Month: August 2022 Page 3 of 4

girl wearing white floral dress beside grass plant at daytime

If you look up how to reduce your carbon footprint online, you’ll find some common tips, such as flying less, eating less meat and shopping sustainably. However, growing your own food doesn’t usually reach the top list. Yet, I think that is one of the easiest ways to reduce our carbon emissions right now. Besides, growing our foods, aka gardening, brings many benefits to our physical and mental well-being.

Why people don’t grow their own foods?

The reasons could be:

they THINK they don’t have the skills required
they don’t have time to do so
they don’t have time to do so
they don’t have space for growing foods

I can totally relate to why some people think this way because I used to think like that, too. However, two years ago, one of my friends introduced me to gardening, and I came to learn how easy it could be!

Step #1 – Think small

First, forget all those professional gardeners or fancy gardens you’ve seen on TV. Your goal is to try growing your own foods to cut down your carbon/food footprint. You aren’t into this thing to try to compete in next year’s Chelsea flower show. Nor are you buying an allotment and growing all your vegetables so that you never need to buy fresh produce from supermarkets.

So, thinking on a much smaller scale will boost your willingness and confidence to try it!

Step #2 – Choose the easy one

If you’ve never done any gardening, starting with the easy veggies to grow for the first try, such as potatoes, courgettes/zucchinis, or spring onions, is vital. However, from my experience, nothing can be easier to grow than spring onions. What’s more? You don’t even need to buy any seeds to grow that! Let me show you how.

To forget how to dig the earth and tend the soil is to forget ourselves.
Mahatma Gandhi

Step #3 – Use food scraps

In your next grocery shopping, look out for spring onions with roots. The longer the roots and healthier they look, the easier they can be regrown. I got mine with a cheap yellow sticker, i.e. reduced price – very little investment, indeed! 🙂

Next, remove the rubber bands from the spring onions. You don’t need to wash them. Instead, lay them on the chopping board and cut them two to three centimetres from the roots. If you don’t want to measure them, just cut the white bit and leave the green bit for your cooking later.

Step #4 – Choose a sunny day

Choose a sunny and warm day for your first try because gardening is much more enjoyable when the sun is out.

The weather in the UK usually starts to get warmer around mid-May, which is also a good time to try out this experience. In general, spring onions like to be in an open area with plenty of sunshine available. Other than that, they’re really easy to be taken care of.

Step #5 – Get the tools

Trust me, when I said get the tools, you basically need only two items: soil and garden pots. Optional: if you have garden gloves and a garden trowel, that’s great. If you don’t, just use your bare hands instead.

As for the soils, one bag will do. And if you can, please get peat-free soil/compost, which is much better for the climate.

I also like adding some manure to the soil/compost to improve soil texture and water-holding capacity. However, this is optional.

Step #6 – Time to plant

Fill your pots with soil until it reaches the rim of the container. Press the soil a bit so it can provide support for the plant’s roots

but not be compacted because we need water to be well-drained and air to be well-circulated in the pot.

Then use your finger to dig a hole, and stick a spring onion root in the hole. Fill in more soil but make sure a little bit of the stem remains visible. As you can see from the picture, there are two roots in a pot. In terms of how many of them you could have in a pot, it depends on how big your pot is. Just make sure to set each root at least a few centimetres apart.

Once you’re happy with how the roots are planted in the pot, water them gradually until you see the water flowing through the drainage hole at the bottom. NOW, pat yourself on the back because you just completed your first growing-your-own-food project and have started cutting down your carbon footprint. Hooray!

The stem should start growing very soon, especially in warm weather. Below are the ones that have been planted for around four weeks. And they’re ready to be harvested! Caution: don’t let them grow too long because they might start flowering. I usually harvest them when they reach a height of around 20 – 25 cm. Just cut the leaves part, and the stem will regrow new leaves soon.

Making a positive impact on our planet

Are you ready to give this a try? Not only are you going to harvest what you’ve grown for the whole summer but also actively and regularly cut down your carbon footprint – it’s like the saying: kill two birds with one stone! Moreover, once you get a taste of success, it’ll make you want to experience more and try to grow different kinds of vegetables/fruits. You’ll be continuously making a positive impact on our planet!

Growing your own food may be one of the most powerful steps you can take for the health of yourself, your family, and your planet.
Lindsay Oberst

focused asian woman putting chifferi rigati into glass jar

5 SIMPLE Alternatives To Cling Film

By Rachel

On August 7, 2022

In Eco-friendly lifestyle

How many rolls of plastic cling film do you usually go through each year? Do you bin those food wraps after every single use? How about if I told you that I use less than a roll a year, would you believe me?

Cling film is primarily made of plastic to preserve food, and it currently can’t be recycled in the UK. Because of that and its material, I think we should ONLY use it when there is no other alternative.

Alternatives to cling film

a person holding the lid of a food container

glass bowls with silicone/cotton cloth cover
takeaway food containers with a lid (I never throw them away. Trust me! They’re very handy.)
glass jars (I use the jam jars from the jams bought in the store)
beeswax/soy wraps
put the food in a bowl and cover the bowl with the right-size plate (It’s never too old school!)

If it can’t be reduced, reused, repaired, rebuilt, refurbished, resold, recycled, or composted, then it should be restricted, redesigned or removed from production.
Pete Seeger

Can cling film have multiple uses?

Absolutely! Just clean them properly and hang them to dry. I use cling film rarely. After each use, I would rinse and hang them to dry on my dish rack overnight. And next day, I’d check whether there is no hole in the wrap and if it’s in a usable condition. And I put them away in a takeaway container, and they’re ready to be used the next time.

Use cling film for non-food stuff

You can also use washed-and-dried cling film for non-food objects. For example:

when painting the wall where some objects you can’t move, then wrap them with those reusable cling films to avoid paint getting on them.
wrap your paintbrush with the film to prevent the brush from drying out
wrap your liquid bottles with the film to avoid liquids spilling

What other usages of cling film can you think of? Feel free to leave comments below. I’m looking forward to hearing from you.

Further reading: Ten tips to reduce your plastic waste

How Cooking Vegan Dishes Can Reduce Your Energy Bills

By Rachel

On August 3, 2022

In Eco-friendly lifestyle, Plant-based-diet

With the rising cost of living recently, such as higher energy bills, we all try to find a way to cut down the payout on those bills. People are advised to switch off their standby appliances, turn off the heater, reduce water consumption and invest in double-glazed windows and better insulation. However, I think one thing that has been overlooked is that cooking vegan meals can also cut down our electricity/gas and water consumption.

How long does it take to cook a meat-based dish?

Take an example of cooking a chilli con carne. Regardless of preparation time, the typical cooking time for the beef chilli con carne takes around an hour, and so does the dish with other kinds of meats.

Why might cooking meat use more water?

Another thing to consider is that some people wash raw meats before cooking them (although it’s not recommended!) or blanch meat. When doing so, water is required. So cooking a meat-based dish could use more water during the preparation.

Cooking plant-based: less time and water

If you substitute meat with other plant-based ingredients, the cooking time will certainly be reduced hence the electricity use. Also, if you use tinned vegetables to replace meats, then no washing is needed. As a result, you save on the water bill, too!

Great things are done by a series of small things brought together.
Vincent Van Gogh

Does no meat mean no protein?

Some people might not like the idea of not having meat because they argue that they need to have meat for their protein intake. I can understand why people think this way because I used to think like that! I was brought up believing that meats and dairy foods are the only two sources I can get my protein. I am so thankful that I no longer have this false belief.

Are plant-based proteins expensive?

Today, there are plenty of plant-based proteins to choose from, such as chickpeas, baked beans, tofu and lentils. They are much cheaper than meats. And you might be surprised that some vegetables also contain protein, like spinach and broccoli.

bowl of spinach — Photo by Jacqueline Howell on Pexels.com

Additionally, they are healthier than animal proteins because they have less saturated fat and are higher in fibre. However, consuming a variety of plant-based proteins is key to ensuring a complete protein profile if you want to be on a plant-based diet.

Vegan chilli con carne with baked beans: preparation and ingredients

Now, I want to show you how quickly a vegan meal can be done. Even better, it’s packed with protein and nutrition. Of course, it’s tasty, too!

The day before:

Let’s say if I plan to cook this dish for Wed dinner. On Tuesday evening, before I go to bed, I like to put all the ingredients together on the kitchen worktops if they’re NOT required to be chilled. I also get the saucepan ready for the next day.

Preparation like this might not mean anything to you. Still, it’s an effective way to make sure we’ll get the cooking done the next day instead of ordering takeaway or getting microwave meals, which are more expensive and not so healthy as home-cooked meals.

When we have everything all together, we’ll feel more like cooking and not find an excuse not to cook because we’re tired or not in the mood.

You could also prepare the vegetables you want to use the day before. You can put them in containers and then have those containers in the same compartment in the fridge. So next day, when you’re about to cook, you only need to take those containers out and don’t need to figure out what vegetables you will use. Less mental work means you’ll get your cooking going quicker!

fresh vegetables: red peppers, green beans, mushrooms and onion

Print Pin

Vegan chilli con carne with baked beans

Tasty, healthy and quick one-pot wonder vegan chilli con carne

Course Main Course

Cuisine Mexican

Keyword baked beans, chilli con carne, vegan

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 20

Servings 4 people

Cost £6

Equipment

1 saucepan
1 tin opener

Ingredients

1 tin chopped tomatoes (you can use the fresh ones if you prefer)
1 tin kidney beans, drained (or mixed beans)
1 tin baked beans
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp smoked paprika
3 garlic cloves
1 red or yellow pepper
2 to 3 tbsp cooking oil

Optional (or just use whatever vegetables need to be used up in your fridge)

100 gram mushrooms
50 gram green beans
1 onion (yellow or red onion)
50 gram peas (or frozen peas)
1 tin sweetcorn, drained
50 gram vegan mince (you can use frozen ones)
2 tbsp mixed dried herbs

Instructions

Open all the tins and drain the water from the kidney beans and sweetcorn
Chop all the vegetables. (See *note 1, *note 2)
Heat the oil in the sauce pan, add chopped onions and garlic, fry for 1 minute.
Add ground cumin, smoked paprika, and red/yellow peppers, and continue cooking for 2 minutes. (See *note 3)
Add those vegetables which might require longer cooking time, such as mushrooms, frozen peas etc.
Add kidney beans (or mixed beans), and cook for another minute.
Add chopped tomatoes. (and frozen vegan mince if you have some)
Add a bit of water if you feel there isn't enough liquid in the pan
Add 1 tbsp mixed dried herbs and 1 tsp balsamic vinegar to boost flavour (optional)
Add salt and pepper
Bring the liquid up to boil, then put the lid on and let it cook for 10 – 15 minutes. Make sure you set the heat at mid-low and stir the dish from time to time
Add a tin of baked beans five minutes before the dish is done
Add some chilli flakes if you like it spicier (optional)
Taste before serving

Video

Notes

*note 1: Chop mushrooms into chunks if you use them.

*note 2: If you like your green beans a bit crunchy, boil them in a separate pan. And only add them to the main dish five minutes before it is done.

*note 3: Adding spices at this stage will make the dish more flavorful. Also, turn down the heat when adding spices so the spices won’t get burnt.

Here you go! This dish takes around 20 minutes (compared to 1 hour with the meat dish), and it can easily serve for 4 to 5 people. I hope you’ll see how much electricity consumption will be reduced by switching to cooking vegan dishes.

Side dishes: what to serve with chilli con carne?

Bread: Yes, that’s right, especially with the first/end slice of a loaf of bread. The thick slice goes much better with this dish.

Tortilla chips: I usually go for this one when I have a pack of tortilla chips opened.

Pasta: If you have enough leftovers for the next day, then you just need to cook pasta to make it a complete meal.

I really hope you’ll give the dish a try! This will save your cooking time and reduce your energy bills. Moreover, not ordering takeaway/buying ready meals save us money, and we won’t add more non-recyclable food packaging.

Save the Planet & Live Sustainably