Green Talk

How many of us catch lunch or dinner when we can? Are you driving up to the drive-in window more than you like to due to a hectic job, children with multiple activities or caring for family members? Does the person at the other end of the microphone recognize your voice?

I find myself in this situation many times during the week. I know. Eating at fast food places is not the greenest or healthiest places to eat. Sometimes, it is just unavoidable. How can you possibly interject a little green into a fast food situation? Well, if there is a hamburger, there is a way.

Slowly over the years I started saving parts of the dinner or lunch packages since I realize how much I was contributing to the landfills. First, I started collecting straws. I would use them to mark where I planted my bulbs so I could figure out which ones did not grow. (See my picture of the straws in my beds.) My neighbor remarked the other day that my plants seemed to be sprouting early. I chuckled and told her that those were straws marking my plant bulbs.

Next, I started saving the paper bags. I would put them in my recycling bin. Afterwards, the plastic forks and knives started looking pretty good. I would rewash them and reuse them, and subsequently, I would never have to buy plastic utensils again. When you come to my house, as a guest, you will hear me say, “please do not throw out the plastic. I rewash them.” My party utensil holder reflects the new chic green colors of beige and white rather than the uniform color of all white utensils. Perhaps I will start a trend?

What about the napkins? Ever notice how many napkins you get in your bag? Enough to wipe your face ten times! I keep those too now in a drawer rather than throw them away with my meal. Dinner time now has an international theme of all the different shaped napkins and colors.

Last year, I was thinking of saving the foil that goes around the hamburger and chicken sandwiches to put around the base of my tomatoes. Aphids hide on the underside of your plants. They don’t like light. The aluminum foil will reflect the light upward so they would leave. Has anyone tried this trick?

The worse offender has to be the plastic containers. I am a salad eater. You always get a plastic bowl and plastic top. Obviously, you could save them and reuse them for leftover foods, except all the new reports are scaring me to death about using plastic to store my food. Instead of figuring out if this plastic is okay, in my hurry I was just throwing it out.

Since I have been gardening, I started looking at the plastic containers in a new light. How can I reuse those containers? First, I started cutting out the tops to use around my plants to supposedly stop cut worms from harming my plants. I thought it would stop the white moths from laying their eggs all over my broccoli. Well, the moths laughed at my funny idea, and sprinkled anyways.

I was planting my seeds and I noticed how well they germinated with the plastic cover on. My own little greenhouse! Once the seedlings sprouted I would take the cover off.

I only have one large seedling tray. When I tried to grow more seedlings and cover the tray part way, the seeds did not germinate as quickly. I could not create the same effect with a partially covered tray.

The other day, the Thomas Edison light bulb came on. I looked at my plastic salad bowls that I had been saving and thought, instant terrarium! The bowls were shallow and my seedlings holders could easily fit in there. Plus, I could put in a little water too to create my 7th grade science project. I was very excited. (It does not take much…)

The leftover Chinese containers work great too. The added benefit is they are small enough to fit on a window sill.

So, how is my little science project going? My lettuce has started sprouting. I am still waiting for my snap dragons to sprout as well.

So, how have you reused your fast food containers? Any suggestions on the chicken nugget containers?

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