eco tip

Sustainable Kitchen

Advice for Buying and Storing Food

As we awaken to the climate crisis, we are called to participate in its solutions. In addition to frequenting farmers’ markets, much can be done at the grocery store and in the kitchen. By adopting these easy practices incrementally, we’ll be living zero-waste lifestyles before we know it.

AT THE GROCERY STORE

Food waste is environmentally problematic, producing a significant amount of greenhouse gases. Before entering the grocery store, plan meals for the week and build a shopping list to prevent overbuying.

Buy staples like nuts, beans, flours, grains, dried fruit and chocolate chips in bulk, carrying them home in reusable cotton sacks that can be purchased from artisans on Etsy.com. Some grocery stores offer paper bags in the bulk aisle; choose these over plastic and save them for subsequent uses.

Many of us have stopped drinking bottled water to ditch single-use plastics. Consider expanding that effort by forgoing packaged products that can be made easily from scratch, including salad dressings, breads, hummus, nut milks, nut butters, jams, tortilla chips and granola.

Some food companies employ eco-friendly packaging, setting an example for the rest of the industry. Read labels not just for ingredients, but for packaging practices, too. For example, look for shelf-stable dried goods packaged in recycled cardboard boxes printed with vegetable-based inks. While loose tea is the most sustainable choice, we can also opt for compostable tea bag brands that don’t use strings, staples or individual wrappers.

IN THE KITCHEN

One of the most elegant and traditional storage solutions is the Mason jar. It’s an inexpensive, reusable, versatile option, not just for canning and preserving foods, but also for storing bulk pantry items or refrigerated leftovers.

While paper towels and napkins may be biodegradable, an Earth-friendlier choice is reusable washcloths and fabric napkins that are easily washed in the laundry. Avoid ones that come in plastic wrapping. Darker colors will hide stains better, but if they help save the planet, embrace the stains.

Several options exist to avoid plastic wrap and disposable plastic containers, including reusable silicone freezer bags, beeswax wraps, glass spray bottles and stainless steel canisters. Keep and reuse grocery store jars. Soaking them to remove the labels is easy.

A bristled, wooden dish brush is preferable to petroleum-based disposable sponges that come wrapped in plastic. They last longer, don’t produce as much bacteria and are capable scrubbers. Use bar soap to avoid plastic dishwashing liquid containers.

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LAUGHING HEARTS YOGA & MOVEMENT

Where Movement and Laughter Are Medicine

by Cheryl Natusch

My personal life journey has been a series of giant mountains to be scaled and conquered. It feels as if everything I’ve set out to do has had to be a struggle to get to the summit. Once there, I feel immense gratitude for all the effort put forth to get there. The same goes for my professional life. Laughing Hearts Yoga & Movement has been a dream of mine for over 10 years. During this period, I have been working in South Jersey providing personal training, teaching yoga, conducting workshops and getting my name spread around doing what I love to do. The dream of building my own studio finally became reality in 2020 when I received the keys to my physical location, one week before the pandemic shutdown. Of course, I expected that this huge dream of mine would also have to manifest itself into existence through challenge and hardship. I honestly wouldn’t have it any other way because when things are easy, they lack grit, heart and soul. For the three months when everything was shut down due to COVID-19, I built Laughing Hearts with my own two hands, by myself. Every single day I showed up, worked and envisioned the beautiful souls that would fill the space once I had completed it and we were allowed to open again. The vision was always to build a place where everyone, no matter who they are and what they are about, could come enjoy movement and community. Most importantly, I wanted to build the community. Despite my degrees in exercise science, and my passion for fitness, I’ve never fit the mold of the average fitness trainer. I have personally never felt like I’ve fit in anywhere, especially not in the fitness world. My business dream was to create something that allowed others that felt like me to have a safe place to come and move without feeling pressured to be something they don’t want to be or feel intimidated by others and have a sense of belonging. The vision I have for my community space has slowly unfolded into something bigger from what I originally dreamed. We are four walls rich with love, laughter and closeness. We are a sacred container filled with some of the best human beings one could ever hope to have included in their inner circle. Each class and group training session is a belly laughing good time; the students and clients getting stronger and healthier from the inside out each week. In these uncertain times, the most important component of good health is surrounding yourself with support and good people. Exercise is just one element to a healthy life— it’s nothing without cultivating spirit, taking care of your emotional and mental health and feeling like you belong somewhere. I’m so proud to stand in the space and say that we have that and so much more.

For more information, including the class schedule and to register, visit LaughingHeartsYoga.com.

Cheryl Natusch is a certified fitness trainer and owner of Laughing Hearts Yoga & Movement at 912 W. Kings Hwy., Haddon Heights, NJ.

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