.
Here are things you can do to shift towards less waste:
Buy proper portions. A website from the UK called Love Food Hate Waste will help calculate portions. It's a cool website, but unfortunately the portion sizes are listed in grams so you'll need to convert them to ounces or pounds. There are about 450 grams in a pound, but rather than remember that here's an online conversion tool.
Learn to store your food so that it stays fresh. Most veggies keep longer in a humid environment, such as in a plastic bag or crisp drawer in the refrigerator.
Learn recipes for tasty leftover meals. The web site Love Food Hate Waste provides recipes that use small amounts of common ingredients. When searching for leftover recipes, look for ones that are flexible and allow you to use whatever vegetable is in the refrigerator.
Plan ahead. If you plan your meals in advance, you can buy only what you need at the store. You can cook a meal or two on the weekends when you have time. You'll be less likely to eat out and let the food in the refrigerator spoil if you know that you have a quick and easy meal waiting at home.
Be careful at restaurants. Portions at restaurants are sometimes too big for one person to eat. To avoid waste, share a main dish or bring a container for your leftovers.
No matter what you enjoy eating, you can reduce the amount you waste. Bon appétit!
Days of our green lives: Community events and resources
On cold January weekends, do you miss going to your local farmers' market? A website called Simple Good and Tasty lists local food events, including winter farmers' markets. These markets may not have tomatoes and cucumbers for sale, but there is still plenty of Minnesota food being produced in January!
January is the time of year to look for a community garden in your neighborhood using Gardening Matters' Community Garden Directory. Plots are usually assigned in late winter, so get your name on a list this month!
Learn about using passive solar techniques to conserve energy and Passive House design at Twin Cities Green Drinks, January 13, 6-7:30 p.m., Trotters Café (St. Paul).
The Brainerd Area Environmental Learning Network's January presentation is called Attacking Poverty through Green Jobs, January 21, 3-5 p.m., Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (Brainerd).
Feeling the chill of winter? Join Happy Dancing Turtle, Pine River-Backus Community Education, & Central Lakes College for Warming Up Winter! You'll learn how to winterize your home, make healthy foods, cut heating costs, and enjoy outdoor winter activities. There will be workshops, speakers and vendors at this family-friendly event, January 30, 8 a.m.-4:15 p.m., Pine River-Backus School.
Look for more events on the SEEK and NextStep calendars.
Missed an issue? Read past newsletters in our online archive.
For many people, December included a lot of food. Think back — did you buy too much? Were there leftovers you couldn't eat within a week? 
