I made peanut butter today. So what's so special about that, I hear you say. Well, nothing really except that it's given me something to ponder and I want to share my thoughts with you.
I used to make peanut butter fairly regularly when our brood were younger. I haven't made any for about 10 years or so for various reasons.
Stuy loves peanut butter. I like it too, however I've also read a little about mould contaminants or aflatoxins in past years which made me a little dubious whether peanuts were all that safe to eat, not to mention the omega 6 to omega 3 ratio. So all in all, I prefer to use almond or cashew butter......but I do also like to keep The Best Man happy ;o)
Anyway, my thoughts today were more along the lines of plastic waste. Here's the thing - I bought 3kg of peanut butter nuts from our wholesaler. (I have hosted a small buyers group for about 19 years now and we buy most of our dry goods from them). We buy nuts, seeds, flours, dried fruit and more but they all come in plastic bags. Yes there's one plastic bag for every 3-4kg lot I purchase. I do reuse them if I need to divide the 3kg up and the ladies in the group send me back most of their empty bags to also reuse.
But it got me wondering today if I'm making any difference to the amount of waste I produce. I bought 3kg of nuts and used my Champion Juicer to make an equivalent amount of peanut butter. I used recycled jars that I scrounged from my daughter. All well and good but I have still used and must still eventually dispose of, The Plastic Bag!
So my thoughts are - by buying in bulk I save myself money, which is important to me; buying in bulk means I do bring home plastic bags, which is something I strive to not do - thats important to me too. Whereas if I buy a jar of peanut butter every week or so I'm bringing home a recyclable glass jar but spending more dollars...and I have to remember to actually buy it!! I like having bulk food in the house (didn't need to stockpile for Covid since I was stocked!) but I don't like the plastic that comes with it, even though I eventually send it off to the soft plastic recycling bin in Woolies.
It's a conundrum. And a First World problem, I know.
What do you think? What would you do? I'd love some different perspectives :o)
In my own mind I have battles such as this almost every day. Not with peanut butter, however. I wouldn't be able to trust myself not to eat too much.
ReplyDeleteI used to work in a store which had a peanut butter making machine. People would bring their own jars to be refilled. X
Actually I worked in a fruit and veg shop where we made peanut butter too! My juicer can only make smooth pb which is not his fave but he's ok with that ;o)
DeleteThis is definitely a First World problem; I just finished reading The Story of More by Hope Jahren which has sort of put some of this into perspective for me, because, like you...I will freak out over bringing in an extra plastic bag and have saved up glass jars beyond reason because no one will recycle glass around me. (Lots of jam jars now!!!!) Life is full of compromises, and if that peanut butter tastes better (and we know it's going to be better for you without all the emulsifiers!!) go for it. Like Jules (above) peanut butter was solely responsible for my 'freshman 15' (in my case it was more like 20) and I have to be careful not to eat a whole jar at a time!!!!
ReplyDeleteOoh, I've just had a look at that book and I might have to have a read. Thanks for the recommendation.
DeleteI have a problem with potential jam jars too but am off loading them to my daughter who has the bottling bug ;o)
Compromises - yes I think thats a good point.
Delicious, peanut butter,
ReplyDeletethat likes. I usually buy them. Even better if you do it yourself.
Greetings Eva
Hi Eva - home made is always yummier!!
DeleteWe try to do better where we can.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, the peanut butter I bought some years ago (still in the cupboard), comes in a plastic "jar". :-(
Enjoy your selfmade peanut butter. How intersting!
All the best
Regula
Fortunately I can buy ready made PB in glass jars but I like the homemade better ;o)
DeleteI like peanut butter but have also read some unsettling things about it, I still have it on occasion though but buy the organic and hope it is ok! I have never made it, could you not request your order in a more sustainable container? Would they let you provide a container and you share with your group into their own containers? I don't know it is tricky. My school has just taken an order of plastic bottles of water for school lunches, plus meals will be in throw away tubs all due to the virus it is like the environmental impact of these things has just gone out of the window! Take care. x
ReplyDeleteYes, I believe organic is better however the doubt lingers for me. Our wholesaler is 3 hours away so no chance of using our own containers unfortunately.
DeleteI read somewhere that the amount of rubbish thats been generated by the pandemic has become overwhelming - I really thought this pause might be a good thing for Earth but it seems it's the opposite.
Like you I have an account with a wholesaler from whom I buy in bulk but there is still packaging there is just slightly less of it. It is a difficult balance isn't it, I don't have the answers but I do think it is important to be mindful and think about it and do the best we can. I had not heard about peanut butter we eat loads of it in our house......
ReplyDeleteYes I do the best I can but I'm aware that there are steps I could take to lessen my waste even more....sigh. And being mindful is probably a very good way to be.
DeleteI used to buy raw peanuts with skin on and toast them myself - they were good quality ones and made lovely PB. This batch I cheated and bought already roasted 'peanut butter nuts' which made the whole exercise faster. I"m sure you could find some from your wholesaler.
I struggle with these issues too & can imagine what a conversation may be like with you. Sometimes we can't get away from these things & I'm full of good ideas on some of it, but am just one little person in a great big world full of bigwigs who run it. I remember living in Hobart & taking my own container down to have it filled with my Herbon washing powder from a great big barrel & as a child having all your pantry staples put into brown paper bags from huge hessian filled bags at the corner store. Oh for those days again. Take care, stay safe & huggles.
ReplyDeleteWell, I hope we get to have that conversation in real life one day!! I too wonder why we cant go back to using more paper bags - I'm sure there's much plastic that could be changed back to paper.
Deletelol. That's why I choose Woolies - they take my soft plastics!
ReplyDeleteFollowing on from your....buying in bulk/save money/ plastic bag no no. How often do you actually buy the nuts as opposed to how often would you buy the product?
Production costs for a single bag must be less than for a jar (which yes is often reusable) but still has a lifetime of some sort. Easily dropped and smashed in my case plus Some councils are not recycling glass....so it still ends up in landfill
The soft plastics go on to be reused in a different manner/form
Thats true Cathy, I dont buy the peanuts often at all - maybe twice a year or less. The recycling is a problem now isn't it? I do wonder how much of it actually goes to landfill and how much is reused.
DeleteThere are also compostable plastic bags but they don't compost in my compost bin at home. I think this is because it's not hot enough and the bags have to go to industrial composting places - but how do you get them there? And in the meantime can you put the compostable bags to be recycled with non-compostable plastic bags??? When picking up after my dog I use plastic bags that are supposed to be biodegradable. I hope it works. According to a prog on TV recently they think there are fungi in the oceans consuming micro-plastics. A ray of hope?
ReplyDeleteYes, I've seen some of those compostable plastic bags and I wondered how they broke down. So they dont do it in a compost bin? Interesting.
DeleteGosh there'd have to be a a vast colony of ocean fungi (which there probably are!) to eat all those micro plastics!!!
I have tried and failed to make peanut butter. I burned the peanuts when I was roasting them... I think being mindful is the way forward, and re-use that bag as much as possible. Some soft plastics can be recycled, depending on your local recycling scheme, maybe this is an option? Avoiding the bag in the first place is probably difficult but maybe worthwhile exploring with your wholesaler. I assume they get the peanuts packaged up from their supplier but if they don't, it might be possible to suggest more environmentally friendly packaging. So much to think about!
ReplyDeleteOh yes, I've burned them too - not nice! I used to use the ones I needed to roast but this time I bought peanuts that were roasted and ready to turn into PB. Saved the curses ;o) but doesn't make it quite as nice.....although it's not nice burnt either!!!!!
DeleteOur wholesaler is 3 hours away so we couldn't use our own bags but I will ask them what they are doing/intending to do about using less plastic. Perhaps if more people brought it to their attention, they might look into options other than plastic.
Some very good comments. I reuse a lot of bags and hate to have veg in a plastic bag but it is hard not to in these days of pre packed, pre weighed and pre priced veg.
ReplyDeleteSo true Jo. It seems that plastic is simply everywhere and theres no getting away from it anymore. But I shall continue to do whatever I can to minimise it!
DeleteIt's something we all have to grapple with, I think. Here in NZ, I found out not long ago that most of the items sent for recycling don't get recycled because people put other stuff in and it contaminates the good recycle *sigh*.
ReplyDeleteI guess we have to do what feels right.