Local NFP Provides Tool for Buying Local Food

Local not-for-profit Chew on This, founded by private chef Carlin Greenstein and graphic designer Annie Stranger, have released a “seasonal foods” wheel that allows shoppers to see which fruits and vegetables are “in season” and available locally to New York.  The concept is similar to the “shopping list” board at the Union Square Greenmarket.

While cutting “food miles” is an important concept to help maintain our local agricultural infrastructure, eating a local, seasonal diet is also more beneficial for your health, as local vegetables picked at their peak ripeness have a higher vitamin content than fruits and vegetables picked underripe and ripened “off the tree.”

The wheels can be purchased at Stinky, a cheese market in Cobble Hill, Urban Rustic in Williamsburg, Sustainable NYC in the East Village, and at Blue Hill Farm in Westchester.

hattip: Green Brooklyn

Things That Can Go in the Kitchen Recycling Bin

Plastic bottles (water, soda, milk, salad dressing, etc.)- but leave the caps off.  Recycling plants throw out bottles with the caps on, as they cannot be recycled

Beer bottles

Bottle caps (they are aluminum)

Aluminum cans

Glass bottles or jars

Plastic containers (take out containers)

Plastic iced drink containers (that Starbucks venti mocha frappacino cup) 

The plastic cups by the new water cooler

Milk cartons (just found that one out today)

Tip: Composting can dramatically cut down your garbage

Composting your kitchen scraps can seriously cut down on the amount of times you have to empty your trash (meaning you’re sending less garbage to landfills). 

The Lower East Side Ecology Center accepts dropoffs at Union Square every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, as well as on the weekends.  More information can be found here: http://www.lesecologycenter.org/composting_dropoff.html

If you’re worried about the potential smell, you can keep a “scrap bag” in the freezer.  Not only will this keep the smell at bay, but your freezer also runs more efficiently with more items in it, saving electricity as well.