November 1, 2023 • 51 mins
Want to level up your sustainability game and reduce your carbon footprint?
Ever wondered how much waste our daily habits are contributing to the planet?
Join us for an enlightening chat with sustainability advocate Ann Marie Bonneau, author of Zero Waste Chef.
Together, we’re lifting the lid on the alarming rate of trash production, the rise of convenience culture, and the wider implications of our economic system on waste production.
As we navigate through the murky waters of plastic pollution and food waste, we share our personal stories of transitioning to near zero waste in our own kitchens.
We explore the impact of plastic, derived from fossil fuels, on frontline communities and discuss practical ways you can shift towards a sustainable living.
Join us for a deep dive into the world of creative and sustainable cooking practices that will help you maximise the use of fresh produce, reduce plastic consumption, and delight your taste buds !
Our guest offers actionable tips on how to have a zero-waste lifestyle - think homemade fermented foods, ingenious waste-free recipes, and simple yet effective eco-friendly swaps.
Focus areas:
- Transitioning to a Zero Waste Lifestyle
- Plastic Pollution and Food Waste Awareness
- Fresh Produce, Plastic-Free Cooking Benefits
- Tips for a Zero-Waste Lifestyl
- Enhance Nutrition, Reduce Waste
- Tips for Living a Sustainable Lifestyle
In the journey towards zero waste, it's crucial to remember that it doesn't mean absolute zero, but rather a conscious effort to reduce waste consumption dramatically.
The impact of our collective efforts can be substantial. Even a small reduction in waste by each person can result in a massive reduction on a larger scale.
It's not just about saving the environment; it's also about ensuring a sustainable future for generations to come.
LEGAL DISCLAIMER: This conversation involving host and guest is NOT intended to be medical advice, nor a substitute for medical consult. Individual case by case results may always vary. This podcast is not imposing anything on anyone, and serves as a resource intended for information purposes only.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Vai Kumar (00:21):
Hi, we are here today to talk about zero waste.
In our efforts to become moresustainable and protect our
planet earth, we all need to doour small part.
It's not that zero waste meansabsolutely zero, but it's our
best intention to take stepstowards getting to a point where
(00:43):
we have reduced our wasteconsumption dramatically.
Our great-grandmothers andgrandmothers wear zero waste.
Before, zero waste was cool.
They ran their kitchensefficiently, they used
everything and they wastednothing.
So don't be afraid to try newthings and fail.
(01:04):
Failure is merely one stepcloser to success.
Use up what you have in yourkitchen so you and I can
contribute to going more or lesstowards zero waste.
If we let the food we have onhand in our pantry, refrigerator
and freezer serve as the basisfor our next need, that itself
(01:29):
serves as a big method ofeliminating food waste.
Just to put things inperspective if 100 listeners
eliminated 4.5 pounds of trashper day for 365 days, that's
164,250 pounds of trash that wecan reduce.
(01:52):
If 2,500 listeners reduced itby 25%, over a million pounds of
trash per year is what we wouldend up reducing.
On the same token, if, insteadof 2,500 listeners, 10,000 of my
listeners reduced their wasteby 10%, that's a million 642,500
(02:17):
pounds per year.
Proof enough that everyonedoing a little bit still yields
a lot more.
So let's listen to our nextguest, ann Marie Bonneau, on how
she transitioned to a zerowaste lifestyle and what
prompted her to contribute toher wonderful book Zero Waste
Chef.
Today I have here with us AnnMarie Bonneau.
(02:39):
She is a cookbook author,public speaker, who writes about
food and waste atzerowastechefcom.
She speaks around the SanFrancisco Bay Area and teaches
sourdough and fermentationworkshops in person and online.
Her cookbook, zero Waste Chef,planned forward recipes and tips
(03:00):
for a sustainable kitchen andplanet as one her awards,
including shortlisting byInternational Association of
Culinary Professionals in 2022,and has been featured by major
news outlets and publications.
With sustainability at theforefront in season three, I'm
delighted to welcome Ann Mariehere to podcast freshleaf
(03:23):
forever.
How are you doing today, annMarie, and welcome to the show.
AnnMarie Bonneau (03:28):
Oh, hi, Vai.
Thank you for having me.
I'm fine, thanks.
How are you?
Vai Kumar (03:32):
I'm fine, thank you.
Seems like a crisp morning herein Georgia, but I guess you
know it's just we are getting tothat time of the year aren't we
Yep?
AnnMarie Bonneau (03:40):
sweater weather is coming up.
Vai Kumar (03:43):
Yeah, staggering numbers from your book, by the
way, such a wonderful read, andthank you for letting me be a
part of it, sharing it with.
American consumers generatefour and a half pounds of trash
per person on an average everyday.
268 million tons approximatelyof trash every year, right from
(04:05):
transformation from rawmaterials to products to
disposal, half of which ends upin Lancers.
Every minute, a garbage truckload full of plastics enters our
oceans.
One ton of plastic every threetons of fish, approximately by
2025, and by 2050, more plasticthan fish, right, so can you
(04:27):
take us through how we got hereand what are?
we all even doing.
AnnMarie Bonneau (04:33):
Well, how we got here, that's a big
complicated question, andactually I finished my book just
before COVID hit and so thosenumbers at least for the amount
of trash Americans throw outactually got worse.
That number is actually highernow.
So how we got here?
Well, as far as plastics go,convenience culture went into a
(04:58):
factor or start, and I thinkit's like the late 50s or the
60s.
There's this famous photo fromLife Magazine of a family
throwing all of this single usematerial in the air paper plates
and plastic utensils and allthis throwaway stuff.
And that was supposed to besomething to celebrate.
(05:19):
And now we look back thatpicture in horror and it's only
gotten worse.
So the marketers really had towork hard to convince us that
this was the way to go.
I mean, imagine back then beingtold oh, just use this fork
once and throw it in the garbageand then go and buy another one
, rather than using the actualmetal forks you already own that
(05:43):
you can reuse over and over.
So imagine it was hard toconvince people that this was a
good idea.
So convenience culture thatreally took off.
And then it's our wholeeconomic system affects that.
So it's not the consumer's faultfor all of this.
If people don't have enoughtime to take care of themselves
(06:03):
and their families becausethey're working more and more,
then of course they're going togo for the convenience food and
the fast food and the highlypackaged, highly processed food.
Yeah, we need a better economicsystem.
We need to revamp the wholething.
The food in the averageAmerican grocery store is, most
of it's highly processed and alot of it is ultra processed
(06:27):
food.
That comes in all the shinypackages and that's what most
people are eating, and the fooditself is not healthy.
And then there's a ton ofpackaging.
Vai Kumar (06:36):
Yeah, we have almost got to a point where, like
minute particles, contaminatesoil and threatens plants,
animals and humans alike.
AnnMarie Bonneau (06:44):
Yeah, microplastics they shed from
synthetic clothing, they shedfrom the plastic packaging, they
shed from the plastic mulchthat a lot of farms use, even
some organic farms, which to meis I don't know how you can call
yourself organic if you'recovering the soil with plastic
that can shed microplastics andtoxins into the soil and then
(07:07):
recycling.
So the corporations came upwith this whole recycling idea.
They really push it as thesolution and that's not the
solution.
Reduction is the solution.
Recycling is a last resort forplastic.
They produce so much plastic wecan't possibly recycle it all.
It's just not possible.
(07:28):
And so the big corporations,they push that as the solution
because it's cheap for them Ifthey don't have to collect the
stuff.
Coca-cola used to use glassbottles.
This was maybe until about the80s.
They used glass bottles.
You would pay a deposit whenyou bought your soft drink or
your soda and then you'd returnthe bottles and those could be
(07:50):
used several times.
Well, that costs thecorporations a lot of money.
They have to hire people, theyhave to have the plants, and
those plants were in manydifferent communities.
Our supply chain is verycentralized.
Now we have all of these bigcorporations in central
locations.
Vai Kumar (08:09):
Anyway.
AnnMarie Bonneau (08:09):
Coca-Cola started to sell everything in
plastic that just gets thrownaway, so they don't have to pay
to clean that up.
They put the onus onto us, theconsumers they call us.
In the 70s, I think, they cameup with this whole litter bug
idea and they blame theconsumers for littering.
Well, it's their packaging thatthey're producing that is
(08:30):
ending up littering theenvironment.
You asked me how do we get here?
I guess I would say greed andclever marketing and our whole
economic system.
So maybe that's a whole otherbook.
Vai Kumar (08:44):
Yeah.
So I guess the world kind offollowed suit, thinking okay,
america has done it Noweverybody else should do it, so
it's almost like to the pointeveryone part because growing up
in India like we have alwaysreused was not like any throw
away stuff.
But then now when I go visit,the culture has completely
(09:07):
changed.
It's all the convenience.
So right there you kind ofpointed out how things have
changed from like what we weredoing right to convenience.
This country.
So everyone wants to just doeverything like a jibby and just
keep tossing it and moving on.
No one wants to bring reuse ofthe difference.
They just want to carry food inlike a package, eat it, throw
(09:30):
it and move on.
Right, get on the plane or geton the train, whatever that
maybe.
But this space decomposes it.
Belches may change into theatmosphere.
And you said, 84 times morecontent than carbon dioxide over
a 20 year period.
That's what you put in yourbook, which causes soy
contamination and groundwatercontamination.
So, do you think consumers evenrealize what we are doing?
(09:56):
We'll be back after a quick break.
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(10:19):
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(10:41):
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athletes.
Let's do this.
AnnMarie Bonneau (10:55):
Well, when I started all of this, I really
just wanted to break up withplastic, and then I soon
discovered that we waste anawful lot of food.
And I had no idea and I think Iwas fairly aware of other
aspects of the environment whenI first heard in the US so this
is back in maybe 2012 or so areport came out and it said that
(11:18):
up to 40% of the food weproduce goes to waste.
My jaw drop, so I had no ideawe'd waste that much food.
And it's not just the food thatgoes to waste, it's all of the
resources that go into producingthe food.
And when that food ends up inlandfill, it emits methane
because it's compacted tightlyand so anaerobic bacteria break
(11:39):
it down and they emit methanegas, like you said.
Yeah, that's numbers from theIPCC Methane is 84 times more
potent than carbon dioxide.
I think if people do stop tothink about it and I don't know
if they do, because throwingaway food has been normalized
most of us just don't thinkanything of just throwing away
food.
(11:59):
If people do think about it,they probably think well, it
just breaks down into soil, butit doesn't.
Here in California last year,sb 1383 went into effect and
that requires all residents andbusinesses to separate their
food scraps and wasted food fromtheir other waste.
So that's going to help.
We backyard compost and I tryreally hard not to waste food in
(12:22):
the first place.
Composting is kind of likerecycling it's a last resort.
It's a crucial last resort, butideally we would eat all of the
food and then when we can't,for whatever reason, then it can
go to the compost.
Vai Kumar (12:35):
Okay, why are plastics a problem?
I guess I'm trying to highlightthe magnitude of the problem.
Two listeners here About 111metric tons of plastic by 2030.
Is that kind of where we areheading to?
I believe we are consuming 100billion single use plastic
(12:56):
shopping.
That's a year.
Is that right?
AnnMarie Bonneau (12:59):
It's an astronomical number.
I mean you can't even get yourhead around it.
The corporations, they produceso much plastic.
I mean there are so manyproblems with plastic.
Let's see when do I start.
Epa, so yeah, that, even justthe production.
Plastic is made of fossil fuelsprimarily.
So we extract fossil fuels fromthe ground, we refine them,
(13:21):
usually in frontline communities, and the refining causes just
terrible pollution.
Asthma rates, cancer rates inthose areas are really high
compared to the rest of thecountry.
And then we manufacture it,ship it, use it for a few
minutes and then throw it away.
Oh, using it.
So yeah, bpa is a known hormonedisruptor and it's in a lot of
(13:46):
plastics.
And you'll see on canned food,because cans are lined with
plastic and the BPA softens theplastic.
So you'll see on some cannedfood Now BPA free.
Well, they have BPS or BPSlikely, which are similar
compounds.
So those are known to causeproblems.
Then there are phthalates,which is another plasticizer,
(14:08):
and those also have bad healtheffects.
There are microplastics.
So with plastic packaging sheds, little bits of microplastics
the average American consumes, Ithink, about a credit card's
worth of plastic, I believe it's.
Every week it's about fivegrams.
We also breathe it in.
So synthetic carpeting,anything's synthetic.
(14:29):
But when you hear synthetic,think plastic.
So synthetic carpeting.
That is shedding plastic,microplastics, the plastic you
bring into your home.
So vacuum and sweep to sweepthat stuff up.
But at the same time don't getcompletely neurotic and worry
about this all the time, becauseyou'll just get an ulcer.
(14:51):
Worrying is very bad for yourhealth too.
Gee, what else.
Don't heat food up in plastic,because that causes the toxins
in the plastic to leach.
So many problems.
And then disposal if it ends upin a recycling plant.
The recycling rates are verylow.
Plastic will get recycled ifthere's a buyer for it.
(15:11):
So all of the plastic that iscollected and a lot isn't
collected, a lot ends up in theenvironment.
But all the plastic that iscollected by recycling programs,
it goes to the sorting stationand then it's bailed.
But if nobody wants to buy that, if there's no buyer for it and
we produce so much that therearen't enough buyers so if
nobody buys that, it ends up inlandfill or an incinerator.
(15:34):
So we just produce way morethan we can possibly recycle.
We can't recycle our way out ofthis mess.
Cookware yeah, so much of it.
Cookware yeah, I love cast iron.
It cooks so nicely and it'sless expensive than a lot of
other types of pans and itdoesn't contain any PFAS.
So PFAS is Forever Chemicalsand it's a group of chemicals
(15:58):
that persists in the environmentand in our bodies.
That's why they're calledForever Chemicals and they're in
a lot of stuff, including somecookware.
So Teflon nonstick pants Not allnonstick pants, but some
nonstick pants and they start toflake and you can't use them
anymore, whereas cast iron I'llpass that on to mine, on to my
(16:19):
kids and they'll pass it on totheir kids.
I mean, it just lasts forever.
But I also use stainless steeland enameled cast iron.
Pfas is also in some foodpackaging.
You may go to a restaurant andyou think, oh great, they have
paper packaging or they havecardboard Yay, it's not plastic.
(16:39):
Well, it might be treated withPFAS because it renders paper
grease proof and waterproof.
So those takeout containersthat are talented as
environmentally friendly, someof them have PFAS.
So I just I make my life simpleand just eat at home, mostly
Okay.
Okay, I mean, I'm lucky that Ican do that.
(17:00):
I understand that everybody hasthe time, although you don't
have to cook anything fancy.
Vai Kumar (17:07):
And going to your book Zero Waste Chef plan
forward recipes and tips forassistive sustainable kitchen
and planet right.
I know the whole thingtriggered or started when your
daughter, mary Katt, and you,mary Catherine, and you, walked
through the eyes of the grocerystore and realized what we were
consuming, what we were puttinginto our bodies, right.
(17:29):
So why don't you take us through that?
Vai Kumar (17:31):
What prompted you to write the book and all about
that story behind it, and you'reputting us on.
AnnMarie Bonneau (17:36):
Well, yeah, back in 2011, I was reading
about plastic pollution in theoceans and I had no idea it was
such a huge problem.
I was shocked.
I think, like most people youknow, you can't unsee those
images of birds feeding plasticto their young and animals
getting tangled in plastic, andyou know it's heartbreaking.
So I told my daughter, maryCatherine she was 16 at the time
(18:00):
.
I said we have to break up withplastic and she said, okay, she
was really into it.
My younger daughter was only 10and not really aware of, didn't
really care.
You know, at that age she wasoff playing and we went to the
grocery store and there'splastic everywhere.
In a typical American grocerystore, some of the produce is
wrapped in plastic.
(18:21):
You cannot get a head ofcauliflower in a typical grocery
store here without plastic onit.
Cucumbers are wrapped inplastic, sometimes Clamshells,
lots of clamshells of fruit andvegetables.
And, you know, in the milkaisle they're all the plastic
jugs of milk.
The paper cartons are linedwith plastic.
(18:42):
Same with lots of drinks thatcome in cardboard.
You think, oh it's.
You know, this is better, it'scardboard.
Well, it's lined with plastic.
And then the center aisle isthe very worst, because that's
where all the highly processedpackaged food is.
And you know it's all inplastic, all the highly
processed stuff is in plastic.
And I remember standing in thebathroom tissue aisle with Mary
(19:04):
Catherine and I threw my handsup and I said well, this is
impossible, everything is inplastic, we can't possibly do
this.
But then she started to do theresearch and figured out what we
needed to do and we just madesimple changes.
I think one of the biggest oneswas how we shopped.
So we've always cooked a lot,we're big foodies but we started
(19:24):
to shop at the farmer's market.
We're lucky we're in California, so they're year round.
The food here at the farmer'smarket it's all loose, it's all
absolutely delicious and more ofour dollar goes to the farmer
because you buy directly fromthe farmer.
So 90, about 90 cents at leastof your dollar goes directly to
the farmer when you buy thefarmer's market.
(19:45):
And when you buy at a grocerystore or eat at a restaurant,
about 15 cents goes to thefarmer.
So you know you can feel goodabout that.
Vai Kumar (19:56):
Absolutely so.
Focusing on food waste, wherealong the supply chain does
maximum food waste occur?
AnnMarie Bonneau (20:03):
So people don't like it when I tell them
this, but don't shoot themessenger.
If you look at the numbers, iffood waste were a pie, the
biggest slice is coming fromconsumers, so from households.
Food is wasted on farms becausethe grocery store may not.
You know a lot of them don'twant wonky looking potatoes, and
(20:26):
so sometimes the food juststays on the farm and rots in
the field.
There are companies that areselling wonky food, so there is
some that's wasted on the farm.
Restaurant and grocery stores,waste food institutions, you
know, schools and hospitals, butthe biggest number is from
(20:46):
individual households.
Vai Kumar (20:48):
But the good news is we can eat that food, yeah, and
downstream or upstream, what arethe resources that we've wasted
?
Like you said, water, energyefficiency, right, right.
AnnMarie Bonneau (20:58):
Right.
So it's not just the food thatgoes to waste, it's all of those
resources that went intoproducing the food.
So water here in California wedon't have a lot of water.
To spare Energy, labor we clearland of trees to grow food that
goes on eaten, you know, andthose trees could have
sequestered carbon, all of theinputs, the seeds and
(21:19):
fertilizers and pesticides thatgo on to food that goes on eaten
.
Vai Kumar (21:24):
So, yeah, it's a huge problem, okay 8% of global
greenhouse gas emissions comesfrom food waste.
Based on your book, can youhelp with things in perspective
for us when compared to otherindustries that project right?
AnnMarie Bonneau (21:41):
Yeah, so just as my book came out, the UN came
out with this highlycomprehensive report on food
waste I think that's called theFood Waste Index came out in
2021.
The numbers are actuallybetween 8% and 10% of greenhouse
gas emissions are a result offood waste.
To put that into perspective,the aviation industry is about
(22:03):
2.5%, and that's according toProject Drawdown.
It's a book and a website, andit lists the 100 top solutions
to the climate crisis.
So and reducing food waste isnumber three or number four on
that list.
It's really high, okay, so how?
Vai Kumar (22:21):
do we just make listeners draw inspiration to
stop the school waste versuslike, go into this eco-anxiety,
right, you mentioned about iteven earlier as we were talking.
(22:32):
What are the solutions?
So how did you?
Vai Kumar (22:35):
transform your lifestyle.
What did you actually have todo and what is it that you
suggest so take us through kindof like your journey and along
the lines of what you haveoutlined in the book and me.
AnnMarie Bonneau (22:46):
Well, I've always been really frugal and I
get that from my dad, who he wasso frugal that as a teenager I
was embarrassed, and now I thinkI've surpassed him.
I think I'm even more frugalthan my dad.
So you know, there's nodownside to reducing food waste
at home.
(23:07):
There just is none.
You save money.
The average family of four inthe US spends depends on the
study you look at, so I'll gowith a lower number spends
$1,500 on food every year thatthey don't eat.
You save money for reducing it,and I found the easiest way to
waste less food is to cook withwhat you have on hand.
(23:28):
So rather than saying, oh, whatdo I crave for dinner tonight,
just look at what you have onhand and let that determine what
you're going to make for dinner.
Oh, last night, it's gettingclose to the weekend and we're
running out of fresh produce,because I shop at the farmers
market on Saturday and I thought, oh no, what are we going to
eat?
Well, I had watermelon andtomatoes and garlic, because I
(23:51):
always have garlic olive oil.
I'm lucky I have a lemon tree.
I picked a couple of lemons andI picked a cucumber.
My daughter grew cucumbers andI made watermelon gazpacho.
It was delicious, it's so goodand, you know, at first I kind
of panicked.
I thought, oh, I don't reallyhave anything for dinner.
And then I looked oh no, wait,I have this, this and this.
(24:11):
It was delicious andsurprisingly filling, so filling
.
Vai Kumar (24:15):
So those that don't know what a gazpacho is.
So how did you put?
AnnMarie Bonneau (24:19):
this together.
Vai Kumar (24:20):
All right?
AnnMarie Bonneau (24:21):
It's very easy .
It's a cold soup and a classicgazpacho does not have
watermelon in it.
So it depends on which recipeyou look at.
You just throw everything in ablender Tomatoes, cucumber,
maybe a bell pepper, olive oil,some sort of acid so lemon juice
or red wine, vinegar, salt.
You puree it all up and youdrink a cold.
(24:44):
It's really even tastier if youchill it for several hours
first, but this was so good andwe needed to eat, but I couldn't
stop drinking it even before Ihad a chance to chill it.
It's super simple to make andyou can also make it with
watermelon.
You can make, add somewatermelon to it, which I happen
(25:06):
to have.
So that's kind of how I cook.
I just look at what I have andthink, okay, what can I make
with this?
And if you're not veryexperienced and you haven't done
much cooking, you can alwaysmake soup.
You know, so learn to make afew versatile dishes.
Soup.
You can throw in reallywhatever vegetables you have on
hand.
If you have leftover grains,let's say some cooked rice,
(25:29):
throw that in, leftover protein.
If you have Parmesan cheeserinds, throw those in.
Throw a couple in.
They add a lot of flavor and,yeah, you can always make soup.
Pizza is a good one.
You can top it with all kindsof things, you don't, you don't?
You don't have to put tomatosauce on it.
You can make pesto.
And you can make pesto out ofall kinds of things, not just
(25:52):
basil.
You can use fennel fronds,parsley, oh, kale stems.
I make pesto out of the stemsof the kale rather than tossing
those.
I also add some parsley to that.
Anyway, you can make pesto outof all kinds of things, so put
that on your pizza.
Pratata Pratata is great forusing up random roasted
vegetables.
(26:12):
So creativity solves a lot ofproblems.
Vai Kumar (26:15):
So, basically, you resort to cooking like grandma
did.
Right, so, and help make adifference, just to give
listeners some perspective.
There is proof that everyonedoing a little just adds up to
this bigger picture of thingsthat we are envisioning for our
planet, right?
So then, that just makes iteasier, instead of people going
(26:36):
into an eco-anxiety and thinking, oh, there's so much to do.
(26:40):
How are we even going to achieve this?
Vai Kumar (26:41):
So then, go about the whole house cutting.
Oh, I'm just throwing this,this, this out.
(26:46):
I'm just doing one thing after another, and because we just
have to, then it's not going tobe a sustained effort, right?
Vai Kumar (26:52):
So only if you just kind of start small, maybe
introduce that concept to yourfriends and neighbors and other
family members.
So, every small bit adds up andsay, if we were to look at some
benefits of even doing all ofthis, and Marie, what would you
say?
So we have, essentially, if wedo this, we cut our package
(27:12):
pools, so the benefit out ofthat, oh, well, that stuff is
not cheap, so it saves you time,but it's not.
AnnMarie Bonneau (27:22):
Some of it is expensive and it doesn't taste
as good.
Homemade tastes really good and, like I said, you don't have to
cook anything fancy.
I saved money.
I wish when I started this Ihad kept track of how much money
I've saved, but my goal when Istarted it all was oh, I just
want to stop using so muchplastic.
I didn't realize that I'd reapall of these other benefits, so
(27:44):
saving money, my food tastesbetter.
I'm healthier although thismorning I'm really stuffed up,
but I'm healthier and I alwaystell people results may vary, so
I'm not making any wild healthclaims.
But when I broke up withplastic, my diet really improved
.
I didn't eat a ton of highlyprocessed stuff, but now I don't
(28:04):
eat any and if I want a snack,rather than grabbing a box of
crackers or some other packagedjunk food, I'll eat an apple.
Yesterday I needed a littlesnack.
I had an apple, slices andpeanut butter and it was really
good and really simple and muchbetter than some processed thing
.
So, yeah, my health improved.
I started to eat a lot offermented food because I wanted
(28:27):
to make all of the things I hadalways baked bread.
Well, since my older daughterwas a baby, I started baking
bread using active dry yeast,which is delicious.
The bread's really good, but Iwanted to eliminate the packages
.
You know, those yeast comes inlittle pouches.
I started to make sourdoughbread, which is absolutely
delicious.
I mean that opened up a wholeworld and I started fermenting
(28:49):
other foods which are great foryour gut health, and your gut
health affects kind ofeverything.
It affects your overall health,your mood, your weight.
So many benefits.
I think I'm happier.
You know, I feel like I havemore of a purpose.
Vai Kumar (29:02):
Oh wonderful.
So right there, when weeliminate plastic, we
potentially cut out all theendocrine disruptors, the
hormone of disruptors, and thenyou have saved enough money by
not going to the grocery storefor the packaged stuff, which
are pricier because of the fancypackaging, and it can be made
more convenient for you right.
(29:22):
So everything is just processedand put together and so you
have saved cash right there.
Pretty much improved yourhealth overall because you're
staying away from processed food.
You are forced to kind of makeyour own from that standpoint.
You're cooking, fresh,Definitely there's more health
benefit to it than just eatingsomething that comes from a
(29:43):
plant.
Manufacture it at its own.
Eat what comes from a plant,but don't eat what comes from a
manufactured plant.
AnnMarie Bonneau (29:50):
Yeah, yeah, that's mycopolon.
Yeah, mycopolon says if it's aplant, eat it.
If it's made in a plant, don't.
Vai Kumar (29:58):
Yeah, right there we have that benefit as well.
And then the happiness inturning crash to trash is if you
were to call it that, oh yeah,because you are using every
single food's crap.
But then you're making like ameaningful soup and how happy
you are that you have donesomething which tastes so good
and you have not wasted any food.
(30:19):
So there's just immensesatisfaction.
Oh yeah, and that satisfactionand happiness in turn.
It just makes you more vibrant,it just promotes better health.
You just seem to have all of asudden more energy than you
would when you're happy, right,and then nurturing the creative
side, just like you point.
But you have to just thinkabout hey, okay, this is all I
(30:40):
have, instead of stocking up mypantry full of something
supplies because I want to stickto a menu.
It's fascinating.
You pointed out about thefermentation aspect.
So, fermentation we all knowpromotes beneficial bacteria.
And then good gut health iswhat 75 to 80% of our immune
system resides in the gut, theysay.
(31:02):
So no wonder all thefermentation certainly produced
the bacteria is definitelyhelpful.
(31:10):
So what are some?
Vai Kumar (31:11):
resources, you would point out for you to help
consumers to transition to, say,a plastic pre-lip some websites
or whatever that again.
Your book itself is a greatresource.
I would say zero wish.
So, start there, but other than, oh, thanks.
Other than that websites andthings like that.
AnnMarie Bonneau (31:29):
Well, when we started, we looked at Beth
Terry's website.
It's myplasticfreelifecom.
I think she's still writing it.
Even if she isn't, she hashundreds and hundreds of posts
and that's all about getting offof plastic.
So that was super helpful andwe've actually my daughter and I
have met her a couple of times,and so Beth's website is great.
(31:51):
The Plastic Pollution Coalitionthat's a great organization.
Break Free from Plastic that'sanother one.
So they have websites and lotsof resources and you can get
active with them if you want.
So you can sign petitions, andBreak Free from Plastic has
different events and things ifyou want to participate in those
(32:13):
.
They do the plastic audit everyyear to figure out which
company is responsible for themost pollution, and Coca-Cola
wins, I think, every year likewins.
They're the absolute worst.
And Nestle's terrible too.
Nestle, unilever Okay.
Vai Kumar (32:34):
How has fermentation become like such an integral
part of your routine?
What else do you do Like?
You make your own.
You use apple scraps to makeapple cider vinegar stuff like
that, so why don't you?
Walk us through some of theother things.
You do your own sourdoughstarter, so you bake your bread.
You bake your sourdoughcrackers, things like that.
(32:55):
So why don't you give listenerspointers on what all you do?
So it takes care of theirbreakfast, lunch, dinner and,
most importantly, snacks,because that's what people crave
for.
So some sample ideas, if youwant.
AnnMarie Bonneau (33:11):
Well, if you want to start fermenting, I
would say, start with sauerkraut.
It's really easy.
People call it the gatewayferment, and all you need is a
cabbage and salt.
You can add other stuff, youcan add shredded carrots, all
kinds of vegetables and spices,and that's a really easy ferment
(33:31):
.
You chop the cabbage, you saltit, you crush it with your hands
to release the liquid.
You let it rest for a littlewhile so more liquid pools in
the bowl that you're preparingit in, and then you pack it into
jars in its own liquid, you puta little weight or something on
top of it so that thevegetables are all submerged and
then the lactic acid bacteriaon the vegetables emit gases and
(33:55):
acids and you get thisdelicious tangy flavor, this
nice vinegary flavor, butthere's no vinegar in it and,
yeah, it's filled with goodbacteria and it's very
inexpensive to make yourself.
You can buy it also.
The real fermented sauerkrautis in the refrigerator section
at the grocery store.
The stuff in the middle aislesis highly pasteurized, which
(34:17):
kills the bad bacteria, but itkills the good bacteria.
Fermentation is very safe.
The bad bacteria can't survivein the acidic environment of a
batch of sauerkraut.
I would say sauerkraut or kimchi, which is very similar.
You just have to find the spice.
It's so good, it's addictive.
What else do I recommend?
(34:39):
I make drink.
I think of them more as a treat, though.
So kombucha and ginger beer.
I made watermelon rind pickleson the weekend or they do taste
like dill pickles, but they'remore like cucumbers.
Anyway, they're tasty.
That's with just a watermelonrind that ordinarily you would
throw out.
(34:59):
I made those this week andthey're quite tasty.
I'm making red wine vinegar.
It's so good you cannot buystore-bought wine vinegar after
you start making your own.
I mean, the homemade tastesreally good and you don't have
to use expensive wine, justcheap wine.
If you have a little bit ofleftover wine, just use that.
That's really good.
(35:20):
Oh, preserved lemons.
They add a ton of flavor todishes.
I like to chop up a little bit,along with some fermented hot
peppers and have that on theside of some doll or chana
masala or all kinds of savorydishes.
Those are some of the things Imade.
Vai Kumar (35:38):
Of course there's enough ideas on your blog,
zerowayschefcom, and there'salso way too many recipes in the
book.
Whatever we're talking abouthere, just trying to give
listeners some pointers here.
So few ideas for a zero-wastelifestyle and zero doesn't have
to mean zero, but kind of likeif you aim for something, then
(36:01):
at least you start to go towardsthat goal.
What would you say, are somestarting aspects?
Where can we do some squabs,say paper towels.
I use them in the kitchen.
So what can we swap for that?
What can we swap for, say, likea plastic container, a cup of
weather having news, and whatabout my cookware?
Things like that.
Few examples and pointers forlisteners.
(36:23):
So it's not a chore, it doesn'tseem like that.
But then it seems like okay,this is simple, I can make a
change to my lifestyle and thenI can do better for the
environment.
So just have it as an intentionright Not just get to that
number O zero and compare andoink about it.
AnnMarie Bonneau (36:42):
Oh yeah, I got it.
A lot of the time when I givetalks I'll get a question at the
end, but something like what doI do about my medication?
That's all in plastic.
Well, keep taking yourmedication, don't worry about
small things like that, and justworry about the big stuff, the
easy stuff.
Do the easy stuff.
For us, it was really easy toswitch to cloth produce bags.
(37:04):
That was a super simple swap.
I've been doing that now forwhat?
12 years I've been using clothproduce bags every week.
I take probably seven or eightto the farmer's market once a
week, so it adds up to a fewthousand plastic bags that I've
eliminated and I'm just onehousehold, so that is a really
(37:24):
easy one.
Keep the produce bags tucked inyour shopping bag so you always
have them.
If you drink bottled water,you're paying for tap water.
The bottled water has moremicroplastics in it than tap
water because it's packaged inplastic.
And if you're in an area like Imean right now in Maui, everyone
, I think, is drinking.
A lot of people are drinkingbottled water and brushing their
(37:48):
teeth in it, of course in anemergency, but most Americans
buy bottled water because theybelieve the marketing that it's
superior.
So cut bottled water.
Another simple one is to bringyour own cup to a cafe or sit
down, if they have real cups.
Sit down and have your drink.
Paper coffee cups are linedwith plastic.
(38:10):
Otherwise coffee or tea wouldleak and spill all over you.
So those are lined with plasticand you really do not want a
hot drink mixing with plastic.
It's just a terriblecombination.
Vai Kumar (38:23):
Yeah, just like you wouldn't eat plastic bottled
water in a hot pot.
Yeah, most people don't seem torealize that that's why we're
even bringing it out, because itteaches, and you?
Don't want to freeze in plasticeither.
Neither hot temperatures norcold temperatures are good for
plastic.
AnnMarie Bonneau (38:40):
I believe right.
Well, hot temperatures for sure, and I'm sure you're right
about the cold.
I didn't know that.
Vai Kumar (38:48):
No, I guess the freezer both ways.
I think it seemingly teachestoxins into the content.
So I guess that's why we don'twant to leave hot plastic
bottled water in a hot car,because the heat can just kind
of cause substances in theplastic to leach into the water,
and then you don't want to whenyou drink that water, possibly
(39:10):
your hormonal disruption, thingslike that.
That's when it starts to manage.
So grow up grocery bags insteadof using the plastic bags at
the store and, in fact, evensome reusable produce bags.
So we are not grabbing one bagfor carrots, one bag for my
beets, one bag for my cucumbers,one bag for my zucchini.
(39:33):
So right there four bags.
Vai Kumar (39:34):
And then if you're buying, say, eight produce items
that just keep eightrefrigerator bags, which
possibly you can just go put it,in your refrigerator as well.
So you're not having to justcome sort your groceries when
you come back home and thenyou're not having to dump that
plastic either.
So right there every week youcan sort the ocean from eight
(39:58):
less plastic bags, and thentimes how many of our listeners
are people out there in thisuniverse.
I think that's a big, big numberPaper towels.
I know you use reusable ragsand things like.
AnnMarie Bonneau (40:13):
Oh yeah, yeah, I just use rags.
I like to sew, so I like tomake things.
Not everybody is like me, sobuy the stuff.
But I had an old flannel sheetand I just cut it up into paper
towel sized pieces and Ifinished the edges.
That was years ago.
I did that and I still use them.
I just washed a couple the otherday.
(40:35):
When they get dirty, I washthem.
They take up very little spacein the washing machine and I
keep one in my bag, in my laptopbag, and when I'm out and I use
the public bathroom, I justpull it out and I dry my hands.
And if I spill something on mytable when I'm at a cafe, I just
pull it out and I wipe it upLike it's.
Having a little towel in yourbag is really handy.
(40:57):
I use them all the time.
More than a few people onsocial media have told me that
they stopped buying paper towelsand they were in charge of all
the shopping.
They stopped buying papertowels.
Their family grumbled a littlebit, but we're too lazy to go to
the store and buy more papertowels, and they all adjusted.
Vai Kumar (41:14):
Yeah, we use these reusable bamboo sheets.
I stopped buying paper towels,yeah, or at least I just
minimized certainly the amountof paper towel used in the
kitchen and in other places inthe house.
we just tried to go for thesebamboo reusable ones that I buy
on Amazon.
(41:34):
So I just am doing my smallpart to try and eliminate Not
that I've been able to cut itout 100%, but at least it's way,
way less than probably 70% lessconsumption of paper towels
than what we used to even like ayear and a half and you save
money.
AnnMarie Bonneau (41:53):
So the Swedish little dishcloths I bought my
mom, I think they're about $6each.
I'm not sure how much papertowels are, but she goes through
them like crazy and I'm sureshe spends way more than that in
a month on paper towels.
I know she's spending more than$6.
Vai Kumar (42:11):
Anyway, so To run through some quick, fun tips
it's tips for a healthierlifestyle and then or and or
turning trash to pressures.
In fact, speaking of trash topressures, like a lot of us tend
to throw away or give away usedclothing and do things like
that, we tend to throw them.
A friend recently turned some ofher child's clothes as a
(42:35):
memorabilia into I think she hadsomeone put together like a
blanket or like a quilt.
So that's a neat little idea ofturning something that you
would possibly throw away or nothave used for.
Making it like a circulareconomy sort of right, you know,
make it like reusable in ameaningful way.
So that's something that wasneat.
(42:55):
In terms of tips, why do wesoak nuts instead of having them
as?
AnnMarie Bonneau (43:00):
Well, yeah, if you soak nuts, I believe it
reduces phytate and so your bodycan absorb the nutrients more
readily.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So, um, that's some beans, yeah.
Vai Kumar (43:16):
Okay, so the same with beans then.
So why do we soaks, not be, youknow, or like maybe be, or
kidney bean, or chickpeas,before we cook?
AnnMarie Bonneau (43:27):
Well, I think.
I think it reduces phytates,but also I find they cook faster
.
So I'll soak my beans overnight, maybe right before bed or
first thing in the morning, andcook them later in the day.
I cook them in my pressurecooker.
They cook really quickly.
I don't have a fancy pressurecooker, but it's so fast.
(43:47):
I'm not sure why when I cook.
Yeah, I think the soaking also.
Vai Kumar (43:51):
You know, right from childhood we have always been
told that, yeah, one way itreduces gas as well.
And you soak it and then youpour out the power, whatever
that is.
You know, like you, just thesoap water.
You don't use that soap water,you just rinse them again, and
right there, you know.
You pointed out phytates aswell, so that's a good one.
So then you pressure cook itjust reduces your cooking time
(44:15):
as well and it's much moreflavor.
Oh, it tastes so good, yeah, sosoap beans are always the way
to go.
And minimizing clothing wasteand reuse we talked about that.
Find creative ways so youdirect happiness from doing it
as well.
And you know you can justcreate pressures from it because
certain synthetic fibers theyare again like contributing to
(44:36):
plastic.
So try to just make use ofnatural fibers as much as
possible and make sure that theycan be reused in a meaningful
way.
And nobody from your bookVeggie Broth and Apple Cider
Vinegar.
So if you can tell folks howyou make your Veggie Broth, what
is it that you use?
So I think that will also helpthem get an idea of, okay, how
(44:59):
can you minimize food waste,right?
AnnMarie Bonneau (45:02):
Yeah.
So when I am preppingvegetables throughout the week,
I save all the little ends andpeels and little bits and pieces
and I put them in the freezerand when I have enough of them I
simmer them in water, put thescraps in a pot and cover them,
pour in enough water just tocover and simmer for maybe 20
minutes and then strain them andI have this delicious broth.
(45:23):
I haven't bought broth in overa decade.
I put in a lot of onions, butnot a lot of onion skins,
because I find that makes itbitter.
But little onion bits, thelittle ends, celery, carrot,
bell pepper bits, you know.
Green and bean ends, right,asparagus, a small amounts of
herbs.
(45:43):
If you put in a lot of herbsthen that flavor will overpower
your broth.
Tomato cores makes reallydelicious broth.
You know what's in it.
I buy organic vegetables.
If they weren't organic I don'tknow if I'd want to use them.
There's this EWG orEnvironmental Working Group,
clean 15 and Dirty Dozen andit's a list of vegetables that
(46:06):
have the most produce residueand the least.
The Clean 15 have the least.
There's something high in thatlist and it's not organic.
I might not want to use that,those peels.
I might just compost them.
Corn cobs make delicious broth,okay.
Vai Kumar (46:19):
Yeah, really good.
So pretty much you save all ofthese.
So where are you at in terms ofhow much trash you accumulate
in a day or in a?
AnnMarie Bonneau (46:26):
week.
Oh, the compost bucket fills upevery few days.
I guess I don't ferment all mywatermelon peels so I already
have a lot of watermelon pickles.
So I composted that.
It's a small bucket and thentrash.
I mean very little.
I do drink milk, I like milk inmy tea, and it comes in glass
(46:48):
bottles but it does have aplastic lid.
There's a little strip I haveto pull off, so and that's waste
that goes in the trash, notvery much.
And then my kids.
I mean I can't, they're grownup now but yeah, when they're
home I mean I can't control them, although they're very good.
Mary Catherine Morrison, wasteManagement, she sees it all and
she says reducing is the onlyway We've got to reduce what
(47:12):
we're producing.
Vai Kumar (47:13):
Well, I think yeah.
Why don't you tell us moreabout your contacting for your
work and community initiatives?
AnnMarie Bonneau (47:21):
Yeah, so my website is zerowastechefcom.
I'm on Instagram and Facebook.
Yeah, I've got tons ofinformation and you can find out
more about my book on mywebsite.
Yeah, I have a group of friends.
We get together really sloweddown during COVID ground to a
hall, really almost.
We get together and we sewcloth produce bags and we hand
(47:43):
them out at the farmers marketand that gives people a way to
reduce their plastic at thefarmers market and it also
raises awareness and startsconversations about plastic
pollution.
So that's a lot of fun.
We've given away over, I think,about 3,500 produce bags so far
and the fabric is all donated.
We use natural fibers becausecloth and the washing machine if
(48:06):
it's synthetic, it shedsmicroplastics which end up in
our waterways.
We give those away and peoplelove them.
They get so excited when theytake their cloth bags and it
helps and it's fun.
We have a lot of fun, good.
Vai Kumar (48:20):
So that's like a great community initiative.
So the best way I guess to stopthis food waste is to consume
food as much as possible.
So, yeah, yeah, the best waysto consume food.
So in that case, you just, isthere something you want to
highlight here?
You just buy only the barestminimum that you want to buy it
right.
So is that like a good way tostop?
AnnMarie Bonneau (48:43):
Yeah well, in an ideal world we'd all shop
more frequently for smalleramounts of food, but most of us
can't do that.
I can only go to the farmersmarket once a week because it
runs just once a week.
You know, in some countriesit's almost every day, but not
here.
Try not to over buy.
The food that gets wasted themost is the perishable stuff,
(49:04):
the fresh produce.
A lot of us try to eat healthy,and so we might buy more of
that than we can actually eat.
But if you learn a few simplerecipes, you can.
You can rescue that food beforeit becomes waste.
Vai Kumar (49:17):
Yeah, and your book is definitely a great resource.
Thank you so much, anne Marie,for taking us through this
journey of going zero waste.
Although it's a process, I'msure it's achievable.
It's like striving for A plusalthough season decrease, too
right.
AnnMarie Bonneau (49:34):
Right, right, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, it's
just a goal.
It's just a goal and don'tstress out about it.
Vai Kumar (49:42):
Yeah.
So the message is to do everysmall change that we all
possibly can to try and do ourpart in saving our planet and
our environment.
So nice catching up with youhere on the show, and if there
is anything else that you wouldlike to add for the benefit of
listeners, be free to do so.
AnnMarie Bonneau (50:00):
Well, I would just say don't worry about being
perfect, just do your best,just do what we can.
If we all do what we can, itwill make a huge difference.
Vai Kumar (50:08):
Yeah, at the very minimum, we do all the
actionable items that Anne Marielaid out in terms of taking a
club shopping bag and trying toreuse as much as you can in
terms of the food produce and interms of the few squabs in the
kitchen, say, like the papertowels and things like that, to
begin, and then move on to yourparchment paper and your Ziploc
(50:30):
bag and things like that, right.
(50:32):
So one step at a time.
Vai Kumar (50:35):
And so a great conversation.
Very nice having you here withus on the show, and listeners,
as always, follow the podcast,rate the podcast and leave a
review from your podcast.
(50:46):
That book choice.
Vai Kumar (50:47):
Follow @vaipkumar on Instagram, and until next time,
with yet another interestingguest and yet another very
interesting topic.
It's me, Vai saying so long,thanks, Vai, thanks.
Hi, we are here today to talk about zero waste.
In our efforts to become moresustainable and protect our
planet earth, we all need to doour small part.
It's not that zero waste meansabsolutely zero, but it's our
best intention to take stepstowards getting to a point where
(00:43):
we have reduced our wasteconsumption dramatically.
Our great-grandmothers andgrandmothers wear zero waste.
Before, zero waste was cool.
They ran their kitchensefficiently, they used
everything and they wastednothing.
So don't be afraid to try newthings and fail.
(01:04):
Failure is merely one stepcloser to success.
Use up what you have in yourkitchen so you and I can
contribute to going more or lesstowards zero waste.
If we let the food we have onhand in our pantry, refrigerator
and freezer serve as the basisfor our next need, that itself
(01:29):
serves as a big method ofeliminating food waste.
Just to put things inperspective if 100 listeners
eliminated 4.5 pounds of trashper day for 365 days, that's
164,250 pounds of trash that wecan reduce.
(01:52):
If 2,500 listeners reduced itby 25%, over a million pounds of
trash per year is what we wouldend up reducing.
On the same token, if, insteadof 2,500 listeners, 10,000 of my
listeners reduced their wasteby 10%, that's a million 642,500
(02:17):
pounds per year.
Proof enough that everyonedoing a little bit still yields
a lot more.
So let's listen to our nextguest, ann Marie Bonneau, on how
she transitioned to a zerowaste lifestyle and what
prompted her to contribute toher wonderful book Zero Waste
Chef.
Today I have here with us AnnMarie Bonneau.
(02:39):
She is a cookbook author,public speaker, who writes about
food and waste atzerowastechefcom.
She speaks around the SanFrancisco Bay Area and teaches
sourdough and fermentationworkshops in person and online.
Her cookbook, zero Waste Chef,planned forward recipes and tips
(03:00):
for a sustainable kitchen andplanet as one her awards,
including shortlisting byInternational Association of
Culinary Professionals in 2022,and has been featured by major
news outlets and publications.
With sustainability at theforefront in season three, I'm
delighted to welcome Ann Mariehere to podcast freshleaf
(03:23):
forever.
How are you doing today, annMarie, and welcome to the show.
AnnMarie Bonneau (03:28):
Oh, hi, Vai.
Thank you for having me.
I'm fine, thanks.
How are you?
Vai Kumar (03:32):
I'm fine, thank you.
Seems like a crisp morning herein Georgia, but I guess you
know it's just we are getting tothat time of the year aren't we
Yep?
AnnMarie Bonneau (03:40):
sweater weather is coming up.
Vai Kumar (03:43):
Yeah, staggering numbers from your book, by the
way, such a wonderful read, andthank you for letting me be a
part of it, sharing it with.
American consumers generatefour and a half pounds of trash
per person on an average everyday.
268 million tons approximatelyof trash every year, right from
(04:05):
transformation from rawmaterials to products to
disposal, half of which ends upin Lancers.
Every minute, a garbage truckload full of plastics enters our
oceans.
One ton of plastic every threetons of fish, approximately by
2025, and by 2050, more plasticthan fish, right, so can you
(04:27):
take us through how we got hereand what are?
we all even doing.
AnnMarie Bonneau (04:33):
Well, how we got here, that's a big
complicated question, andactually I finished my book just
before COVID hit and so thosenumbers at least for the amount
of trash Americans throw outactually got worse.
That number is actually highernow.
So how we got here?
Well, as far as plastics go,convenience culture went into a
(04:58):
factor or start, and I thinkit's like the late 50s or the
60s.
There's this famous photo fromLife Magazine of a family
throwing all of this single usematerial in the air paper plates
and plastic utensils and allthis throwaway stuff.
And that was supposed to besomething to celebrate.
(05:19):
And now we look back thatpicture in horror and it's only
gotten worse.
So the marketers really had towork hard to convince us that
this was the way to go.
I mean, imagine back then beingtold oh, just use this fork
once and throw it in the garbageand then go and buy another one
, rather than using the actualmetal forks you already own that
(05:43):
you can reuse over and over.
So imagine it was hard toconvince people that this was a
good idea.
So convenience culture thatreally took off.
And then it's our wholeeconomic system affects that.
So it's not the consumer's faultfor all of this.
If people don't have enoughtime to take care of themselves
(06:03):
and their families becausethey're working more and more,
then of course they're going togo for the convenience food and
the fast food and the highlypackaged, highly processed food.
Yeah, we need a better economicsystem.
We need to revamp the wholething.
The food in the averageAmerican grocery store is, most
of it's highly processed and alot of it is ultra processed
(06:27):
food.
That comes in all the shinypackages and that's what most
people are eating, and the fooditself is not healthy.
And then there's a ton ofpackaging.
Vai Kumar (06:36):
Yeah, we have almost got to a point where, like
minute particles, contaminatesoil and threatens plants,
animals and humans alike.
AnnMarie Bonneau (06:44):
Yeah, microplastics they shed from
synthetic clothing, they shedfrom the plastic packaging, they
shed from the plastic mulchthat a lot of farms use, even
some organic farms, which to meis I don't know how you can call
yourself organic if you'recovering the soil with plastic
that can shed microplastics andtoxins into the soil and then
(07:07):
recycling.
So the corporations came upwith this whole recycling idea.
They really push it as thesolution and that's not the
solution.
Reduction is the solution.
Recycling is a last resort forplastic.
They produce so much plastic wecan't possibly recycle it all.
It's just not possible.
(07:28):
And so the big corporations,they push that as the solution
because it's cheap for them Ifthey don't have to collect the
stuff.
Coca-cola used to use glassbottles.
This was maybe until about the80s.
They used glass bottles.
You would pay a deposit whenyou bought your soft drink or
your soda and then you'd returnthe bottles and those could be
(07:50):
used several times.
Well, that costs thecorporations a lot of money.
They have to hire people, theyhave to have the plants, and
those plants were in manydifferent communities.
Our supply chain is verycentralized.
Now we have all of these bigcorporations in central
locations.
Vai Kumar (08:09):
Anyway.
AnnMarie Bonneau (08:09):
Coca-Cola started to sell everything in
plastic that just gets thrownaway, so they don't have to pay
to clean that up.
They put the onus onto us, theconsumers they call us.
In the 70s, I think, they cameup with this whole litter bug
idea and they blame theconsumers for littering.
Well, it's their packaging thatthey're producing that is
(08:30):
ending up littering theenvironment.
You asked me how do we get here?
I guess I would say greed andclever marketing and our whole
economic system.
So maybe that's a whole otherbook.
Vai Kumar (08:44):
Yeah.
So I guess the world kind offollowed suit, thinking okay,
america has done it Noweverybody else should do it, so
it's almost like to the pointeveryone part because growing up
in India like we have alwaysreused was not like any throw
away stuff.
But then now when I go visit,the culture has completely
(09:07):
changed.
It's all the convenience.
So right there you kind ofpointed out how things have
changed from like what we weredoing right to convenience.
This country.
So everyone wants to just doeverything like a jibby and just
keep tossing it and moving on.
No one wants to bring reuse ofthe difference.
They just want to carry food inlike a package, eat it, throw
(09:30):
it and move on.
Right, get on the plane or geton the train, whatever that
maybe.
But this space decomposes it.
Belches may change into theatmosphere.
And you said, 84 times morecontent than carbon dioxide over
a 20 year period.
That's what you put in yourbook, which causes soy
contamination and groundwatercontamination.
So, do you think consumers evenrealize what we are doing?
(09:56):
We'll be back after a quick break.
Hayesport's parents.
Is your kid suffering from lackof playing time or do you think
maybe he's just on the wrongroster?
Or perhaps it really just is aclueless coach?
If you have any of theseconcerns, you've come to the
right place.
Here at the raising athletespodcast, we interview parents,
coaches, authors, athletes andanybody who will speak to us
(10:19):
about all things youth sports.
As parents, we want to raisehappy, healthy kids who are
challenged but not overwhelmedto the point of shutting down
and opting out.
Join my co-host, Susie Walton,founder of Indigo Village,
mother of four and grandmotherof nine, and me, Kirsten Jones,
a peak performance and sportsparenting coach, as we help
answer your most burningquestions regarding how to be
(10:41):
positive, effective andsupportive parents in raising
athletes.
Let's do this.
AnnMarie Bonneau (10:55):
Well, when I started all of this, I really
just wanted to break up withplastic, and then I soon
discovered that we waste anawful lot of food.
And I had no idea and I think Iwas fairly aware of other
aspects of the environment whenI first heard in the US so this
is back in maybe 2012 or so areport came out and it said that
(11:18):
up to 40% of the food weproduce goes to waste.
My jaw drop, so I had no ideawe'd waste that much food.
And it's not just the food thatgoes to waste, it's all of the
resources that go into producingthe food.
And when that food ends up inlandfill, it emits methane
because it's compacted tightlyand so anaerobic bacteria break
(11:39):
it down and they emit methanegas, like you said.
Yeah, that's numbers from theIPCC Methane is 84 times more
potent than carbon dioxide.
I think if people do stop tothink about it and I don't know
if they do, because throwingaway food has been normalized
most of us just don't thinkanything of just throwing away
food.
(11:59):
If people do think about it,they probably think well, it
just breaks down into soil, butit doesn't.
Here in California last year,sb 1383 went into effect and
that requires all residents andbusinesses to separate their
food scraps and wasted food fromtheir other waste.
So that's going to help.
We backyard compost and I tryreally hard not to waste food in
(12:22):
the first place.
Composting is kind of likerecycling it's a last resort.
It's a crucial last resort, butideally we would eat all of the
food and then when we can't,for whatever reason, then it can
go to the compost.
Vai Kumar (12:35):
Okay, why are plastics a problem?
I guess I'm trying to highlightthe magnitude of the problem.
Two listeners here About 111metric tons of plastic by 2030.
Is that kind of where we areheading to?
I believe we are consuming 100billion single use plastic
(12:56):
shopping.
That's a year.
Is that right?
AnnMarie Bonneau (12:59):
It's an astronomical number.
I mean you can't even get yourhead around it.
The corporations, they produceso much plastic.
I mean there are so manyproblems with plastic.
Let's see when do I start.
Epa, so yeah, that, even justthe production.
Plastic is made of fossil fuelsprimarily.
So we extract fossil fuels fromthe ground, we refine them,
(13:21):
usually in frontline communities, and the refining causes just
terrible pollution.
Asthma rates, cancer rates inthose areas are really high
compared to the rest of thecountry.
And then we manufacture it,ship it, use it for a few
minutes and then throw it away.
Oh, using it.
So yeah, bpa is a known hormonedisruptor and it's in a lot of
(13:46):
plastics.
And you'll see on canned food,because cans are lined with
plastic and the BPA softens theplastic.
So you'll see on some cannedfood Now BPA free.
Well, they have BPS or BPSlikely, which are similar
compounds.
So those are known to causeproblems.
Then there are phthalates,which is another plasticizer,
(14:08):
and those also have bad healtheffects.
There are microplastics.
So with plastic packaging sheds, little bits of microplastics
the average American consumes, Ithink, about a credit card's
worth of plastic, I believe it's.
Every week it's about fivegrams.
We also breathe it in.
So synthetic carpeting,anything's synthetic.
(14:29):
But when you hear synthetic,think plastic.
So synthetic carpeting.
That is shedding plastic,microplastics, the plastic you
bring into your home.
So vacuum and sweep to sweepthat stuff up.
But at the same time don't getcompletely neurotic and worry
about this all the time, becauseyou'll just get an ulcer.
(14:51):
Worrying is very bad for yourhealth too.
Gee, what else.
Don't heat food up in plastic,because that causes the toxins
in the plastic to leach.
So many problems.
And then disposal if it ends upin a recycling plant.
The recycling rates are verylow.
Plastic will get recycled ifthere's a buyer for it.
(15:11):
So all of the plastic that iscollected and a lot isn't
collected, a lot ends up in theenvironment.
But all the plastic that iscollected by recycling programs,
it goes to the sorting stationand then it's bailed.
But if nobody wants to buy that, if there's no buyer for it and
we produce so much that therearen't enough buyers so if
nobody buys that, it ends up inlandfill or an incinerator.
(15:34):
So we just produce way morethan we can possibly recycle.
We can't recycle our way out ofthis mess.
Cookware yeah, so much of it.
Cookware yeah, I love cast iron.
It cooks so nicely and it'sless expensive than a lot of
other types of pans and itdoesn't contain any PFAS.
So PFAS is Forever Chemicalsand it's a group of chemicals
(15:58):
that persists in the environmentand in our bodies.
That's why they're calledForever Chemicals and they're in
a lot of stuff, including somecookware.
So Teflon nonstick pants Not allnonstick pants, but some
nonstick pants and they start toflake and you can't use them
anymore, whereas cast iron I'llpass that on to mine, on to my
(16:19):
kids and they'll pass it on totheir kids.
I mean, it just lasts forever.
But I also use stainless steeland enameled cast iron.
Pfas is also in some foodpackaging.
You may go to a restaurant andyou think, oh great, they have
paper packaging or they havecardboard Yay, it's not plastic.
(16:39):
Well, it might be treated withPFAS because it renders paper
grease proof and waterproof.
So those takeout containersthat are talented as
environmentally friendly, someof them have PFAS.
So I just I make my life simpleand just eat at home, mostly
Okay.
Okay, I mean, I'm lucky that Ican do that.
(17:00):
I understand that everybody hasthe time, although you don't
have to cook anything fancy.
Vai Kumar (17:07):
And going to your book Zero Waste Chef plan
forward recipes and tips forassistive sustainable kitchen
and planet right.
I know the whole thingtriggered or started when your
daughter, mary Katt, and you,mary Catherine, and you, walked
through the eyes of the grocerystore and realized what we were
consuming, what we were puttinginto our bodies, right.
(17:29):
So why don't you take us through that?
Vai Kumar (17:31):
What prompted you to write the book and all about
that story behind it, and you'reputting us on.
AnnMarie Bonneau (17:36):
Well, yeah, back in 2011, I was reading
about plastic pollution in theoceans and I had no idea it was
such a huge problem.
I was shocked.
I think, like most people youknow, you can't unsee those
images of birds feeding plasticto their young and animals
getting tangled in plastic, andyou know it's heartbreaking.
So I told my daughter, maryCatherine she was 16 at the time
(18:00):
.
I said we have to break up withplastic and she said, okay, she
was really into it.
My younger daughter was only 10and not really aware of, didn't
really care.
You know, at that age she wasoff playing and we went to the
grocery store and there'splastic everywhere.
In a typical American grocerystore, some of the produce is
wrapped in plastic.
(18:21):
You cannot get a head ofcauliflower in a typical grocery
store here without plastic onit.
Cucumbers are wrapped inplastic, sometimes Clamshells,
lots of clamshells of fruit andvegetables.
And, you know, in the milkaisle they're all the plastic
jugs of milk.
The paper cartons are linedwith plastic.
(18:42):
Same with lots of drinks thatcome in cardboard.
You think, oh it's.
You know, this is better, it'scardboard.
Well, it's lined with plastic.
And then the center aisle isthe very worst, because that's
where all the highly processedpackaged food is.
And you know it's all inplastic, all the highly
processed stuff is in plastic.
And I remember standing in thebathroom tissue aisle with Mary
(19:04):
Catherine and I threw my handsup and I said well, this is
impossible, everything is inplastic, we can't possibly do
this.
But then she started to do theresearch and figured out what we
needed to do and we just madesimple changes.
I think one of the biggest oneswas how we shopped.
So we've always cooked a lot,we're big foodies but we started
(19:24):
to shop at the farmer's market.
We're lucky we're in California, so they're year round.
The food here at the farmer'smarket it's all loose, it's all
absolutely delicious and more ofour dollar goes to the farmer
because you buy directly fromthe farmer.
So 90, about 90 cents at leastof your dollar goes directly to
the farmer when you buy thefarmer's market.
(19:45):
And when you buy at a grocerystore or eat at a restaurant,
about 15 cents goes to thefarmer.
So you know you can feel goodabout that.
Vai Kumar (19:56):
Absolutely so.
Focusing on food waste, wherealong the supply chain does
maximum food waste occur?
AnnMarie Bonneau (20:03):
So people don't like it when I tell them
this, but don't shoot themessenger.
If you look at the numbers, iffood waste were a pie, the
biggest slice is coming fromconsumers, so from households.
Food is wasted on farms becausethe grocery store may not.
You know a lot of them don'twant wonky looking potatoes, and
(20:26):
so sometimes the food juststays on the farm and rots in
the field.
There are companies that areselling wonky food, so there is
some that's wasted on the farm.
Restaurant and grocery stores,waste food institutions, you
know, schools and hospitals, butthe biggest number is from
(20:46):
individual households.
Vai Kumar (20:48):
But the good news is we can eat that food, yeah, and
downstream or upstream, what arethe resources that we've wasted
?
Like you said, water, energyefficiency, right, right.
AnnMarie Bonneau (20:58):
Right.
So it's not just the food thatgoes to waste, it's all of those
resources that went intoproducing the food.
So water here in California wedon't have a lot of water.
To spare Energy, labor we clearland of trees to grow food that
goes on eaten, you know, andthose trees could have
sequestered carbon, all of theinputs, the seeds and
(21:19):
fertilizers and pesticides thatgo on to food that goes on eaten
.
Vai Kumar (21:24):
So, yeah, it's a huge problem, okay 8% of global
greenhouse gas emissions comesfrom food waste.
Based on your book, can youhelp with things in perspective
for us when compared to otherindustries that project right?
AnnMarie Bonneau (21:41):
Yeah, so just as my book came out, the UN came
out with this highlycomprehensive report on food
waste I think that's called theFood Waste Index came out in
2021.
The numbers are actuallybetween 8% and 10% of greenhouse
gas emissions are a result offood waste.
To put that into perspective,the aviation industry is about
(22:03):
2.5%, and that's according toProject Drawdown.
It's a book and a website, andit lists the 100 top solutions
to the climate crisis.
So and reducing food waste isnumber three or number four on
that list.
It's really high, okay, so how?
Vai Kumar (22:21):
do we just make listeners draw inspiration to
stop the school waste versuslike, go into this eco-anxiety,
right, you mentioned about iteven earlier as we were talking.
(22:32):
What are the solutions?
So how did you?
Vai Kumar (22:35):
transform your lifestyle.
What did you actually have todo and what is it that you
suggest so take us through kindof like your journey and along
the lines of what you haveoutlined in the book and me.
AnnMarie Bonneau (22:46):
Well, I've always been really frugal and I
get that from my dad, who he wasso frugal that as a teenager I
was embarrassed, and now I thinkI've surpassed him.
I think I'm even more frugalthan my dad.
So you know, there's nodownside to reducing food waste
at home.
(23:07):
There just is none.
You save money.
The average family of four inthe US spends depends on the
study you look at, so I'll gowith a lower number spends
$1,500 on food every year thatthey don't eat.
You save money for reducing it,and I found the easiest way to
waste less food is to cook withwhat you have on hand.
(23:28):
So rather than saying, oh, whatdo I crave for dinner tonight,
just look at what you have onhand and let that determine what
you're going to make for dinner.
Oh, last night, it's gettingclose to the weekend and we're
running out of fresh produce,because I shop at the farmers
market on Saturday and I thought, oh no, what are we going to
eat?
Well, I had watermelon andtomatoes and garlic, because I
(23:51):
always have garlic olive oil.
I'm lucky I have a lemon tree.
I picked a couple of lemons andI picked a cucumber.
My daughter grew cucumbers andI made watermelon gazpacho.
It was delicious, it's so goodand, you know, at first I kind
of panicked.
I thought, oh, I don't reallyhave anything for dinner.
And then I looked oh no, wait,I have this, this and this.
(24:11):
It was delicious andsurprisingly filling, so filling
.
Vai Kumar (24:15):
So those that don't know what a gazpacho is.
So how did you put?
AnnMarie Bonneau (24:19):
this together.
Vai Kumar (24:20):
All right?
AnnMarie Bonneau (24:21):
It's very easy .
It's a cold soup and a classicgazpacho does not have
watermelon in it.
So it depends on which recipeyou look at.
You just throw everything in ablender Tomatoes, cucumber,
maybe a bell pepper, olive oil,some sort of acid so lemon juice
or red wine, vinegar, salt.
You puree it all up and youdrink a cold.
(24:44):
It's really even tastier if youchill it for several hours
first, but this was so good andwe needed to eat, but I couldn't
stop drinking it even before Ihad a chance to chill it.
It's super simple to make andyou can also make it with
watermelon.
You can make, add somewatermelon to it, which I happen
(25:06):
to have.
So that's kind of how I cook.
I just look at what I have andthink, okay, what can I make
with this?
And if you're not veryexperienced and you haven't done
much cooking, you can alwaysmake soup.
You know, so learn to make afew versatile dishes.
Soup.
You can throw in reallywhatever vegetables you have on
hand.
If you have leftover grains,let's say some cooked rice,
(25:29):
throw that in, leftover protein.
If you have Parmesan cheeserinds, throw those in.
Throw a couple in.
They add a lot of flavor and,yeah, you can always make soup.
Pizza is a good one.
You can top it with all kindsof things, you don't, you don't?
You don't have to put tomatosauce on it.
You can make pesto.
And you can make pesto out ofall kinds of things, not just
(25:52):
basil.
You can use fennel fronds,parsley, oh, kale stems.
I make pesto out of the stemsof the kale rather than tossing
those.
I also add some parsley to that.
Anyway, you can make pesto outof all kinds of things, so put
that on your pizza.
Pratata Pratata is great forusing up random roasted
vegetables.
(26:12):
So creativity solves a lot ofproblems.
Vai Kumar (26:15):
So, basically, you resort to cooking like grandma
did.
Right, so, and help make adifference, just to give
listeners some perspective.
There is proof that everyonedoing a little just adds up to
this bigger picture of thingsthat we are envisioning for our
planet, right?
So then, that just makes iteasier, instead of people going
(26:36):
into an eco-anxiety and thinking, oh, there's so much to do.
(26:40):
How are we even going to achieve this?
Vai Kumar (26:41):
So then, go about the whole house cutting.
Oh, I'm just throwing this,this, this out.
(26:46):
I'm just doing one thing after another, and because we just
have to, then it's not going tobe a sustained effort, right?
Vai Kumar (26:52):
So only if you just kind of start small, maybe
introduce that concept to yourfriends and neighbors and other
family members.
So, every small bit adds up andsay, if we were to look at some
benefits of even doing all ofthis, and Marie, what would you
say?
So we have, essentially, if wedo this, we cut our package
(27:12):
pools, so the benefit out ofthat, oh, well, that stuff is
not cheap, so it saves you time,but it's not.
AnnMarie Bonneau (27:22):
Some of it is expensive and it doesn't taste
as good.
Homemade tastes really good and, like I said, you don't have to
cook anything fancy.
I saved money.
I wish when I started this Ihad kept track of how much money
I've saved, but my goal when Istarted it all was oh, I just
want to stop using so muchplastic.
I didn't realize that I'd reapall of these other benefits, so
(27:44):
saving money, my food tastesbetter.
I'm healthier although thismorning I'm really stuffed up,
but I'm healthier and I alwaystell people results may vary, so
I'm not making any wild healthclaims.
But when I broke up withplastic, my diet really improved
.
I didn't eat a ton of highlyprocessed stuff, but now I don't
(28:04):
eat any and if I want a snack,rather than grabbing a box of
crackers or some other packagedjunk food, I'll eat an apple.
Yesterday I needed a littlesnack.
I had an apple, slices andpeanut butter and it was really
good and really simple and muchbetter than some processed thing
.
So, yeah, my health improved.
I started to eat a lot offermented food because I wanted
(28:27):
to make all of the things I hadalways baked bread.
Well, since my older daughterwas a baby, I started baking
bread using active dry yeast,which is delicious.
The bread's really good, but Iwanted to eliminate the packages
.
You know, those yeast comes inlittle pouches.
I started to make sourdoughbread, which is absolutely
delicious.
I mean that opened up a wholeworld and I started fermenting
(28:49):
other foods which are great foryour gut health, and your gut
health affects kind ofeverything.
It affects your overall health,your mood, your weight.
So many benefits.
I think I'm happier.
You know, I feel like I havemore of a purpose.
Vai Kumar (29:02):
Oh wonderful.
So right there, when weeliminate plastic, we
potentially cut out all theendocrine disruptors, the
hormone of disruptors, and thenyou have saved enough money by
not going to the grocery storefor the packaged stuff, which
are pricier because of the fancypackaging, and it can be made
more convenient for you right.
(29:22):
So everything is just processedand put together and so you
have saved cash right there.
Pretty much improved yourhealth overall because you're
staying away from processed food.
You are forced to kind of makeyour own from that standpoint.
You're cooking, fresh,Definitely there's more health
benefit to it than just eatingsomething that comes from a
(29:43):
plant.
Manufacture it at its own.
Eat what comes from a plant,but don't eat what comes from a
manufactured plant.
AnnMarie Bonneau (29:50):
Yeah, yeah, that's mycopolon.
Yeah, mycopolon says if it's aplant, eat it.
If it's made in a plant, don't.
Vai Kumar (29:58):
Yeah, right there we have that benefit as well.
And then the happiness inturning crash to trash is if you
were to call it that, oh yeah,because you are using every
single food's crap.
But then you're making like ameaningful soup and how happy
you are that you have donesomething which tastes so good
and you have not wasted any food.
(30:19):
So there's just immensesatisfaction.
Oh yeah, and that satisfactionand happiness in turn.
It just makes you more vibrant,it just promotes better health.
You just seem to have all of asudden more energy than you
would when you're happy, right,and then nurturing the creative
side, just like you point.
But you have to just thinkabout hey, okay, this is all I
(30:40):
have, instead of stocking up mypantry full of something
supplies because I want to stickto a menu.
It's fascinating.
You pointed out about thefermentation aspect.
So, fermentation we all knowpromotes beneficial bacteria.
And then good gut health iswhat 75 to 80% of our immune
system resides in the gut, theysay.
(31:02):
So no wonder all thefermentation certainly produced
the bacteria is definitelyhelpful.
(31:10):
So what are some?
Vai Kumar (31:11):
resources, you would point out for you to help
consumers to transition to, say,a plastic pre-lip some websites
or whatever that again.
Your book itself is a greatresource.
I would say zero wish.
So, start there, but other than, oh, thanks.
Other than that websites andthings like that.
AnnMarie Bonneau (31:29):
Well, when we started, we looked at Beth
Terry's website.
It's myplasticfreelifecom.
I think she's still writing it.
Even if she isn't, she hashundreds and hundreds of posts
and that's all about getting offof plastic.
So that was super helpful andwe've actually my daughter and I
have met her a couple of times,and so Beth's website is great.
(31:51):
The Plastic Pollution Coalitionthat's a great organization.
Break Free from Plastic that'sanother one.
So they have websites and lotsof resources and you can get
active with them if you want.
So you can sign petitions, andBreak Free from Plastic has
different events and things ifyou want to participate in those
(32:13):
.
They do the plastic audit everyyear to figure out which
company is responsible for themost pollution, and Coca-Cola
wins, I think, every year likewins.
They're the absolute worst.
And Nestle's terrible too.
Nestle, unilever Okay.
Vai Kumar (32:34):
How has fermentation become like such an integral
part of your routine?
What else do you do Like?
You make your own.
You use apple scraps to makeapple cider vinegar stuff like
that, so why don't you?
Walk us through some of theother things.
You do your own sourdoughstarter, so you bake your bread.
You bake your sourdoughcrackers, things like that.
(32:55):
So why don't you give listenerspointers on what all you do?
So it takes care of theirbreakfast, lunch, dinner and,
most importantly, snacks,because that's what people crave
for.
So some sample ideas, if youwant.
AnnMarie Bonneau (33:11):
Well, if you want to start fermenting, I
would say, start with sauerkraut.
It's really easy.
People call it the gatewayferment, and all you need is a
cabbage and salt.
You can add other stuff, youcan add shredded carrots, all
kinds of vegetables and spices,and that's a really easy ferment
(33:31):
.
You chop the cabbage, you saltit, you crush it with your hands
to release the liquid.
You let it rest for a littlewhile so more liquid pools in
the bowl that you're preparingit in, and then you pack it into
jars in its own liquid, you puta little weight or something on
top of it so that thevegetables are all submerged and
then the lactic acid bacteriaon the vegetables emit gases and
(33:55):
acids and you get thisdelicious tangy flavor, this
nice vinegary flavor, butthere's no vinegar in it and,
yeah, it's filled with goodbacteria and it's very
inexpensive to make yourself.
You can buy it also.
The real fermented sauerkrautis in the refrigerator section
at the grocery store.
The stuff in the middle aislesis highly pasteurized, which
(34:17):
kills the bad bacteria, but itkills the good bacteria.
Fermentation is very safe.
The bad bacteria can't survivein the acidic environment of a
batch of sauerkraut.
I would say sauerkraut or kimchi, which is very similar.
You just have to find the spice.
It's so good, it's addictive.
What else do I recommend?
(34:39):
I make drink.
I think of them more as a treat, though.
So kombucha and ginger beer.
I made watermelon rind pickleson the weekend or they do taste
like dill pickles, but they'remore like cucumbers.
Anyway, they're tasty.
That's with just a watermelonrind that ordinarily you would
throw out.
(34:59):
I made those this week andthey're quite tasty.
I'm making red wine vinegar.
It's so good you cannot buystore-bought wine vinegar after
you start making your own.
I mean, the homemade tastesreally good and you don't have
to use expensive wine, justcheap wine.
If you have a little bit ofleftover wine, just use that.
That's really good.
(35:20):
Oh, preserved lemons.
They add a ton of flavor todishes.
I like to chop up a little bit,along with some fermented hot
peppers and have that on theside of some doll or chana
masala or all kinds of savorydishes.
Those are some of the things Imade.
Vai Kumar (35:38):
Of course there's enough ideas on your blog,
zerowayschefcom, and there'salso way too many recipes in the
book.
Whatever we're talking abouthere, just trying to give
listeners some pointers here.
So few ideas for a zero-wastelifestyle and zero doesn't have
to mean zero, but kind of likeif you aim for something, then
(36:01):
at least you start to go towardsthat goal.
What would you say, are somestarting aspects?
Where can we do some squabs,say paper towels.
I use them in the kitchen.
So what can we swap for that?
What can we swap for, say, likea plastic container, a cup of
weather having news, and whatabout my cookware?
Things like that.
Few examples and pointers forlisteners.
(36:23):
So it's not a chore, it doesn'tseem like that.
But then it seems like okay,this is simple, I can make a
change to my lifestyle and thenI can do better for the
environment.
So just have it as an intentionright Not just get to that
number O zero and compare andoink about it.
AnnMarie Bonneau (36:42):
Oh yeah, I got it.
A lot of the time when I givetalks I'll get a question at the
end, but something like what doI do about my medication?
That's all in plastic.
Well, keep taking yourmedication, don't worry about
small things like that, and justworry about the big stuff, the
easy stuff.
Do the easy stuff.
For us, it was really easy toswitch to cloth produce bags.
(37:04):
That was a super simple swap.
I've been doing that now forwhat?
12 years I've been using clothproduce bags every week.
I take probably seven or eightto the farmer's market once a
week, so it adds up to a fewthousand plastic bags that I've
eliminated and I'm just onehousehold, so that is a really
(37:24):
easy one.
Keep the produce bags tucked inyour shopping bag so you always
have them.
If you drink bottled water,you're paying for tap water.
The bottled water has moremicroplastics in it than tap
water because it's packaged inplastic.
And if you're in an area like Imean right now in Maui, everyone
, I think, is drinking.
A lot of people are drinkingbottled water and brushing their
(37:48):
teeth in it, of course in anemergency, but most Americans
buy bottled water because theybelieve the marketing that it's
superior.
So cut bottled water.
Another simple one is to bringyour own cup to a cafe or sit
down, if they have real cups.
Sit down and have your drink.
Paper coffee cups are linedwith plastic.
(38:10):
Otherwise coffee or tea wouldleak and spill all over you.
So those are lined with plasticand you really do not want a
hot drink mixing with plastic.
It's just a terriblecombination.
Vai Kumar (38:23):
Yeah, just like you wouldn't eat plastic bottled
water in a hot pot.
Yeah, most people don't seem torealize that that's why we're
even bringing it out, because itteaches, and you?
Don't want to freeze in plasticeither.
Neither hot temperatures norcold temperatures are good for
plastic.
AnnMarie Bonneau (38:40):
I believe right.
Well, hot temperatures for sure, and I'm sure you're right
about the cold.
I didn't know that.
Vai Kumar (38:48):
No, I guess the freezer both ways.
I think it seemingly teachestoxins into the content.
So I guess that's why we don'twant to leave hot plastic
bottled water in a hot car,because the heat can just kind
of cause substances in theplastic to leach into the water,
and then you don't want to whenyou drink that water, possibly
(39:10):
your hormonal disruption, thingslike that.
That's when it starts to manage.
So grow up grocery bags insteadof using the plastic bags at
the store and, in fact, evensome reusable produce bags.
So we are not grabbing one bagfor carrots, one bag for my
beets, one bag for my cucumbers,one bag for my zucchini.
(39:33):
So right there four bags.
Vai Kumar (39:34):
And then if you're buying, say, eight produce items
that just keep eightrefrigerator bags, which
possibly you can just go put it,in your refrigerator as well.
So you're not having to justcome sort your groceries when
you come back home and thenyou're not having to dump that
plastic either.
So right there every week youcan sort the ocean from eight
(39:58):
less plastic bags, and thentimes how many of our listeners
are people out there in thisuniverse.
I think that's a big, big numberPaper towels.
I know you use reusable ragsand things like.
AnnMarie Bonneau (40:13):
Oh yeah, yeah, I just use rags.
I like to sew, so I like tomake things.
Not everybody is like me, sobuy the stuff.
But I had an old flannel sheetand I just cut it up into paper
towel sized pieces and Ifinished the edges.
That was years ago.
I did that and I still use them.
I just washed a couple the otherday.
(40:35):
When they get dirty, I washthem.
They take up very little spacein the washing machine and I
keep one in my bag, in my laptopbag, and when I'm out and I use
the public bathroom, I justpull it out and I dry my hands.
And if I spill something on mytable when I'm at a cafe, I just
pull it out and I wipe it upLike it's.
Having a little towel in yourbag is really handy.
(40:57):
I use them all the time.
More than a few people onsocial media have told me that
they stopped buying paper towelsand they were in charge of all
the shopping.
They stopped buying papertowels.
Their family grumbled a littlebit, but we're too lazy to go to
the store and buy more papertowels, and they all adjusted.
Vai Kumar (41:14):
Yeah, we use these reusable bamboo sheets.
I stopped buying paper towels,yeah, or at least I just
minimized certainly the amountof paper towel used in the
kitchen and in other places inthe house.
we just tried to go for thesebamboo reusable ones that I buy
on Amazon.
(41:34):
So I just am doing my smallpart to try and eliminate Not
that I've been able to cut itout 100%, but at least it's way,
way less than probably 70% lessconsumption of paper towels
than what we used to even like ayear and a half and you save
money.
AnnMarie Bonneau (41:53):
So the Swedish little dishcloths I bought my
mom, I think they're about $6each.
I'm not sure how much papertowels are, but she goes through
them like crazy and I'm sureshe spends way more than that in
a month on paper towels.
I know she's spending more than$6.
Vai Kumar (42:11):
Anyway, so To run through some quick, fun tips
it's tips for a healthierlifestyle and then or and or
turning trash to pressures.
In fact, speaking of trash topressures, like a lot of us tend
to throw away or give away usedclothing and do things like
that, we tend to throw them.
A friend recently turned some ofher child's clothes as a
(42:35):
memorabilia into I think she hadsomeone put together like a
blanket or like a quilt.
So that's a neat little idea ofturning something that you
would possibly throw away or nothave used for.
Making it like a circulareconomy sort of right, you know,
make it like reusable in ameaningful way.
So that's something that wasneat.
(42:55):
In terms of tips, why do wesoak nuts instead of having them
as?
AnnMarie Bonneau (43:00):
Well, yeah, if you soak nuts, I believe it
reduces phytate and so your bodycan absorb the nutrients more
readily.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So, um, that's some beans, yeah.
Vai Kumar (43:16):
Okay, so the same with beans then.
So why do we soaks, not be, youknow, or like maybe be, or
kidney bean, or chickpeas,before we cook?
AnnMarie Bonneau (43:27):
Well, I think.
I think it reduces phytates,but also I find they cook faster
.
So I'll soak my beans overnight, maybe right before bed or
first thing in the morning, andcook them later in the day.
I cook them in my pressurecooker.
They cook really quickly.
I don't have a fancy pressurecooker, but it's so fast.
(43:47):
I'm not sure why when I cook.
Yeah, I think the soaking also.
Vai Kumar (43:51):
You know, right from childhood we have always been
told that, yeah, one way itreduces gas as well.
And you soak it and then youpour out the power, whatever
that is.
You know, like you, just thesoap water.
You don't use that soap water,you just rinse them again, and
right there, you know.
You pointed out phytates aswell, so that's a good one.
So then you pressure cook itjust reduces your cooking time
(44:15):
as well and it's much moreflavor.
Oh, it tastes so good, yeah, sosoap beans are always the way
to go.
And minimizing clothing wasteand reuse we talked about that.
Find creative ways so youdirect happiness from doing it
as well.
And you know you can justcreate pressures from it because
certain synthetic fibers theyare again like contributing to
(44:36):
plastic.
So try to just make use ofnatural fibers as much as
possible and make sure that theycan be reused in a meaningful
way.
And nobody from your bookVeggie Broth and Apple Cider
Vinegar.
So if you can tell folks howyou make your Veggie Broth, what
is it that you use?
So I think that will also helpthem get an idea of, okay, how
(44:59):
can you minimize food waste,right?
AnnMarie Bonneau (45:02):
Yeah.
So when I am preppingvegetables throughout the week,
I save all the little ends andpeels and little bits and pieces
and I put them in the freezerand when I have enough of them I
simmer them in water, put thescraps in a pot and cover them,
pour in enough water just tocover and simmer for maybe 20
minutes and then strain them andI have this delicious broth.
(45:23):
I haven't bought broth in overa decade.
I put in a lot of onions, butnot a lot of onion skins,
because I find that makes itbitter.
But little onion bits, thelittle ends, celery, carrot,
bell pepper bits, you know.
Green and bean ends, right,asparagus, a small amounts of
herbs.
(45:43):
If you put in a lot of herbsthen that flavor will overpower
your broth.
Tomato cores makes reallydelicious broth.
You know what's in it.
I buy organic vegetables.
If they weren't organic I don'tknow if I'd want to use them.
There's this EWG orEnvironmental Working Group,
clean 15 and Dirty Dozen andit's a list of vegetables that
(46:06):
have the most produce residueand the least.
The Clean 15 have the least.
There's something high in thatlist and it's not organic.
I might not want to use that,those peels.
I might just compost them.
Corn cobs make delicious broth,okay.
Vai Kumar (46:19):
Yeah, really good.
So pretty much you save all ofthese.
So where are you at in terms ofhow much trash you accumulate
in a day or in a?
AnnMarie Bonneau (46:26):
week.
Oh, the compost bucket fills upevery few days.
I guess I don't ferment all mywatermelon peels so I already
have a lot of watermelon pickles.
So I composted that.
It's a small bucket and thentrash.
I mean very little.
I do drink milk, I like milk inmy tea, and it comes in glass
(46:48):
bottles but it does have aplastic lid.
There's a little strip I haveto pull off, so and that's waste
that goes in the trash, notvery much.
And then my kids.
I mean I can't, they're grownup now but yeah, when they're
home I mean I can't control them, although they're very good.
Mary Catherine Morrison, wasteManagement, she sees it all and
she says reducing is the onlyway We've got to reduce what
(47:12):
we're producing.
Vai Kumar (47:13):
Well, I think yeah.
Why don't you tell us moreabout your contacting for your
work and community initiatives?
AnnMarie Bonneau (47:21):
Yeah, so my website is zerowastechefcom.
I'm on Instagram and Facebook.
Yeah, I've got tons ofinformation and you can find out
more about my book on mywebsite.
Yeah, I have a group of friends.
We get together really sloweddown during COVID ground to a
hall, really almost.
We get together and we sewcloth produce bags and we hand
(47:43):
them out at the farmers marketand that gives people a way to
reduce their plastic at thefarmers market and it also
raises awareness and startsconversations about plastic
pollution.
So that's a lot of fun.
We've given away over, I think,about 3,500 produce bags so far
and the fabric is all donated.
We use natural fibers becausecloth and the washing machine if
(48:06):
it's synthetic, it shedsmicroplastics which end up in
our waterways.
We give those away and peoplelove them.
They get so excited when theytake their cloth bags and it
helps and it's fun.
We have a lot of fun, good.
Vai Kumar (48:20):
So that's like a great community initiative.
So the best way I guess to stopthis food waste is to consume
food as much as possible.
So, yeah, yeah, the best waysto consume food.
So in that case, you just, isthere something you want to
highlight here?
You just buy only the barestminimum that you want to buy it
right.
So is that like a good way tostop?
AnnMarie Bonneau (48:43):
Yeah well, in an ideal world we'd all shop
more frequently for smalleramounts of food, but most of us
can't do that.
I can only go to the farmersmarket once a week because it
runs just once a week.
You know, in some countriesit's almost every day, but not
here.
Try not to over buy.
The food that gets wasted themost is the perishable stuff,
(49:04):
the fresh produce.
A lot of us try to eat healthy,and so we might buy more of
that than we can actually eat.
But if you learn a few simplerecipes, you can.
You can rescue that food beforeit becomes waste.
Vai Kumar (49:17):
Yeah, and your book is definitely a great resource.
Thank you so much, anne Marie,for taking us through this
journey of going zero waste.
Although it's a process, I'msure it's achievable.
It's like striving for A plusalthough season decrease, too
right.
AnnMarie Bonneau (49:34):
Right, right, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, it's
just a goal.
It's just a goal and don'tstress out about it.
Vai Kumar (49:42):
Yeah.
So the message is to do everysmall change that we all
possibly can to try and do ourpart in saving our planet and
our environment.
So nice catching up with youhere on the show, and if there
is anything else that you wouldlike to add for the benefit of
listeners, be free to do so.
AnnMarie Bonneau (50:00):
Well, I would just say don't worry about being
perfect, just do your best,just do what we can.
If we all do what we can, itwill make a huge difference.
Vai Kumar (50:08):
Yeah, at the very minimum, we do all the
actionable items that Anne Marielaid out in terms of taking a
club shopping bag and trying toreuse as much as you can in
terms of the food produce and interms of the few squabs in the
kitchen, say, like the papertowels and things like that, to
begin, and then move on to yourparchment paper and your Ziploc
(50:30):
bag and things like that, right.
(50:32):
So one step at a time.
Vai Kumar (50:35):
And so a great conversation.
Very nice having you here withus on the show, and listeners,
as always, follow the podcast,rate the podcast and leave a
review from your podcast.
(50:46):
That book choice.
Vai Kumar (50:47):
Follow @vaipkumar on Instagram, and until next time,
with yet another interestingguest and yet another very
interesting topic.
It's me, Vai saying so long,thanks, Vai, thanks.
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