Paige Gyldersleve

Another great Ecochallenge!  I always enjoy this and try to focus on different behaviors each year to develop better habits all around.

Planning to make a trip out to Far West Fibers this weekend for some household recycling.  I love taking things out of the waste stream, but I'm worried about what's going to happen with curbside recycling now that China has banned our plastic and paper exports.

I got my garden ready for winter yesterday, mulching all of the plants with straw.  I put a few of the more delicate perennials into the greenhouse.  Looking forward to the winter crop of spinach, chard, kale, and scallions that are already popping up.

Another good day of Ecochallenge.  Last night my daughter and I watched Michael Pollan's "In Defense of Food" and I think that his basic principles are very sensible: "Eat food, not too much, mostly plants."  That's a very achievable dietary goal.  We're already more of an ingredients household than a processed foods household, but it feels good to know that we're basically on the right track with how we eat.

Not even noon and I've already met two of my challenge goals for the day.  Feeling good about that.  I was going to make time tonight to watch a food documentary with my daughter.  

I've been making sunflower cheese and sunflower sour cream at home because we've gone dairy-free due to my daughter's allergies.  The sour cream doesn't remind me of sour cream, but it's like a nice cheese sauce.  The sunflower cheese is amazing, though, and gets better with age.

My daughter and I have been thinking of ways to bring home less plastic packaging.  I think it's going to be our biggest challenge.  We already use reusable shopping bags and buy some items in bulk using glass jars instead of bags, but so many food items, even staple ingredients, are packaged in plastic that it gets tricky very quickly.