There are certain things that are higher on my priority list to get to a more sustainable lifestyle. For now, this is getting rid of plastic packaging as much as possible and finding out what to do with my organic waste.
Organic waste
I have to admit that I am a bit bewildered that the city I am living in now does not offer organic waste collection. Apparently, this is as there were not enough people making use of such a service. Hence, they stopped it in most districts. It is hard to find information about other possibilities. The information provided by the municipality is not very clear. I could find out that there are community gardens that take organic waste to make compost. I also found that organic waste can be brought to some recycling center. Though, that would require me to go by car, which I would like to limit. Moreover, I was not sure about the correctness of this information. I also could not find out where the closest community garden is. I asked around in some Facebook groups. There I was provided with the info needed. I then wrote the head of the community garden in my area if the info on their webpage is still up to date and when I could bring my waste. I got a quick reply. The garden is 6 minutes by bike. So that issue is mostly solved. The only issue left is how do I bring my waste there. I have no container in which I can collect the waste. If I take a cooking pot, I cannot transport it with my bike. So now I think about buying a metal container with a handle. I found one on Amazon. Though, I should cut back buying with these big online platforms. I found an alternative with a smaller shop. I think I will buy this alternative. It is a metal pot with a handle. Still not sure if that will allow me transporting my waste by bike. I "only" have bags on the sides of the carrier. They hold quite some volume, but this volume has a specific shape. So, I may just go to the shop and see if it could fit into these bags.
Plastic free groceries
The regular plastic packaging that I have mostly stems from salad packaging, oats, nuts, dried fruits, rice and dried legumes. Thus, I searched for a shop where I can buy dry food in bulk. What I first found were large import export companies. Since I am not going to buy 25 kg of oats, I had to continue searching. In the end I found a store that delivers up to 1kg. I now ordered the basic ingredients for my breakfast (oats, nuts, currants) to test this shop. The shop is not super close, but still within the same country. If I find a more regional alternative I might switch. Given the fact that all in this shop is organic, prices are very good. Thus, shopping like this really pays off. Particularly nuts are rather expensive. So, buying in bulk is cost saving.
One day after my order I was contacted by the shop, telling me that they only deliver within the city they are located in. They asked me if I still want the products delivered to my address, if it costs 8€ additionally. I agreed. So that is not great. If I will continue buying from them, I have to buy larger quantities to make it cost efficient. I heard that there will be another zero waste shop opening in a town close by. Though, it is still too far to go by bike.
I still have to find a place where I can buy my greens without packaging. I honestly do not understand why fruits and vegetable are packaged in plastic. But it is as it is, right. There is a farmers' market in the city where I can buy organic mostly locally grown veggies and fruit. Though, it is only open on Wednesday. I am a food prepper. Thus, I cook my lunch for almost the whole working week on Sunday. I love doing this. This takes all the planning out of my head and I have a good meal every day with almost no effort. It is a bit repetitive as I may eat the same thing 5 days in a row. But honestly, I do not care. I mean it is usually delicious food, so I am happy to eat it every day. Anyhow. If I can only buy on Wednesdays, I cannot prep my food on Sunday. Thus, this does not work. I figured after another long search that there is one organic fruit and vegetable basket provider. I sent them a mail with my questions regarding deliver days. I hope it will work. I am not yet convinced if a basket is the right thing for a food prepper. I think a basket provides too much variety. I do not want to spend all Sunday cooking 3 different meals. As weird as this may sound, but in that case, variety is not a good thing. But maybe I can adapt. Honestly, I also like to see the fresh food I buy. So, this also gives me a bit of a headache. I enjoy being in the supermarket in the veggie area, looking at what they have and what I could make out of it. Sometimes I plan what veggies I will buy, but often I decide on the spot. This is as seasons change and thus the offer changes. Now the supermarket offers rhubarb, of course I have to buy it. I will make them together with fried apples and nuts (maybe some currants), rice, coconut cream, vanilla and cinnamon. One can eat that a couple of days in a row, right? While I also buy food that is not in season and is thus imported, I do try to follow the seasonal changes. Because this is pure joy!
Recap
I have to say that it is much work to figure things out. Most people will not put time and energy into this. For me it is a priority and thus I do it. Politicians cannot expect consumers to make the right choices, if one has to invest that much. The law of demand and supply does not hold here. Or at least it works way too slow. I had a conversation with my mom the other day about this. She stated that if enough people demand from a supermarket to offer certain products, they will supply it at some point. But who is going to tell supermarkets what they want to see in the shelves? Some do, but most don't. Generally, most people do not seem to care. Otherwise, why is not enough organic waste provided by citizens in the town I live in now? It seems that people do not separate their waste. Or people are not eating enough greens. Both is worrying.
