RECYCLING KITCHEN TIPS
On my terrace, I have a 50-liter plastic drum which I top regularly with water for our plants. Next to it, 2 used 18kg paint drums. All are exposed to the sun.
In our kitchen, next to the sink, we have two 2-liter plastic containers each, which are emptied regularly. One with organic (food) waste, the other with ordinary kitchen (packaging) waste. They are both used takeaway containers.
As a 68 male vegetarian, cooking is a distracting pastime for me like reading, writing, or gardening. It’s a good opportunity for me to follow the instructive documentaries I download from YT during the week. I usually make sure all my ingredients are ready on the countertop next to my sink prior to starting. I 1st prepare a large plastic salad bowl with a little white vinegar and salt in which I soak all the vegetables. My cereals/grains soaked overnight, are usually rinsed and ready to jump into their cooking pot. Normally, they swell by the following morning and need to be topped with more water. I place them on the fire to boil and as they do so, I remove the froth that foams at the top in a small receptacle. Great minerals for my plants. When through with my cooking, these liquids are emptied into the 1st large drum on the terrace.
I block my kitchen sink with its strainer, as I carefully pick and chop my vegetables. All the waste is scooped and placed in the organic plastic container by the sink which is eventually emptied into the 2nd terrace drum. The packages' waste which is voluminous is emptied into the 3rd terrace drum.
Back to the kitchen to complete my cooking. I start by frying my base ingredients which provide the flavor and consistency to my stew. By now, my beans are half-cooked. I gradually pour and stir the base into the boiling beans, consolidating it all into a thick “broth”.
While waiting for my stew to get ready, I take a coffee break on the terrace. In the plastic drum with the organic waste, I sprinkle a bowl of soil and add a bowl from the waste liquid drum, which speeds up the fermentation process and drowns the smell of the onion peels.
I isolate the 3rd steel drum and burn the packaging waste to ashes as I supervise it with a large pail of water ready to quench any residual fire, and its cover ready to cover it and control the flames. One can never underestimate the havoc a sudden breeze may create.
I now have all the ingredients for my potting plants. If you are fortunate to have a garden patch, I strongly recommend that you dig a hole in a distant corner of your garden to burn and bury all your waste. Not only is it safer, but it will ferment faster, and extract more ingredients and microorganisms from the soil as it nourishes your garden.
The organic ingredients in the soil, provide oxygen gaps for the roots to breathe and extend rapidly. The burnt ashes add their nourishment compounded with all the minerals from the waste vegetables and fruits. They all add organic nourishment to the soil and plants, yet eliminate their voluminous impact on the overall environment.
The waste from my coffee percolator is incorporated into my organic waste.
The upcycled egg crates are ideal to place at the bottom of plant troughs as the soil is added and they integrate with the soil over time.
Mind you, I have preserved all the nutrients through my cooking method, giving myself less washing to do by using the same soaking receptacles (pots) to cook, or (bowls) to serve — simply by rinsing them.
After washing the gadgets and accessories used, and cleaning and arranging my kitchen, I wipe all the counters and rinse my sink with my special concoction containing an organic mixture of mixed citrus peels/rinds, sun-dried and boiled with spearmint from my garden, and a little white vinegar (or alcohol).
I now bring out one of my 2 air freshener concoctions of spearmint oil or eucalyptus oil. They are diluted with a few drops of alcohol and poured into small receptacles filled with coarse salt. When the scents vanish into thin air, I mix them with ordinary detergent for wiping the floor. They leave a refreshing scent in the air. I have never seen an insect in our kitchen.
If you have any ideas/tips you would like to share with a larger audience, do not hesitate to send me an email. I regularly update my articles. I’ll be glad to include them and attribute them to you specifically. Thank you!
Sammy RNAJ — sammy.rnaj.writer@gmail.com — WhatsApp +96170499352
