Every Monday, I answer a few of the questions that my readers send me. If you have a question you’d like me to answer in a future Q&A post, just leave me a comment here or email me (thefrugalgirl [at] gmail [dot] com) and put Q&A in the subject line. I look forward to hearing from you!
How do you balance food waste and nutrition when you’re dealing with food that’s given to you?
I know you do the vast majority of your cooking and have control over this, but I’m thinking of scenarios like when there’s a party or pot luck and as a host you’re stuck with leftovers that are unhealthy. Do you try to eat them in the name of food waste, or toss them in the name of healthy eating or give them away (I’m not sure that’s the best solution either if the recipients don’t have a conscience about these same topics but perhaps should)…?
There’s a lot of junk food out in the world so I find this topic unavoidable if we’re to have any kind of social life!
That depends. If the food is something like a dessert that’s unhealthy, but quite delicious (like homemade brownies), then I keep it and we eat it in moderation.
If it’s something like funfetti cupcakes from a mix topped with frosting from a can, then usually even my kids don’t want to eat it, and we end up throwing it away.
As a rule, I don’t stress myself out over food that’s entered my house outside of my control.
If we can eat it, great, if not, I throw it out.
Like I’ve said before, what you do every day matters more than what you do once in a while. If you throw out party leftovers once in a while, no big deal.
But if you’re regularly throwing out food you’ve bought and prepared, that IS going to add up to a lot of waste. So, that’s where I focus my energies.
In your effort to minimize your waste, have you ever considered things like mama cloth (washable menstrual pads), family cloth (washable toilet paper) or un-paper towels?
Emily
I definitely do try to avoid using paper towels by choosing cloth towels and rags for cleaning and drying purposes. I’ve found it’s fairly easy to almost entirely give up paper towels.
That’s a definite no for me.
There are a lot of other things I could do to minimize waste in my household before resorting to that. And besides, even if I was up for it, I’m pretty sure my family would completely rebel. I certainly am all in favor of other people doing it if they want to, but it’s not for me.
Washable menstrual pads have a lot less of a squick factor to me, but I’d be more inclined to go the cup route instead. I just haven’t made the leap yet!
I enjoy reading your reviews! But what I want to know is this: when do you find time to read?? You homeschool, blog, you’re active on social media, you make stuff from scratch… I think that’s quite amazing.
-Franci
Aww, thank you for the encouragement!
It’s pretty rare that I have hours to sit and read a book straight through (generally that only happens when I’m sick.), so most of my reading is done in small snippets, here and there.
For instance, if I get ready for bed a little early, I hop into bed and read a chapter or two until Mr. FG joins me. Or if I have to wait for an appointment, I bring a book. Even if it’s just five minutes, I like to take advantage of that time.
So, I guess I’d say that if you want to find time to read, don’t fall for the lie that you have to have an empty hour to make any progress on books. I get through a decent number of books in fairly short order by reading 5-10 minutes at a time.
A note about the social media: I find that social media eats up the most time when I consume content rather than when I produce it. It doesn’t take long to type a tweet or post an instagram, but it does take a long time to scroll through a feed of 1000 people.
So I generally am very careful about how many people I follow on my social media accounts. I suppose that sounds a little bit selfish, but there’s only so much that I can keep up with, and I find that I’m much better about relating to people (by commenting and replying and such) on social media when I don’t follow anyone and everyone.
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Readers, as always, I welcome your input on these questions. Have at it!
Sarah
Saturday 27th of September 2014
Do the cup! I use the Keeper and it came with an adorable handmade bag to store it in when not in use. It's one of those things I put off for a couple of years because it just seemed too different but I am SO glad I made the change. The first month my poor husband had to hear me say over and over again, "Babe, I can't believe I waited so long." Haha.
I thought it would be more gross or unsanitary than tampons/pads but actually I think it is cleaner. There is nothing you have to try to hide from the family, just flush it down the toilet.
I have a day or two of extremely heavy flow per month and it does not leak. The trick is to really get it up and back there. I would suggest just trying it with a pantiliner instead of a pad (cheaper and you really shouldn't leak that much).
Sorry if that was all TMI. ;)
P.S. No reusable toilet paper here. A girl has her limits.
Kristen
Saturday 27th of September 2014
Haha, no worries about the TMI! That's really helpful.
WilliamB
Tuesday 23rd of September 2014
I, too, do not feel morally responsible if someone gives me food that doesn't work for me. I use it if I can; next best option is to find a good home for it; least preferred is the compost pile.
I use towels or rags instead of paper towel I can, but other alternatives are not for me. And I've decided that for draining greasy food, using one layer of paper towel over old newspaper is less wasteful than having to watch towels in hot water. If it's winter, the paper towel and the newspaper becomes firestarter. I'd use it for charcoal starter in the summer, if I used a grill.
If you have only short bits of time to read, I recommend magazines over many non-fiction books. Magazine articles, even serious, knowledge-stuffed ones such as in The Economist or Smithsonian, is designed to be read in short periods of time. You're less likely to lose the chain of info or logic, than if you're trying to read a doorstopper. Another good bet is pop-sci books: they have knowledge but rarely require the depth of concentration that a textbook would. Or the Bible - it can be considered verse by verse, or a chapter as a whole, or by the book,... Doesn't have to be your own holy text, either.
Tina S.
Monday 22nd of September 2014
I tried cloth pads and unfortunately I didn't like them at all. I tried the Diva Cup and it was painful. I finally found something called Softcup, which I just wash out and reuse (there are two kinds, one for single use and one for a singe cycle. I have reused both kinds and they work fine).
I tried out family cloth too, just to see. I'm not at all squeamish, and honestly how is it any different from cloth diapers? While toilet paper is more convenient, I would be happy using family cloth if I needed to. It worked fine. The only problem was that I kept throwing the cloths in the toilet instead of the designated bin, so I had to fish them out of the bowl. Whoops. :)
Heather @ My Overflowing Cup
Monday 22nd of September 2014
I like your balance with regards to the first question. I feel the same way. We focus on eating healthy as much as possible, but I don't sweat too much about the occasional compromises. I use washable toilet paper (for #1 only) and menstrual pads. I personally find that much more comfortable than my cup. I know it's not for everyone, but it works well for me. We use old cut up t-shirts for rags and for blowing our nose. For our family, that leaves more money available for food! (And I like to eat!) Regarding reading, I do the same thing. Any time I have to wait or I have a spare few minutes, you will find me absorbed in a book. Thanks for the post! Good questions & good answers.
Kim
Monday 22nd of September 2014
I have to second what Sophie says about the cup and you should make the leap. Best thing ever. So convenient, easy and I love the 8-12 hour thing. I highly recommend it. I use the Diva Cup and it has been 5 years and I will never go back.
I have difficulty with rags instead of paper towels, it can be hard to break the habit of having something "clean." I feel like I have to get rid of a rag the second I use it and finding a place to store that many is difficult. Still working on it.