949 West 49th Ave, Vancouver, BC V5Z 2T1 Office: 604-261-7204
Category: Zero Waste
We are a group of a dozen or so Unitarians and friends who like to share our enthusiasm for reducing waste. We’re very open to your suggestions and support.
An invitation from Metro Vancouver Unitarian Zero Waste Group:
Are you hungry for deeper dialogue about the climate crisis and building community around solutions?
This question opens the description of the small-group discussion program Circles, based on the 2021 anthology All We Can Save. Find out more about the online resources and format of the series here:
Join Unitarians and friends from congregations near and far in a Zoom series of ten conversations. We’ll keep the group sizes small for optimum participation.
For a sample of the thinking behind the program, watch this 2022 TED talk by co-author Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson:
Believing in the true spirit of Christmas, I commit myself to…
* Remember those people who truly need my gifts
* Express my love in more direct ways than gifts
* Examine my holiday activities in the light of my deepest values
* Be a peacemaker within my circle of family and friends
* Rededicate myself to my spiritual growth
Laura Trotta: “Every time we throw food in the bin we’re not just wasting our money. We’re discarding the vast amounts of resources, energy and water that it took to produce, process, store, refrigerate, transport and cook the food.
As we move through the December Solstice and into the New Year… let’s remember to reduce food waste and to include vegan and vegetarian dishes in our Winter season feasting.
In the photos above, we find a group of friends engaging in an ancient (even timeless) human activity …foraging for wild mushrooms. They’re members of the Vancouver chapter of the Slow Food movement, and they’re foraging for mushrooms in a forest near Maple Ridge.
You might ask: What is Slow Food? And what does it have to do with climate action and reducing food waste?
At a personal level, this includes buying local and seasonal foods, throwing away less food, eating out less, eating less, purchasing food that’s been fairly and sustainably produced … and eating at least once a week with someone you love. … Commendable choices and more so during the Winter festive season.
Slow Food calls for tackling the climate crisis through the adoption of environmentally-friendly practices, at all stages along the food supply chain, following a seed-to-landfill trajectory.
The roots of the Slow Food movement are found in Italy, when Carlo Petrini and a group of activists came together in the 1980s to “defend regional traditions, good food, gastronomic pleasure and a slow pace of life.”
Petrini a centre-left journalist and food critic who wrote for Communist daily newspapers came to prominence, in 1986, as the leader of a protest in Rome against the opening of the first McDonald’s in Italy.
Petrini and his friends brought gastronomy and the weight of Italian food and wine culture to the front line in the battle against fast food and industrialized food production.
The international Slow Food movement was launched, in 1989, when delegates from 15 countries gathered in Paris to sign the Slow Food Manifesto.
The movement has since evolved and spread (mushroomed so-to-speak) to more than 160 countries.
The mission of Slow Food includes defending local food traditions, promoting artisanal foods and preserving food biodiversity.
The People’s Ecochallenge is a 21-day challenge to take action for a better shared future. From October 5 – October 26, you commit to trying and doing new things. Fun actions encourage new habits. Small steps lead to big change. Together, we build a sustainable world and a healthy planet.
The People’s Ecochallenge gamifies behaviour change and makes your impacts measurable! Think about and act on proven soutions through 100+ actions across nine categories.
Ecochallenge is free to join and everyone is welcome. Join our BC Unitarians team.
A quick audit check confirmed that only masks were in the box and not other garbage
ZW at UCV Blog Post 1 –
Recycling Masks and Creating Good Compost
If you haven’t yet noticed, it but thanks to Karen Bartlett and Yvonne Marcus, we have a box where you can deposit used face masks. And yes, you can bring ones from home and add them. We’ve already filled one box and with congregational administrator, Casey’s, support, Karen is prepared to continue donating the cost and organizing getting a new box when one is full. It’s just inside Hewett Hall.
Karen says, “Thank you to Casey for being the point person to pass along the information when the box was ¾ full, giving us time to organize the new box.
Also thanks to everyone who is using the box. A quick audit check confirmed that only masks were in the box and not other garbage.”
You Can Do It! We Can Help!
Karen (and the ZW team) want to share this as a good example that anyone at UCV can take on a small project and “make it so.”
Here are some quotes found by googling “zero waste quotations” that were read at the start of our meeting. The theme is “just do it”! Or as Home Hardware says: You can do it. We can help
The world is changed by your example not by your opinion.
To do good you actually have to do something.
Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without.
Waste is a design flaw.
If you have an idea related to zero waste and want to know how to go about it and who you might need to check in with, we’d be *very* happy to lend support!
It looks a little gross, but I guarantee that the red wriggler worms will appreciate this soup!
Compost bins. We’re about to enter “peak dry leaves” season when our stalwart gardeners rake up the barrels and barrels full of leaves. As well as the bins for organic waste that go to the city, we have 6 round black bins with some hardy red wriggler worms in them that can, with a little help, create “black gold” compost for our gardens. Mary Bennett has been chief compost enthusiast and worker, but got behind during the time we weren’t regularly meeting in person. We need your help to get the red wrigglers healthy and working again, and the key thing is they need some food (vegetable and fruit scraps especially, although they seem to love their coffee!) and, even more importantly, water.
Our team are all going to take turns taking out the green counter top bin in Hewett Centre on Sundays. A quick way to add moisture, is to fill it 2/3 or so full with water before taking out. (Full might make it difficult to walk easily without spilling). As well, we’re going to make a concerted effort over next month or two (before the damp weather returns) to regularly fill one of the tall white containers near Hitschmanova entrance with water and add to the bins.
Right now it’s very dry, so if you can help, you’ll find you’ll need to pour in slowly or add 1/4 of a bucketful to each of 4 bins. You can do this any time you’re on site.
No meat or bones, but the red wrigglers are ok with napkins, coffee filters, (most) tea bags.
(Speaking of which, let’s not use the silky ones, ok?)
The black round bins are on the Fremlin (east) side adjacent to the lane. There’s one right near the city waste bins as well.
Cathy and Rosemary added some water to all the bins. (But they still need more. Please help. The worms, and the earth, will thank you.)Mary ready to dump the bin from the office, having added water to help provide a drink to our thirsty red wriggler worms.Step 2 – just dump in. If you had some fruit and vegetable waste and are able to add some of the dried leaves around the bins to cover that will help keep rodent-activity down.
More information about our Zero Waste (part of Enviro Team) Circle can be found here.
On July 3, 2022, the UCV environment team (Zero Waste group) met at the Unitarian Centre of Vancouver where over 10 people met in person and took in a varied Zoom Eco mini-conference with the input of other Unitarian Congregations, Beacon, North Shore and South Fraser.
Vancouver Unitarian Mary Bennett was moderator and time-keeper and did a very eloquent Chalice lighting with reading from Joanna Macy’s book Active hope.
The theme was Plastic Free July – Ecochallenge.
From the South Fraser Unitarian Congregation Donelda Henderson spoke about vegetable gardening and community food sharing; Dianne Dilts discussed how she makes yogurt and avoids plastic yogurt containers by using her own glass containers.
From the North Shore Unitarians, Shelley Hrdlitschka discussed the use of laundry strips while Shelley discussed compostable containers used by farmers. Barbara Kroon gave a very informative chat about home cleaning products and information about cornstarch containers.
And of course, getting to the source of where we buy products, the grocery store is an area where a lot of lobbying has to take place. So, to lead that discussion Teresa Morton from Beacon Unitarian Church shared a success story about Canadian Plastics Pact and the UN Plastics Pollution Treaty.
Towards the end of the event Vivian entertained a few questions about Reusable, single-use containers and cups as her video (link) was shared to those who RSVP’d to the meeting so they could formulate ideas and any questions they had. Several people in person and on Zoom shared how they take actions every day to reduce their reliance on single-use plastic items like taking their reusable mugs to cafes and bags to the grocery store.
Mary Bennett rounded up the event by sharing her use of ‘pee wipes’ and how it is much easier and user-friendly once one gets over the ‘oddity’ of it. It was mentioned by an in-person attendee that toilet paper is used mostly in Western countries but Asia and other parts of the world do not rely on it.
Other issues were discussed in conversations including eating insects as a sustainable protein source; reducing one’s transporting foot print by commuting, biking and ride-sharing; being involved with community gardening and more ‘connected to nature’ and very importantly, making sure to encourage friends and family as much as possible by sharing tips, updates and one’s own habits to remind others that change is not hard and often simple solution go a long way to making our world more sustainable.
We’re starting a short, monthly, check-in and sharing of successes and challenges. Join us on the 3rd Sunday at 12:30 pm or fill out this form to suggest other ideas: https://ucv.im/Zero-waste-form
Zero Waste Circle
a monthly, fairly social, definitely supportive zero waste circle check-in. We usually meet in the Family Room and most people bring their lunch to munch as we share.
We *might* come up with initiatives but it would be mainly those of us wanting to share successes, ask for support and ideas to meet each other and learn more about reducing waste.
Plan for each session
opening reading
check in – less than 1 minute – introduce yourself with a “success” (even an ongoing success – e.g. I’m still getting to London Drugs regularly to recycle all my plastic bags or I’m still paying attention to food waste and improving in that regard.)
2nd round – something you’ve been struggling with and would like feedback from others.
UCV Action Planning and/or Education/sharing: A focus on an educational piece by one of the members.
Summarize action decisions
closing: reminder of future meetings and events
Leadership roles of facilitation, zoom hosting, note-taking if needed will be rotated.
It might even be a “gateway drug” towards more involvement with UCV in general and Enviro team in particular.
It’s a beautiful idea to remind ourselves in December to feel gratitude for our food, and to be aware of food waste and the impact this has on our planet
Come join the Metro Vancouver Unitarian Food Ecochallenge in December by changing your habits and reducing food waste. Check-in to see how we’re lowering food waste during the challenge
*If you missed the start date, you can join any time. Just sign up below, or
eMail unitarianmary@gmail.com to connect with the Zero Waste Team
The UCV Zero Waste team proposes December as a “love food / hate waste” month for Unitarians and friends, to set food-related goals and foster mutual support during a time of traditional feasting.
Our Zero Waste Team has for many years — indeed before “zero waste” was used as a term — coordinated an event to encourage people to resist the pull towards consumerism and waste during December.
We all need support when society pushes us towards purchases and activities that aren’t in alignment with our values.
Sunday, January 9, 2021, 1pm – Join Mary for the Ecochallenge Wrap‑Up on Zoom at ucv.im/coffee
Sunday, November 28, 2020, 1pm – Join Mary on Zoom at ucv.im/coffee to learn about setting goals related to food waste during December through the Drawdown Ecochallenge. The People’s Ecochallenge is a great platform to support us in setting goals and developing new habits.
Here are some of the food-related goals suggested in the Drawdown challenge
*The first three challenges are suggested for everyone who joins
1
KEEP TRACK OF WASTED FOOD I will keep a daily log of food I throw away during Drawdown Ecochallenge because it went bad before I ate it, I put too much on my plate, or it was scraps from food prep
2
REDUCE ANIMAL PRODUCTS I will enjoy _____ meatless or vegan meal(s) each day of the challenge
3
LEARN THE TRUTH ABOUT EXPIRATION DATES I will spend at least _____ minutes learning how to differentiate between sell by, use by, and best by dates
SMALLER PORTIONS I will use smaller plates and/or serve smaller portions when dishing out food
SUPPORT LOCAL FOOD SYSTEMS I will source _____ percent of my food from local producers each day. This could include signing up for a local CSA, buying from a farmers market, visiting a food co‑op, foraging with a local group, or growing my own ingredients
PRACTICE THE 5 Rs I will practice the 5 Rs — Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Repurpose and Recycle — to reduce my waste more than I can with just recycling alone
SMART SEAFOOD CHOICES I will visit seafoodwatch.org or download the app and commit to making better seafood choices for a healthier ocean
TEND A GARDEN I will tend to a garden, or prepare for one, each day using sustainable gardening practices
EAT MINDFULLY I will eat all of my meals without distractions, e.g., phone, computer, TV, or newspaper
MORE FRUITS AND VEGGIES I will eat a heart healthy diet by adding _____ cups of fruits and vegetables each day to achieve at least 4 cups per day
6:30-6:45: Mary will welcome people, introduce Zero Waste team (what it does, could do) and explain the Drawdown Ecochallenge – Metro Van Unitarians team.
6:45-7: Cynthia Lam and Karl Perrin will talk about the Drawdown project highlighting issues related to food waste and/or IBPOC
7-7:30: Vivian will talk about the Food Synergy film as a focus for various issues around food waste e.g. the 7 stages. Your questions and comments welcome
7:30-8: Mary will facilitate a discussion on your goals re: food waste and ask for feedback on “next steps” for Zero Waste sub-team. (Mary is now UCV Board President and will be stepping down as Zero Waste chair after the end of the Drawdown Ecochallenge (December 31)
Food Synergy Movie — from Farm to Plate
Vivian Davidson, one of the producers of the Food Synergy Movie, will talk about what she’s learned exploring the 7 stages from farm to plate.
Drawdown EcoChallenge — Metro Van Unitarians
Mary Bennett, Zero Waste Team lead, will encourage you to join her and other Unitarians in a month-long Drawdown Ecochallenge to explore food waste and possibly develop some new habits.
UCV Zero Waste Team proclaims: December as a “love food; hate waste” month for local Unitarians to set some food-related goals and check in with each other. For many years (indeed before “zero waste” was used as a term) there’s been an event at UCV to encourage people to resist the pull towards consumerism and waste. I remember Peg Woods and Joyce Griffiths giving tips.
We all need support when society pushes us towards purchases and activities that aren’t in alignment with our Unitarian values.
If you know me, you know that I do, indeed love food. I love growing it, cooking it, chopping it, fermenting it and, most of all, sharing it. My approach to lowering food waste might not work for you, but you might enjoy hearing some of my tales of using my Buy Nothing group to give and receive food that might otherwise go to the landfill; my current jar painting project to make purchasing bulk dry goods work better and my cupboards look more interesting or being introduced to the free herb garden at UCV – Please don’t buy plastic-wrapped sprigs of sage or rosemary for $5 ever again!
Our Goals – Your Goals
Here are some of the food-related goals suggested in the Drawdown challenge. Are there some here, you’d like to challenge yourself around?
The first three challenges are suggested for everyone who joins
1
KEEP TRACK OF WASTED FOOD I will keep a daily log of food I throw away during Drawdown Ecochallenge, either because it went bad before I ate it, I put too much on my plate, or it was scraps from food preparation
2
REDUCE ANIMAL PRODUCTS I will enjoy _____ meatless or vegan meal(s) each day of the challenge
3
LEARN THE TRUTH ABOUT EXPIRATION DATES I will spend at least _____ minutes learning how to differentiate between sell by, use by, and best by dates
SMALLER PORTIONS I will use smaller plates and/or serve smaller portions when dishing out food
SUPPORT LOCAL FOOD SYSTEMS I will source _____ percent of my food from local producers each day. This could include signing up for a local CSA, buying from a farmers market, visiting a food co‑op, foraging with a local group, or growing my own ingredients
PRACTICE THE 5 Rs I will practice the 5 Rs — Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Repurpose and Recycle — to reduce my waste more than I can with just recycling alone
SMART SEAFOOD CHOICES I will visit seafoodwatch.org or download the app and commit to making better seafood choices for a healthier ocean
TEND A GARDEN I will tend to a garden, or prepare for one, each day using sustainable gardening practices
EAT MINDFULLY I will eat all of my meals without distractions, e.g., phone, computer, TV, or newspaper
More Fruits and Veggies I will eat a heart healthy diet by adding _____ cups of fruits and vegetables each day to achieve at least 4 cups per day
Join Unitarians and friends from congregations near and far in a Zoom series of ten conversations. We’ll keep the group sizes small for optimum participation. 
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