11.06.22: Nix food waste, wear alpaca, roast some pears, and get charged on-Island

We Gather Together

It’s the scene in a thousand movies, a million commercials, a zillion dreams: The family gathers, a roasted turkey as the centerpiece, everyone’s favorite side dishes. And then, when conversation grows tired and bellies are full, we clean up, our trash bag bloating with tossed food. We don’t typically consider food waste when we examine our culture’s eco-sins. Instead we point to cars, to planes, to air conditioners. But one billion tons of food gets tossed annually – that’s one third of all the food in the world, usually going to landfill where it rots and produces methane, a greenhouse gas 28 times more damaging than carbon dioxide.The issue of food waste is having a moment. People are waking up to its impact and, even better, doing something about it. Melissa Hackney, the executive director of the Martha’s Vineyard Vision Fellowship tells us that “Martha’s Vineyard’s primary export is … trash. An estimated 19,000 tons of garbage are shipped off-Island each year. Of that, 6,500 tons is food waste.” But they’re also doing something to support those who can capture that waste and repurpose it. (That photo is soil at IGI made from compost.) Islanders Jesse and Betsy Fink’s non-profit ReFED (get their great newsletter!) is taking the fight against food waste to the entire country to achieve a 50% food waste reduction by 2050. You can help by storing food properly and taking only what you can eat (there are always seconds! And thirds!). Look for our new Bluedot Kitchen newsletter (launching this winter) which will offer loads more tips to maximize eating pleasure and avoid food waste (and lots and lots of recipes). Sign up for that newsletter and our “Hub” newsletter here. And remember to VOTE! It matters.

–Leslie Garrett and Jamie Kageleiry

Jetting to your family for Thanksgiving? Long flights cause significant emissions, and there aren't many feasible alternatives, writer Sam Moore tells us. But shorter flights on smaller planes are prime candidates for conversion to electricity — they make short hops, and they don’t carry many people. In fact, we passengers on small planes may be the first air travelers to get to net zero. It’s all part of Sam’s examination (and Kate Feiffer’s pointed illustration) of What’s so Bad About Private Jets — and what’s being done to make aviation better.

Dear Dot,
How can I celebrate an event without balloons?
–Cathy, Chilmark, Mass.

Dear Cathy,
If you’re a beachcomber like me or, perhaps someone who hikes along a river or stream, you’ve likely come across evidence of past frivolity in the form of deflated balloons, their ribbons filthy and tangled. What you’re not seeing unless you, too, have come across the Balloons Blow website, are the many balloon bits found in the stomach of, say, a Hawksbill sea turtle or a Bighorn sheep, each of whom mistook balloons for food.

While some might argue that balloons are the very symbol of celebration, I am not swayed. So I am grateful for the chance to address this scourge and offer up some jolly alternatives ...