Playing catch-up (ketchup? catsup?)

It turns out that this project has been almost as much of a challenge on the daily-blogging front as it has been on the creating-no-waste front. Here's a little catch-up for those out there who are most interested in what we've been stuffing our faces with:

August 4 --

Leftovers, wee! As I recall, we ate Fridge Smorgasbord for lunch and dinner. Breakfast was some combination of some of the waste-free goodies we had already been eating on a regular basis: these include Aud's homemade yogurt and homemade granola, loose-leaf tea with Strauss milk and bulk sugar, fresh fruit, or chicken eggs. Only the yogurt is a new development brought on by this project, and Audrey seems to be enjoying that process enough to continue it beyond this month.

August 5-7 --

More leftovers for lunch...but then we ran into a challenge. Our dear friend PE had begun his siren's song to attract all Pomona College alumni to the Bay Area suburb that he calls home for a BBQ to celebrate his imminent departure to graduate school.

Audrey was quick to run the white flag up the pole -- better to assimilate and compromise our no-waste project than demand that others (in this case, her parents and the entirety of PE's event) accommodate us in our absolutist endeavor. [I didn't put up my typical fight.] So as we resolved to head to the Bay for the weekend, we agreed to put the project on hold for the duration of the trip. We'll tack on extra days to compensate for our folly. Still, there were two "highlights" from this period.

Anyone who knows and loves Audrey knows that "The Beast" comes out when hunger strikes. Audrey baited me -- "I can hold out until Auburn or Davis or maybe even until we arrive" -- with a show of stoicism and pledging that she could survive the late-afternoon drive without a meal, but I've called her bluff enough times to know better. After considering several sit-down (package-free) options, she ultimately chose to get a hot dog from Freeman's Natural Hot Dogs, a local restaurant that strives to use organic and otherwise responsible ingredients to make exciting gourmet hot dogs. Audrey steeled her nerves and requested her meal in a reusable plastic container…and was happily obliged by the staff. Dog-gone good, Aud!




[Is a meal out a packaging-free meal? Our unexamined assumption has been that -- as long as we refuse disposable napkins and the like -- we're leaving a similar waste footprint by eating out as we would had we cooked the meal at home. This is most likely a fiction, though, as restaurants tend to rely on canned ingredients.]

The other eco-impact "highlight" was our trip to a Whole Foods outside of Danville on the day of the BBQ. No big insights here, but we opted to bring along some beer for the festivities and get some snacks. I'm mainly using this as an opportunity to make three quick points:

1. 21st Amendment Brewery is excellent. I am in love with their Back in Black IPA, both for its complexity and its name.
2. If possible, embrace the canning revolution in microbrewing. Many small breweries are turning to aluminum cans. I beat this horse pretty thoroughly in my last post on recoiling, so 'nuff said.
3. An idea that I hope to unpack in the forthcoming vegan post, there are meaningful choices everywhere. When we reached the checkout line, I observed that Audrey's snack choice (a California pluot) was more environmentally responsible than my own (a banana flown in from South America).

I feel like these posts are getting more and more boring by the day. I'll continue the summary with plenty of pictures of food and minimal verbage. I promise.


-k