Sustainability

Welcome to our first blogpost in English. The topic of sustainability is so important to us that we want our whole community to understand what we have to say. Two weeks ago we went to a conference of the Austrian Health Association for Nutrition (ÖGE). The Topic was: Sustainable nutrition and the latest nutrition research.

The results of the studies which were presented are quite bad, in general people throw away way too much food and eat too many animal products. The ecological food print which we leave on the earth is really big. Since the 1970’s, humanity has been in ecological overshoot, with annual demand on resources exceeding what Earth can regenerate each year. Today humanity uses the equivalent of 1.6 Earths to provide the resources we need, this means it  takes the Earth one year and six months to regenerate what we use in a year.  We use more ecological resources and services than nature can regenerate by overfishing, over-harvesting forests, and emitting more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than forests can sequester.

—> Check the The 10 Sustainable Development Goals here!

How can we be more sustainable?

We pay attention to what we buy, where we buy it and also how much we buy. We always try to use all the food that we buy and cook something out of it before it gets old. Also we try to avoid plastic, this is really important.

Have you thought about all the packaging which is used at the supermarkets? It’s insane. Carmen and I wrote our ten tips about how to protect our planet, how to be more sustainable and also what to do with your food which is getting old.

our 10 Tips

1. Bananas get brown quite fast right? First of all store them properly, don’t put your bananas next to apples, because then they get brown quicker. So what should you do with bananas which are already brown? Our tip is to freeze the bananas for smoothies and milkshakes. Just chop them and freeze them. Another tip is: To make a banana bread. Brown bananas are so good for baking a banana bread. The browner they are, the sweeter they are. So you will need less sugar for the dough. We also have a recipe for our banana bread here.
2. Your toast or sandwich bread is getting old, because you couldn’t eat the whole package in time? We’ve got you covered. Make French toast out of it. Just let the bread soak in eggs for 2 minutes and you will  have an awesome breakfast.
3. You bought too many lemons? Squeeze them out and freeze the juice for lemon ice cubes. Next time if you want to have some flavor for your water, you will have something in your freezer already.
4. Buy your food at the farmers market and take your own cotton bag with you. You will avoid so much packaging.
5. Buy food which is in season and local.
6. If your bread or your rolls are getting hard, then make Dumplings out of it. We have a recipe for pressed cheese dumplings here.
7. Don’t use plastic: No plastic bottles, no plastic bags, avoid taking a straw at the coffee shop and also avoid using the throwaway cups at the coffee shops. There are so many coffee shops which have special offers like 50 Cents off if you bring your own thermo mug.
8. Eat more plants. Seriously it is insane how much animal products people eat. Try to start with baby steps. Eat more legumes and use plant based milk alternatives instead of cows milk. Did you know already how much emissions are produced by a cow? You can find details here! You don’t have to be a vegan to protect our planet.
9. Did you hear about food sharing already? If you go on holiday or you have too much leftovers from your party or dinner with friends, then give your food to somebody who would be happy to eat your food instead of throwing it away.
10. Does it also happen to you, that you cook too much pasta or rice? Don’t worry – you don’t have to throw it away. Just make a pasta salad or a rice salad for your lunch tomorrow. We also love to make a milk rice with cinnamon if we have to much rice left.

 

 

We hope that our tips could help you.

 

Carmen & Jasmin