A Positively Poetic Priest

When it comes to food preparation and leftovers, there is always the question about how to wrap or save or contain food. The convenience culture we have in America has created things like plastic wrap, aluminum foil, zip plastic bags, and plastic containers to answer these questions. However, three out of those four options are solely made out of plastic! More plastic! What in the world did we do before the invention of plastic??? I'll tell you: use glass, towels, beeswax wrap, and cloth bags in order to do what we do today. Can you see a difference in those materials? Glass and cloth are washable and recyclable materials. We really should be going back to using those materials again. Glass containers are washable, recyclable, and do not leech harmful chemicals ever. Cloth can be made from natural fibers and cleaned and reused until it wears out, at which point you can cut or tear it up and throw it in the compost pile to return to the earth. (Or use it in creating fire starters...

As I go through this 50 Acts of Green Challenge, I keep being surprised by the number of little things we can do which make a huge difference. Most of the things I have written about in the last four weeks have not had huge price tags, they have not been total life make overs. They have been simple and easy things which over time save our landfills, our oceans, and our planet amazing amounts of resources. Less plastic, less water pollution, less waste, less harmful chemicals in our lives do have a way of being game changers though. Once you start the path of caring for the Earth, you find so many ways of showing you care by being mindful of what is good and what is harmful. Today's act of green is definitely in the category of a small change that can make a huge difference for landfills and toxic chemical waste. Dishcloths. You know, all those little bits of cloth and rags your grandmother used to make and wag at you when she was washing the dishes. Today, many households use...

The ironic thing about pictures like these is that those bottles were specifically designed to hold water, not float in the ocean water.  Today's subject might be one that everyone knows the dangers of, yet we still continue to do. Use plastic single use water bottles. I don't understand the train wreck of humanity sometimes. We know it is bad for the environment, yet we continue to do it anyway. This study says there is more than 250,000 tons of plastic floating in the ocean. Alone! The study doesn't take into account the thousands of tons of plastic, bottles, candy wrappers, etc., which are littering road sides throughout the populated world. The amount of plastic pollution is abominable. There are plenty of alternatives for plastic water bottles. Reusable water bottles in magnanimous variety are available, water filters of all sorts are available, even refrigerators with filters are available and cut down on plastic water bottle usage. Pretty much everyone...

Day Twenty Five! Halfway through my 50 Acts of Green Challenge! Of course, there is always more that can be done to help the Earth. 50 Acts of Green is only a starting point. The kitchen can be a magical place. Just watch any Disney movie in which there is a kitchen. Magical things always happen in the kitchen. I'm thinking of Fantasia's Sorcerer's Apprentice , the Fairy Godmother's kitchen, Cinderella's kitchen. Merlin's kitchen in the Sorcerer's Stone. A lot of magic happens in kitchens. But not everything that happens in a kitchen directly deals with food. Garbage bags, containers, utensils, appliances, cleaning supplies, and a whole host of things happen in the kitchen, which can also be made more environmentally friendly. Today is going to start a series of other kitchen items beyond food which can be changed to be more environmentally friendly. The kitchen is one of the few places in the home left that can contain a lot of Styrofoam. Most Styrof...

I have never met a bowl of popcorn I couldn't eat. (Depending on the flavoring, of course.) Having a large appetite for popcorn runs in the family. We love popcorn. I try not to make it too often because then popcorn would make up all the calorie intake I should have for the day. And I really am trying to have good diversity and healthy food habits. In the list of never-ending paradoxes of surprises, meaning things that both surprise and don't surprise me at the same time, are popcorn bags. Popcorn bags were born out of convenience. Popcorn kernels are so easily bought in bulk in ways that are very environmentally friendly. Cooking popcorn on the stove with a little oil and salt uses less oil and no additives, and really is pretty easy to begin with. However, in the craze for convenience, someone created microwavable popcorn bags. Yet, most popcorn bags include harmful chemicals, not only for the environment, but also for you! Because the bags have extra chemicals for bei...

Eat your leftovers! The American food system has a lot of problems. I've said this before, and I'll say it over and over again. Because I live with food restrictions and know from experience my own issues with finding healthy and viable options, and reading articles about American's food production and distribution system, and seeing the kinds of things available for food pantries, I am intimately aware of the inequalities and subsidies of different kinds of food products. If you want to read some articles for yourself: http://css.umich.edu/factsheets/us-food-system-factsheet This article uses the USDA reported data for its information. This is a blog, but they do cite their sources: https://healthyplacesbydesign.org/the-roots-of-americas-broken-food-system/ Or you can simply go to the USDA statistics reporting page yourself: https://www.nass.usda.gov/Publications/ Americans do not have that much opportunity to specifically vote for Agricultural changes, or even f...

Today's topic might sound a little old school to some. Canning. Nowadays there are plenty of companies that can pretty much every type of available food item you could want. Canned veggies, canned fruits, canned meats, canned dairy, even canned bread (which I have seen, but can't try (as of yet, maybe someday someone will make a gluten, dairy, soy free canned bread, weirder things have been done)). However, canning at home is a good science lesson for kids, reuses glass jars, safely keeps food for longer periods of time, and helps reduce large processing of food. I will say, if you have never canned before at home, follow instructions when you do it the first couple of times. There are instructions in many cook books and plenty of videos online ( see this quick one from Tractor Supply ). There is a specific process involved when it comes to canning, especially certain kinds of foods, so that they stay safe from bacteria during their shelf lives. Also, it helps to learn canni...

If you are connected to me on social media, you know that yesterday I posted about the top five things I hate about the Coronavirus Pandemic situation right now. Of the top five things, two of them were plastic grocery bags. I despise plastic grocery bags. They don't open, they tear easily, they are single use plastic which is hard to recycle. They get set lose in the world and fly around. They clog up drains and trees and look and sound terrible. They cling to you when you don't want them to. They smell like cheap plastic. I will say it over and over again. I despise plastic grocery bags. I have a wonderful set of reusable bags that I love to use. Reusable bags I have gotten from events, companies I like, and to round out my collection, I also have reusable mesh produce bags. They are great. They cut down on plastic use. They are washable. They are easy to use and they don't fall apart every time you use them. Sadly, they are also not being welcomed in grocery stores ri...

While I eat food at a rate that puts the Cookie Monster eating cookies to shame, there are food scraps that don't make it into my system. "Where do all my food scraps go?" you may ask. I have for a long time been a big proponent of composting. Composting is the art of creating dirt. If you once thought there was an art for everything, you are completely correct. Who knew there was even an art of creating dirt! If you read all the guides and infographics on composting, you'll notice a few differences between the guides. Most agree that there should be a ratio of 2 brown materials to 1 green materials. Everyone agrees you need air and sunlight and rain and time for all the little organisms to make compost. What they don't agree on necessarily is what should and shouldn't be put in compost piles, how long compost will take to make, how often to turn it, how much air it needs, all those lovely variables that turn compost into an art. The science of ma...

Food, food, food. I almost hope with all the growing concern about our food system in the United States at this time, we might be able to start making some improvements. Many some in the system will see some changes that can be made to help fix the billions of dollars wasted in producing food people don't need (I'm looking at you soybeans), the billions of pounds of food wasted by stores and restaurants, the subsidies (corn, soybeans, wheat) that are killing our small local farmers. Its almost May, which is usually when our Farmer's Market in Franklin opens up. I am not sure what kind of restrictions or safety precautions the farmer's market might face, though it is outside and not a lot of people are there at one time which already are a big help. Some of you in warmer places probably have already faced these questions. I do hope our farmer's market will open soon. Farmer's markets connect local growers with local buyers, cutting down transportation costs ...

The food we eat on a daily basis comes from numerous sources. Especially in our global economy, we can import food from all over the world, and do on a regular basis. Instead of simply knowing what food is in season because we plant and grow lots of food ourselves, we have to look up that information in colorful time charts and infographics. What does it matter when a fruit or vegetable is in season when you can buy it any day you would like because of hot-house farming and buying imported food?  The real answer is that it matters because of the amount of processing and transportation cost that comes along with such food. Billions of gallons of gas and other fuels are used each year in transporting food long distances to a cafe near you. Billions of gallons of water are used in hot house/greenhouse farms in order to grow fruits and vegetables year round, regardless of the season.  Part of the amazing fun of growing, buying, and eating local, in-season foods is that y...

Spring is a wonderful time. As long as you can still breathe. I have a few seasonal allergies that give me trouble in the spring, but I still love the wondrous blooming of flowers and trees, the warmer weather and changing of the light. Spring is the time I start to get excited about my summer plans. I start planning my garden, I start thinking about campfires and camp and races and sitting on the porch. This year, my summer plans are not quite as formalized as usual, but I am figuring my way around that. I am still planning my garden and thinking about biking and sitting on the porch. While being eco-friendly in the garden is its own whole topic, I am going to start talking about gardening during my week on kitchen changes because it is one place I get my food. From my garden! In the last couple of years I have amassed a large array of pots and planters and I plant a small variety of beans, tomatoes, herbs, and other veggies and fruits to use in my kitchen. Gardening myself c...

When it comes to eating, I have already given up a lot of different foods because of my health. Wheat, dairy, all mass produced items which have soy in them, all normal bakery items, the list goes on. In my quest for a healthier and more eco-friendly diet, I have learned a lot about production values and total food costs. What we pay for our food does not begin to cover the impact our food is making on the environment, and our own health. Now I cannot say that I have become a vegetarian or vegan by any means. Meat items have always been on my top ten list of favorite foods. However, I have become more conscious about what, how, and where I am buying meat products. Meat production uses so much water and adds so many chemicals to our water system and our own bodies, on a scale most of us cannot fathom. I have cut down drastically on the amount of red meat I buy and eat, only buying red meat once a month. Amid the changes brought on by the Coronavirus Pandemic, we may be seeing a mea...

Let's head to the kitchen! My favorite part of the house! Let's just put it out there, I love food. I love to cook, bake, and eat food. The top three reasons I am a triathlete are: I like to eat, I love to bake, I love to eat. No joke. So when it comes to where I spend most of my time and money, we have to go to the kitchen. Which also makes it a big place for eco-friendly improvements. There are so many convenient yet environment destroying kitchen "improvements" out there. In normal kitchens, there are plastic items everywhere! Appliances, utensils, cookware, wrapping, etc, etc. In the last year, I have made a number of changes in my kitchen to start being more environmentally friendly. I am still in the process of converting my kitchen and learning new things. Thankfully, there are lots of options and new eco-friendly products out there to help us out. First, though, I'm going to start with food. I have definitely started making changes in the ...

Today is a bridge day of sorts. I mean, the bathroom is not the only area of the house I clean. My kitchen actually probably takes the most cleaning time, because I make the most mess there. But my laundry room, and all the other couple of dozen rooms in the Rectory need cleaning too. Now, more than ever, when cleaning is so important to staying healthy, is it important to make good choices for the environment as to which cleaners we use. Many commercial cleaners are full of harsh chemicals which not only can hurt the items we are trying to clean, but also prove problematic for the water system. Chemicals in cleaners can also be harmful to ourselves and our pets, causing irritation, illness, and even organ damage. None of these things are what I want to do when cleaning my house! In the last couple of years I have been on the lookout for good cleaning products which are also eco-friendly. I have found that there are large number of different rating systems and seals of approval, s...