Lauren Scott, Author at Sustainable Energy Group https://sustainableenergygroup.com/author/laurenscott/ Fri, 15 Oct 2021 02:18:46 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.1.6 https://sustainableenergygroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/cropped-SEG_logo_color_icons_web_2-32x32.png Lauren Scott, Author at Sustainable Energy Group https://sustainableenergygroup.com/author/laurenscott/ 32 32 I like the way you bag it https://sustainableenergygroup.com/california/i-like-the-way-you-bag-it/ Thu, 14 Oct 2021 18:05:30 +0000 https://sustainableenergygroup.com/?p=3595 This article was written by guest-author Lauren Scott, the Sustainability Coordinator at BriarPatch Food Co-op in Grass Valley. I like the way you bag it BriarPatch Food Co-op is on track to reduce our in-house plastic packaging 40 percent by 2025. Included in that effort is offering alternatives to plastic bags in our Produce Department. This [...]

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This article was written by guest-author Lauren Scott, the Sustainability Coordinator at BriarPatch Food Co-op in Grass Valley.

I like the way you bag it

BriarPatch Food Co-op is on track to reduce our in-house plastic packaging 40 percent by 2025. Included in that effort is offering alternatives to plastic bags in our Produce Department. This year, we introduced compostable produce bags made from 100 percent vegetable starch – they are fully biodegradable and compostable! These bags are certified for both commercial and home composting systems and will degrade within 180 days, according to manufacturer Crown Poly.

compostable bags at Briar Patch

Compostable bags are a plastic-free option for transporting your dry produce items like apples, citrus, garlic and fresh turmeric (have you tried our fresh turmeric?!). These bags are great for transporting produce home but not intended for storing produce. We recommend re-using your compostable bags as a liner in your kitchen food scrap bucket.

For produce with a lot of moisture like leafy greens, we don’t recommend using compostable bags. The bags begin to deteriorate when they get wet – which is why they are great for home composting! For wet and heavy produce, try our assortment of reusable bags available for purchase or bring bags from home to re-use. Or you can skip the bags altogether and let your produce “go naked” in the cart!

briar patch nevada city reusable bags

However you decide to transport your goods from the store, here are some great tips on how to keep your produce fresh once you get home. Proper storage can extend the life of fruits and vegetables by several days and food that lasts longer is less likely to be wasted. To download the National Cooperative Grocer’s ‘Produce Storage Guide’ and many other resources to help you reduce your food waste, check out BriarPatch’s Food Too Good to Waste resource guide.

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]]> Save Food to Save the Planet https://sustainableenergygroup.com/community/save-food-to-save-the-planet/ Tue, 25 Feb 2020 22:39:46 +0000 https://sustainableenergygroup.com/?p=2140 This article was written by guest-author Lauren Scott, the Sustainability Coordinator at BriarPatch Food Co-op in Grass Valley. The amount of food that goes to waste may surprise you. Imagine walking out of BriarPatch Food Co-op with five bags of groceries and then tossing two in the trash on your way to the car. Collectively, [...]

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]]> This article was written by guest-author Lauren Scott, the Sustainability Coordinator at BriarPatch Food Co-op in Grass Valley.

The amount of food that goes to waste may surprise you.

briar patch solar sustainable energy group solar grass valleyImagine walking out of BriarPatch Food Co-op with five bags of groceries and then tossing two in the trash on your way to the car. Collectively, this is what we do in the United States and in effect, we waste 40 percent of all the food we produce. Most alarming of all, more food is wasted at home by consumers than in restaurants and grocery stores combined.

The environmental and social impacts of food waste are staggering.

Annually, we send 52 million tons of food to the landfill, where it takes up 21 percent of landfill space — more than any other single item. Food doesn’t just take up space in landfills­, it produces methane, a greenhouse gas 25 times more powerful than carbon dioxide. (The E.P.A. cites 25 times, though I have seen this number reported anywhere from 21-30 times the warming potential of CO2.)

Consider all the natural resources embodied in food. When we waste food, we are wasting the resources used to grow, package, ship and store it. ReFED estimates that uneaten food is liable for using up 21 percent of our fresh water, 19 percent of fertilizer and 18 percent of cropland.

Altogether, people in the United States spend $218 billion on uneaten food and all the while 1 in 7 people experience food insecurity. Locally, there are over 20,000 food insecure people served annually by food pantries like The Food Bank of Nevada County and Interfaith Food Ministries.

In lieu of this bleak picture, food waste is a problem with a delicious solution and that’s why BriarPatch is dedicating 2020 to exploring the topic of Food Waste.

BriarPatch is working internally to reduce food waste at the store and offering resources for community members to reduce food waste at home. For example, confronting waste by tracking it is a great starting point, so we developed a Food Waste Tracker you can download online or pick up at BriarPatch. Documenting food waste with photos is also a great way to inventory what food you waste most.

We’re further combating food waste by sharing tips on preventing, recovering and recycling food waste with monthly topics like meal planning, proper storage, composting, gleaning and donating food. Our Food Too Good to Waste page has a bunch of resources as well as information on events like the ones below to help you along your journey to save food.

Food to go to waste.

 

Sources and Facts can be found in the resources on our Food Too Good to Waste page.

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