Cooking with Less Waste

Over the holiday weekend I did a lot of cooking with my family. Like many families, our Christmas traditions revolve around food. There is cookie decorating, the Christmas morning quiche, the elaborate bloody marys, and when we're finished opening presents and eating brunch, its already time to begin preparing the Christmas dinner feast! Luckily, my family is totally behind me in this whole "going green" mentality, so our quiche was made with organic, cage-free eggs, and we had many vegetarian side-dishes to choose from. But our new green Christmas tradition is composting!

Up in the 'burbs, we have a big woodsy yard, so this summer my parents decided to start a compost pile behind our house. The whole process is surprisingly easy. We keep a small bowl in the kitchen where we toss coffee grounds, egg shells, and fruit/vegetable scraps. At the end of each day, one of us empties the bowl into a larger, air-tight container in the garage. (Like the one pictured below). When this container is full, its slowly biodegrading contents are put on the compost pile in the yard. The decomposition process is slower in the winter, but in the warmer weather we will begin turning the pile. And eventually, we will have nice rich soil to use in our vegetable garden!

image courtesy of crafts.kaboose.com