Keep it fresh: Stretch your food dollars with these storage tips

Have you ever opened a bag of moldy bread? Or found something funky at the back of your fridge? Avoid another stinky surprise and stretch your food dollars by following these storage best practices.

A) The freezer is your friend

Tired of leftovers? Freeze them for lunch next week. Bread going bad before the loaf’s end? Store it in the freezer, and pop frozen slices right in the toaster. You can even freeze butter to keep it fresh for up to 9 months.

Consider buying frozen instead of fresh: Frozen vegetables are nutritious, easy to cook with, and they don’t mind if you forget about them for a bit (fresh broccoli lasts a week, frozen lasts a year). Plus, a full freezer uses less energy than an
empty one.

B) Know your fridge

Crisper drawers keep carrots crunchy and celery snappy; they’re the best place for fruits and vegetables. Use the high-humidity drawer for produce that wilts and the low-humidity for fruit and veggies that get moldy. The door is the warmest spot in the fridge, so use it for condiments but not milk or other perishable items.

C) Cool cupboards

Heat, light and humidity are the enemy of preserving flavor and freshness in herbs and spices, dried beans and grains and cooking oils. Store these items in a cool, dry, dark cupboard or drawer. The same goes for potatoes, onions and garlic.

D) Countertop tips

Leave tomatoes and avocados on the counter to ripen, then move to the fridge to keep them from going bad.

Top storage tools to try

Painter’s tape & permanent marker: Label and date like a pro. (It’s how restaurants keep track.)

Air-tight containers: Clear, air-tight jars, containers and bags keep food fresh and easy to see.

Phone camera: Snap a shelfie of your fridge, freezer, cupboard or spice drawer before heading to the store, so you don’t double-buy.

Lists: Keep lists on the fridge to make notes as you run out of things. An “Eat Me Soon” list is also helpful to avoid forgotten fruit and hidden leftovers.

Find more food saving tips

Find more storage tips that are good for your wallet and good for the planet at Eat Smart Waste Less. And while you're there, check out their tips for food shopping and cooking. (The site is also available in Spanish: www.eatsmartwasteless.com/acepteelreto)

This article appeared in the Winter 2020 Curbsider publication.

Back-to-School 2020: Keep your routines while being resourceful

School days will look different this year. Portland-area schools announced that the fall semester will be online at least until November. While details are being sorted, kids may still need or want items to help get them started on the right path. It is also a time to rethink how materials come into your home. Many community resources are available to assist parents in these online, no contact, distance learning times. 

Routine is important 

Read about 12 ideas to keep back-to-school traditions going, even during a time of uncertainty and learning from home.  

If you still need supplies, shop online or in-person at SCRAP Creative Reuse for paper, markers, pens and colored pencils, and online at Free Geek for refurbished technology.  

Donate supplies 

Have surplus items to donate? Schoolhouse Supplies is seeking donations. You can make an appointment to donate; and as always, teachers can shop for supplies.  

Stay informed 

PDX Parent has information for parents about the upcoming school year and ways to connect. Portland Public Schools continue to offer information about the new distance learning model. 

Check out other back-to-school resources in our previous kids in school posts. 

Gear up for gardening season, again

With so much time spent at home these last few months, it has been a chance to be outdoors in the fresh air with your hands in the earth. And while summer seems to be moving at a faster pace than spring, there is still time to garden and prepare for another harvest season — with sharpened tools and your planting list at the ready.

Sharpen garden tools

A sharpened pair of pruners, a shovel with a good clean edge, and a well-tuned push-mower can make gardening and mowing easier and more enjoyable.

• Sharpening4U in NE Portland and some nurseries and farmers markets offer tool and knife sharpening services. Cascadia Blade Works offers their services for a fee at the Montavilla Farmers Market on Sundays.

• DIY online classes are available at the ReBuilding Center, including how to sharpen your own tools.

Borrow tools

Portland’s tool lending libraries are filled with garden tools large and small. Some also offer seed lending libraries!

• The Green Lents Community Library, Southeast Portland Tool Library, Northeast Portland Tool Library and North Portland Tool Library are all open, with limited hours and COVID related safety protocols in place.

Get it on the calendar

·         Use Portland Nursery’s handy vegetable planting and harvesting calendar.

Share the Bounty

If you expect to have a wealth of edibles, consider donating fresh fruit and vegetables to a nearby food pantry.

• Oregon Food Bank accepts donations large and small and lists local food pantries.

• Ample Harvest seeks food growers and lists local food pantries.

• Portland Fruit Tree Project offers ways to Share in the Harvest so those with fruit trees can pick and donate fruit for those in need.

• Check out a previous blog post about collaborating with your neighbors.

Questions answered

• Call or email your gardening questions to Master Gardeners for expert advice.

Earth Day turns 50

Those wanting to connect with community to honor the 50th anniversary of Earth Day will find many local virtual activities to engage in. Get gardening tips, learn to make your own greener cleaners and find activities to share with the kids.

Here are a sampling of events, ideas and resources. Check out the Resourceful event calendar for these and more.

Virtual Week of Action

From April 20 through 24, Southeast Uplift will be hosting a Virtual Week of Action to support more sustainably just practices in our community. This year, the District Coalition Office is sharing tool kits online, live stream talks, activities and more in different categories; climate change and energy, bees and trees, compost and food, reduce toxins and creative reuse, and of course, Earth Day!

You can also sign up for regional online workshops. A few include:

• How to create a backyard habitat on a budget, hosted by Columbia Land Trust.

• Learn about recycling right and help keep sanitation workers healthy, offered in English and Spanish, from Metro staff and the Recycle or Not campaign.

• Keep food longer and save money with Eat Smart Waste Less.

Learn more and register for workshops by visiting the online resource organized by the City of Gresham.

Style and Sustainability Workshop

All this time at home may have brought to light changes you would like to make to your space.

The Style and Sustainability Workshop is an online workshop offering a slide show and video tutorial to show attendees how to build their room decorating boards.

Join owner and chief designer of Mobius Home, Lynn Feinstein, to learn how to source mindfully manufactured furniture, explore creative upcycling, introduce color and current trends, and unveil the principles behind cohesively pulling together the many items you already own to work in your refreshed spaces.

You will leave the workshop with a clearer vision of your space and knowledge on how you can support a sustainable lifestyle with the decisions you make for your home. 

There is a fee for this workshop on April 22 from 7-8 PM.

Lynn Feinstein has been a guest blogger on Resourceful PDX in the past. Check out previous posts under Home Improvement.

Ecochallenge

Connect the dots between your values and the impact of your actions with Drawdown Ecochallenge. Find ways to take action on the 100 most substantive solutions to global warming. Earn points and see your positive impact grow. Take the challenge and see how a few weeks of action add up to a lifetime of change for you and the planet.

These handy apps help you reduce holiday food waste

Fall and winter holidays bring opportunities to enjoy meals together. By planning ahead for all the steps – buying, preparing, cooking, eating – you can help reduce food waste to make the most of your holidays!

Plan

Search for recipes online, find tips to use leftovers faster and easier, and create shopping lists (and even share your list with your co-chefs).

• Keep track of your shopping needs, your pantry’s inventory, and manage your to-do list items with Out of Milk.

• The Guest-imator from Save the Food helps you plan exactly what you need based on the number of guests and types of dishes.

• Paprika Recipe Manager offers recipes plus interactive options so you can cross off items as you go along, highlight your current step and convert measurements.

Prepare

Colorful foods like apples, pears, cranberries, winter squash, hazelnuts, walnuts, chard, kale, leeks, beets and potatoes all look beautiful on your plate. Find these seasonal treats with the farmers market map based on the neighborhood and the day they want to shop. Many are open year-round, and even more are open leading up to Thanksgiving.

Choose up to 3 ingredients and BigOven will tell you what you can make.

Cook

While the holidays bring together family, friends and food, they also allow for time in the kitchen together. Are there dishes you can prepare ahead of time? Invite friends over for a pie night to bake together and save time and money by sharing the work and the ingredients.

Eat

Now, enjoy the meal you have prepared or the special dishes you bring to a holiday gathering, potluck or dinner at someone else’s home. Sharing your favorite dishes elsewhere allows for less cleanup and  a chance to take home leftovers (don’t forget your reusable containers!).

Reuse pop-up fills zero waste needs

The term ‘zero waste’ is being used more and more these days. It could be because of what we see and hear in the news: several environmental crisis on an international scale, such as recycling disruptions and issues with single-use plastics. This has led to new efforts, or a new sense of urgency, to minimize waste, reduce consumption, and promote product reuse and repair.

This zero-waste movement is alive and well in Portland - from community-based efforts to businesses promoting a lifestyle of less.

One of these businesses is Utility.

Utility promotes refill and reuse by selling personal and home care products from bulk and encouraging shoppers to bring their own containers. Each ingredient in every product is researched, so customers can be assured they are using products that are safe for their health and the environment. The store also sells plastic free versions of commonly used items, such as toothbrushes, kitchen sponges, etc. The majority of products are produced locally and made to last.

Rebecca Rottman and Nadine Appenbrink started Utility in April 2019 as a way to help mitigate local plastic pollution and provide Portlanders an opportunity to buy products that are safe for their health and the environment. “We were both tired of having to go to multiple places just to buy shampoo and laundry soap that didn’t have petrochemicals and other harmful ingredients, were safe for the environment and had refill options. Inspired by the many “zero waste” shops popping up in cities around the U.S. and internationally, we decided to start Utility in Portland”.

Although Utility follows some tenets of the zero waste philosophy, Rebecca and Nadine refer to themselves as a “low” waste business rather than “zero”.

Nonetheless, here are some of the ways Utility aligns with zero waste:

●     Sells products from bulk instead of individual plastic bottles.

●     Encourages and promotes the reuse of containers.

●     Carries products that contain only natural ingredients and safe for humans, animals and the earth.

●     Sources from local producers as much as possible.

Utility currently operates as a pop-up shop and online store with local delivery only, no brick and mortar...yet. Pop-ups have been held at retail stores like J. Crew and Nike, bringing these tenets to employees and consumers around Portland.

Bring your own containers

There are pop-up events happening around Portland. Look for upcoming dates online and/or follow them on Instagram. 

Utility will be partnering with eco-conscious and reuse promoting businesses such as GO Box, Gather Resale and Patagonia this fall.

Read about other zero waste initiatives in Portland and get more tips to reduce waste at Resourceful PDX.

Chinook Book is your key to sustainable living

It’s the 20th edition of Chinook Book! As always, the annual book includes hundreds of offers that are in line with being a thoughtful consumer in Portland, and why they are a Resourceful PDX partner. 

The Chinook Book highlights local, sustainable businesses that thrive in the community by giving back. There are close to 500 offers in seven categories this year – Dining, Entertainment and Family, Fashion and Gifts, Grocery Retailers, Home and Garden, Travel and Recreation and Wellness.

Some family-friendly favorites listed under Entertainment and Family include:

• OMSI

• Oregon Children’s Theatre

• Saturday Academy

• Oregon Zoo

• SCRAP

• Cloud Cap Games 

The Chinook Book team provides criteria so the businesses that appear in the book have been vetted for sustainability practices. This year, the Bureau of Planning and Sustainability has both a recycling ad and the Resourceful PDX ad, below.

Find savings by using both the print book and mobile app, available at local retailers and through school and nonprofit fundraisers. And don’t forget, every book includes a 12-month app subscription!

It’s almost back to school! Tips for a no-waste lunch

School days are right around the corner! One area that parents have some control over for back-to-school savings is lunch related. Packing a lunch for students saves money, resources and helps prevent waste.

No-waste lunch tips

Pack your lunch in a reusable bag or a lunch box

Wash and reuse

• plastic containers for sandwiches, soup and snacks

• plastic water or juice bottles

• locking plastic bags for crackers, carrots, cookies

Bring your own

• reusable forks and spoons

• cloth napkins

Save packaging – buy large, pack small

• Choose large bags of snacks like pretzels, chips and raisins over individually packaged ones

• Pack single servings in reusable containers to save resources

By planning and creating weekly meal plans, you can reduce waste while shopping, too. Stock the fridge in one trip, and you’ll save time and resources too.

Check out other back to school resources in our previous kids in school posts.

Bring your own bags to reduce waste at the grocery store

Reduce and reuse

You can help reduce waste by reusing plastic bags of any kind. If you reuse them even once, you’ll end up using half as many. Keep them in a place where they’ll get reused, like your car or your kitchen.

Plastic bags and plastic wrap cannot be recycled at home. Throw them in the garbage.

Keep plastic bags of any type out of your recycling bin. The same goes for plastic wrap, which includes things like cling wrap and the packaging for toilet paper and paper towels.

The City of Portland has had a plastic bag ban since 2011 and Oregon passed a statewide ban this legislative session. That means plastic bags will no longer be available at stores throughout the state, and there will be a fee on paper bags.

Plastic bags and plastic wrap create big problems. They can end up as litter, impacting the environment. You can make a difference by reusing them or not using them in the first place.

So now is a good time to remember to bring your own bag. Pack your durable containers in reusable bags to take to the store and that can be used for years. As a bonus, many grocery stores offer a refund if you bring your own bag. 

Tips to remember reusable bags:

·         Return bags to your car or bike.

·         Store bags near your house keys.

·         Keep a small bag in a purse or backpack.

·         Put a reminder on your grocery list.

Want help sorting it out?

Recycle or Not is a new community resource created by Metro and local government partners in the greater Portland, Oregon, area. These agencies are working to reduce waste and protect the environment by sharing information about how to recycle right.

Read (or listen) to this NPR story about sorting out plastics at the grocery store.

Choose to refuse

Say no to unnecessary take-out items because these items belong in the garbage

• Take advantage of the discounts local businesses offer for bringing your own coffee mug and reusable shopping bag.

• For to-go orders, take only what you need.

• If you don’t need the straw, fork, spoon, cup, condiments, containers, or a bag, say so! Hundreds of Portland restaurants and bars have switched to offering straws only upon request or asking if you need single-use items.

• Another step to reduce single-use waste is to have what you need when you need it. Make a to-go kit for your car, day bag or bike bag that includes grocery bags, a coffee mug, silverware or small containers for leftovers.

A costly habit

Single-use items — from paper napkins and coffee cups to straws and plastic bags — have been in the news a lot lately, and for good reason. We use many items for just a few minutes before throwing them away. Disposable products may provide convenience and ease at home and on the go, but they require natural resources, energy and water, which increases carbon emissions that contribute to climate change.

In Portland, all plastic and paper to-go items should be tossed in the garbage.

They do not belong in the recycling or compost bins, even if they claim to be compostable.

With a little effort we can reduce the disposable stuff we throw away to prevent waste and save money.

When is “compostable” not compostable?

Items labeled “compostable” or “biodegradable” belong in the garbage. The labels are well-intentioned, but they’re not always accurate. Many products that are labeled “compostable” or “biodegradable” don’t break down at our local composting facilities.

Do not put them in your recycling or compost bins.

Find more inspiration from a previous post about the 10 things you can do to reduce your waste and read a New York Times article about people trying to live plastic free (spoiler: It’s hard, but doable!).

Ready to pledge to go plastic-free in July? You can do that too!