Student Guide to Sustainable Living
Authors, design & photos Alexandra Lamp Chantal Brugge Youri Haak Special thanks Maddy Vollebregt Anniek Kortleve Published by GreenTU Delft January 2021
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Welcome to our guide about sustainability! This is the third edition of a book series for students like you to guide you to a greener lifestyle. This practical guide introduces tips and tricks for affordable sustainability at home. These books are developed in collaboration with GreenTU. They are run by students with help from the university and aim to improve the sustainability of both the academic curriculum and operations at the university. Treat this book as a journal and have fun! Alex, Chantal & Youri
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Such a Waste Did you know that about one third of the food produced globally is lost or wasted? This is equal to roughly 1.3 billion tonnes of food waste annually - a huge amount! When this food is wasted, the energy, materials, chemicals, and land-use that was required to produce it are also wasted. We’ve already discussed some easy ways to decrease food waste (and save money!), like meal planning and saving leftovers. Reusing food waste and responsible disposal are also good habits to practice, because when food decomposes it releases methane, a greenhouse gas even more harmful than carbon dioxide.
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Waste is known to be unwanted or unusable material but there are many ways to reuse waste - waste can be a resource, if you give it a second life. In this part we will show you how to turn food waste into useful resources, such as new plants, fertiliser and even skincare.
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While making your food, you will always have scraps and waste. This doesn’t have to be a bad thing! Did you know you can regrow a lot of your vegetables with your food “waste”? From now on, potato peels won’t be trash to you anymore, but the opportunity for new ones! You can regrow most veggies right in the soil, by putting them in water, or by using their seeds. Whichever method is best depends on the plant.
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Reusing Foodwaste Did you forget about those potatoes in the pantry? Have they grown legs? Plant your potatoes in a free draining soil mixture and mix in some fertilizer (coffee grounds, anyone?). If you’re planting outside, be sure to do so after all danger of frost has passed. Fill the container 10 cm deep with moistened medium. Cut the seed potatoes into 5 cm chunks that have several eyes on them. Plant the chunks 10-15 cm apart and cover them with 7 cm of moist soil. Cover potatoes with more soil after they grow 18 cm and continue to cover the small plants, until you reach the top of the bag. The potatoes should be kept well watered, but not soggy. Harvest the new potatoes after the plants flower and turn yellow. You can also remove new potatoes before flowering. Once the stems turn yellow, stop watering and wait a week before harvesting.
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Regrowing cutoffs For vegetable cutoffs like carrot tops, celery bottoms and onion ends you can place the pieces in a dish, in shallow water. Make sure to put the dish in a bright place and also take care to change the water at least once a week to keep it fresh.
Once your cutoffs have grown some sizable new sprouts, you can transfer them into soil. Vegetables typically require moist soil and shouldn’t be left to dry out completely in between being watered. Celery and onion grow quite quickly and you can harvest the sprouts, or wait for them to grow a full new vegetable. Be aware that you cannot regrow new carrots from cutoffs, but the greens can be used just like parsley or in salads.
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Herbs Did you know you can also regrow a lot of herbs like basil, cilantro, parsley and mint? You can snip a stem off the plant, which has to be about 5 - 10 cm lengthwise and just below the leaf node (where the leaves begin to grow). Remove the lower leaves to use in your recipe, but keep the top intact. Place the stem in a glass of water on a windowsill that receives plenty of light. Once the roots have grown in, transfer the plant to a pot with soil and continue to water as necessary. Mint develops runners, which makes it spread quickly throughout a garden. To avoid having your plant patch overrun, grow it in individual pots.
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Seeds
There are some seeds, which will not bear fruit, but many that will. It is important to use nonhybridized varieties. Hybridized means the seeds were produced so that their first generation will bear fruit. However, if you save seeds from that generation and plant them, they will not yield good produce. Look for ‘heirloom’ fruits and vegetables, if you plan to use the seeds.
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Avocado pits You won’t get any fruit from this avocado tree, but you’ll have a new house plant. First wash and dry the pit. Then, locate the bottom of the pit, this is the end that should sit in the water. Now fill a jar with water and insert three toothpicks into the pit. Similar to sprouting onions, suspend the pit in the water. Place the jar in a well lit area, but not in direct sunlight!
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The water needs to be replenished each week and roots and a stem should sprout within 2 - 6 weeks time. When the roots have grown thick and the stem has leaves, you can plant it in a pot, but make sure you leave half the seed exposed above the soil! Paprika seeds Viable seeds come from fully ripe paprika, which are usually just past the preferred eating stage. Paprikas require warm temperatures to sprout successfully, so it’s best to start them indoors about seven weeks before the last expected frost in your area. Sow the seeds about ½ cm deep in a moist potting mixture. Mist the potting mix with water daily so it stays moist. You can also seal the pots in plastic bags so they don’t dry out. Peppers typically require 14 days to germinate, but they may take as many as 7 to 21 days to sprout.
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No plants, still useful Since all the given examples need to be planted in the soil at some point, plant starters are useful. However, these often don’t come cheap at your local garden centre. Did you know you can easily make them yourself out of toilet rolls? 1. Fold the roll in half one way and then fold it in half the other way, to make a square. 2. Cut the roll in half. 3. Cut the flaps, which will be used to make a bottom. Fold the roll in half one way and make a cut, then fold the roll in half the other way and make another cut. You should have 4 cuts in total on the bottom of each roll. 4. Now fold in the flaps to make the bottom. Then you can add soil and plant your seeds or plant. Did you know you can also use half an eggshell as a plant starter?
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Your food wastes aslo makes great fertiliser. Breakfast may consist of coffee with scrambled eggs, but did you know you can also make a nice meal for your plants with the residue of this breakfast? Next time you drink coffee and eat eggs, save the coffee grounds and the cracked eggshells. The eggshells can provide calcium and potassium, as well as very small amounts of phosphorus, magnesium and sodium to your plants. The coffee grounds are good for the soil structure and are nitrogen-rich. To use them as a fertilizer, grind the eggshells, mix them with the coffee grounds and other organic matter like compost or dried leaves. Keep in mind that coffee grounds can attract flies, so use them with care!
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Other solutions Coffee skincare If you’re like most Dutchies, you have coffee every day and that means lots of coffee grounds. Maybe after your morning coffee you migh want to practise some self-care. Coffee grounds can be used to make a face mask and body scrub. Combine 2 spoonfuls each of coffee grounds and olive oil (or any oil of your choice). Simply mix them in a container. This mixture won’t keep for long, so you’ll want to use it the same day.
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Stale bread Stale bread can be revived with a sprinkle of water and a few minutes in the oven. If your bread is past the point of no return, it can be used in other recipes. Turn it into bread crumbs using a blender, food processor, or cheese grater. You can easily make some croutons by dicing your old bread and frying it quickly in olive oil. To avoid stale bread in the first place, store it in the freezer and then toast it when you need it. There’s more! We’ve covered a lot of ground, but there’s even more to do with your food waste. If you ever have materials that you don’t know what to do with, do a quick internet search. Food waste connoisseurs have come up with creative ideas to get the max out of their food resources.
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