If the natural world’s not-so-promising future has got you down, look no further. The culture staff has some great recommendations for beating consumer culture and finding ways to be sustainable — with style, as always.
Rags for my riches — Katrina Secinaro
The majority of my childhood was spent with my grandparents — two Italian immigrants raised in the wake of the Great Depression. While they weren’t exactly “hip” or “trendy,” they were one thing: resourceful.
Nonnie did not believe in spending money on paper towels. I’d love to say this was to save the trees, but no — it was purely to minimize cost and maximize the lifespan of any hole-ridden towel or t-shirt that passed through the household.
Coming from my parents’ paper towel household, I was disgusted. I refused to let these frightening sheets of fabric anywhere near me.
Fast forward a decade, and I am a line cook in a restaurant kitchen. In the culinary world, rags reign supreme.
They absorb more mess, last longer and are practically brand new after a wash. Plus, with that line cook salary, the thought of spending upwards of $20 on a pack of paper towels is enough to send me spiraling.
Now that my fear of rags has been conquered, no old t-shirt, towel or bed sheet will see a trash can — they’ll live on in my kitchen, with new purpose and pride.
A love letter to jars — Maya Surrenti
I have a friend that I love dearly. Her name is Vivian Molesworth, and she is obsessed with jars. When I lived with her, I watched as our cabinets slowly filled with old pesto jars, empty sauerkraut jars, jam jars — you get the picture.
As much as I teased her about her jar addiction, I also think she is a genius. Think about how much money you spend on Tupperware and Pyrex.
Sure, you might look a little silly eating spaghetti from a peanut butter jar, but think about the environment. Think also about all the aura points you gain from eating from an unconventional container.
So my advice is: keep your jars. Keep your empty kombucha bottles. Store some food in them. Maybe make a vase. Maybe just start a really insane and pointless collection. At the end of the day, it’s sustainable.
Repair, don’t replace — Maggie O’Shea
One of my New Year’s resolutions was to repair my old or broken belongings instead of purchasing new ones every time.
Production of pretty much anything causes environmental degradation, and purchasing new is generally more expensive, so in my opinion, repair is always the best option.
For example, many companies have repair and warranty programs. Some include Chaco, Freestyle watches and Patagonia.
This summer, the alarm on my Freestyle watch stopped working, and instead of giving in and purchasing a new one, I reached out to the company. I sent it in, and they repaired my watch for less than the price of a brand new one.
This experience motivated me to try to fix things whenever possible: If your pants have a hole in them, put a cute patch over it, or if your watch breaks, get it repaired. Fixing what you have is always better than purchasing more.
Save your scraps — Clare Yesilonis
Maybe I was raised in a household where waste was frowned upon, or perhaps my growing concerns for the environment have brought me to this hill to die on. I save food scraps like there’s no tomorrow.
For those who are looking for a better way to stay sustainable, saving scraps that might otherwise be tossed as waste is an easy way to start.
It can be as simple as putting vegetable peels into a freezer bag after cooking to make soup stock later on, when you remember the bag exists.
Banana peels are commonly used as a sort of skin-renewing face mask, and I’ve seen strawberry tops made into a fruit syrup to put in drinks. If you want to get super sustainable, the process of making almond milk yields a paste out of the ground nuts, which can be used in other recipes.
If you’re looking for more ideas on how to save or what to cook, check out the Scrappy Cooking series by Carleigh Bodrug. While this practice of saving scraps may be a little more time-intensive than others, I’ve found that it’s the gift that keeps on giving.
