November 11 , 2021 The Beacon • 17

Tammi Rogers

Recycling with Tammi

Start thinking now about reducing your holiday waste before life starts becoming more hectic . Just a few small changes can make a big impact in reducing waste , and as you plan for turkey day , make an effort to implement some positive changes that , hopefully , will start becoming traditions .

Shopping

Bring your reusable bags to the grocery store . Making a difference starts long before cooking your meal . Just say “ no ” to the plastic , single-use bags and use your own . Make it a habit and do this year round .

Look for food items with less packaging . Skip the plastic produce bags and purchase bulk items instead of single-serve items when available .

Preparing

Cook with reusable cookware instead of the disposable aluminum cookware . It ’ s really not that difficult to wash up dishes and definitely saves sending unnecessary items to the landfill . Cooking in a slow cooker ? Forego using the plastic cook bag that “ saves in clean-up .” Again , it ’ s not difficult or overly time consuming to wash up the slow cooker and saves another plastic bag from going to the landfill .

Decorations are a lovely addition to the table . Let the kids make some decorations using household items . Pinterest , for example , is full of easy craft ideas for kids using recyclables . Fresh fallen leaves or some sprigs of berries or evergreens from shrubs or trees can be a nice addition without purchasing

imitation foliage decorations . Another option is to get together with others and trade seasonal decorations instead of purchasing new . I mean we all have too much stuff already , don ’ t we ?

The meal

Stop ! This is a special holiday , and plastic silverware and paper or ( gasp !) Styrofoam plates and cups need to go ! Break out the real plates , the real silverware and the real cups . It makes the day seem a little more special and creates time for family to get together during clean-up . I used to watch a cooking show with chef Pasquale Sciarappa , and he was known to say , “ Somebody cook , somebody clean .” So after the meal , the cooks should relax , and the “ diners ” can do the clean-up .

Set out smaller plates to help lessen food waste . Trust me , your eyes are

bigger than your stomach . Instead of getting a lot and then only being able to finish half and throwing the rest away , use a smaller plate , get smaller portions and pace yourself . If you are still hungry , you can always go back for seconds , and you also save room for dessert .

After the after-dinner nap If you ’ re the host , set up a

What does this have to do with the upcoming holiday season ? Food . We celebrate with food , quantities of foods and the wrong kinds , justifying it because it is the holiday season .

Then on Jan . 1 you pledge to lose the weight with some sort of supplement or diet or both . By the end of February , you have abandoned the diet and are again supporting an overweight body again .

Think of body fat this way : Every pound of fat on the human body requires an additional 7 miles of blood vessels .

leftover station . Use mason jars or the collection of plastic storage containers that seem to accumulate throughout the year . You could even encourage your guests to “ BYOC ” or bring your own containers to take home leftovers .

Save some leftovers to make something delicious later : soups , stews , sandwiches , the list is endless

and will save that food from going to the landfill ( where it won ’ t feed anything ). Composting is a great way to reduce food waste . Fruit and vegetable peelings , ends , leaves , tops , cores , skins and such are easily compostable .

Have a beautiful Thanksgiving while reducing your waste and benefiting our environment .

Let ’ s say you are 10 pounds over weight . That is an additional 70 miles of blood vessels your heart has to pump through . And people are so surprised when they lose weight that their blood pressure comes down too .

Start your New Year ’ s resolution now . Get serious about your health and put first on your list what you are eating .

William J . Strandwitz , PhD , is a retired , board-certified clinical nutritionist with more than 25 years of experience in a preventive medical office . He is presently manager of Marilyn ’ s Natural Foods in Coshocton .