TerraCycle: Leaders in Plasticity

by Kate Hehyoe

I’ve always thought the typical process of plastic recycling was more labor and resource intensive than it needs to be. Apparently, some brilliant students at Princeton thought the same thing and in 2001 launched a poster-child for zero-carbon eco-businesses, known as TerraCycle.

Essentially, they pay consumers and school groups for used bottles or other containers, repurposing the containers without breaking them down. They fill plastic soda bottles, for instance, with natural worm-enhanced fertilizer, stick a colorful sleeve over the bottle as a label, and sell the products online and at stores as diverse as Home Depot, Gardener’s Supply and Whole Foods.

They’ve totally nailed the business dynamics down: they’re truly eco-friendly, low-impact and low-cost, true recyclers, and their inventory has expanded to include rain barrels and composters made from oak wine casks; fashion bags, totes and backpacks from drink pouches; spray cleaners, bird feeders, and deer repellent (again in plastic soda bottles); and potting soil, seed starters, and tomato food, all happy and active with “worm poop” generated from organic waste.

The backstory behind the business is too cool to pass up (the guys won a million dollar business contest, but turned the prize down because they didn’t like the constraints it came with.) Check out Tom Szaky and Jon Beyer’s story in the video at TerraCycle’s website. And we’re big fans: The Global Gourmet’s garden blooms big and happy with TerraCycle Plant Food.

Buy Terracycle Ready-to-Use Liquid Food

Buy TerraCycle All-Purpose Plant Food

Tulsi Hybrid Solar Oven

Emission-free Cooking with a Boost

Solar ovens are obviously not standard kitchen appliances, yet more people are turning to them for emission-free, guilt-free cooking.

You can use them for everything from cooking rice to roasting chickens to baking desserts, and not just in Death Valley weather. Even when the mercury stays in the pleasant zone, solar ovens function fuel-free, simply by reflecting light into a dark box area and retaining the heat with a clear lid. (Think of how hot your car gets in a parking lot.

The Tulsi oven is a unique breed of solar oven and a favorite of tech-minded cooks. It’s a portable hybrid contraption which comes with an electric booster to kick-start the heat or keep things cooking on cloudy days. Even with the electrical boost, it’s still more efficient than conventional ovens. And it comes as a clam-shell type of suitcase, ready to pack up and go wherever the dinner party may be. There’s a small learning curve with solar ovens, but essentially anything that works in a crockpot works in a solar oven.

Buy a Tulsi Hybrid Solar Oven

Cuisinart Green Gourmet Cookware

Cuisinart has launched a new Green Gourmet cookware line of anodized clad pans with an aluminum alloy core, and get this, a ceramic-based nonstick interior that is indeed truly nonstick and safe.

The cookware contains no petroleum products, no PTFE or PFOA, the pans and their metal handles can withstand oven use up to 500 degrees F and is broiler-safe. And because these pans conduct heat so well, they perform best when not used on high heat; medium and low are sufficient (meaning built-in energy-efficiency).

The drawbacks: They’re made in China, so they’ve got a traveling cookprint similar to most cookware these days, and they can’t be used on induction burners (no ferrous material). The ceramic-based surface is tough but not infallible: it can chip, which untreated anodized aluminum won’t do, but so will enamel-cast iron (which is considerably heavier to lift). Avoid sharp or metal utensils (anything that works on a Teflon surface is fine, like silicone or nylon). If you treat the cookware kindly, it should last a long time. Kudos to Cuisinart for the next generation of nonstick cookware. Hopefully, we’ll keep seeing greener improvements from them and other brands in their cookware and in every part of the kitchen.

Currently the cookware is available at Bed, Bath and Beyond stores.

Hotpan Thermal Cooking: Saves Energy

It’s not that Europeans haven’t told us about thermal cooking. After all, they’ve been using this method of energy efficient cooking for centuries, in the form of homemade hay box cookers (in which hot pots were started on a stove, then tucked into straw-lined boxes, and left to cook using only retained ambient heat). Now, with global warming and fuel costs out of control, it’s an idea worth revisiting. And with Kuhn Rikon’s colorful new Hotpan Cook & Serve Sets, embracing the concept just got easier.

Here’s the hip, modern Kuhn Rikon Hotpan version of hay box cookery: Cook food on the stove in a high-end, stainless steel pan with insulated, convex lid (the lid’s shape helps baste the food). Then, before the food is done, remove the pan from the stove, place it in a brightly colored insulated shell to create a double wall of insulation, and let it passively cook, without added fuel, until done. With such gentle cooking, the food remains hot for up to two hours and will never burn or dry out. Plus, actual cooking time on the stove is scaled back.

In fact, Hotpan thermal cooking uses 70% less cooking energy than traditional stovetop methods. For example, simmer brown rice on the stovetop for 10 minutes, then transfer the pot to the thermal shell for 30 minutes. Simmer polenta for 1 minute, then let it passively cook for 20 minutes.

The Hotpan Cook & Serve Sets come in various sizes, from 1- to 4-quart, and in colors pretty enough to serve at table. (The 3-liter is probably the most versatile, if you pick only one size.) The outer shell isn’t a one-trick pony either: when not hosting the Hotpan, it works as a salad bowl or serving bowl, and it keeps breads warm or ice cream cold. You can also buy the shells separately (in orange, black, red, blue, and white), and the sizes nest inside each other for compact storage.

• Hotpan Cook & Serve Set

Pressure Cooker Skillet: Does Double Duty

Kuhn Rikon, the same Swiss company behind the Hotpan Cook & Serve Sets, is a leader in energy efficient pressure cookers. Two of their most versatile, quick-cooking products are the Duromatic Pressure Fry Pan and the Pressure Braiser.

I prefer the braiser, because it’s essentially the same pan as the skillet but instead of a long handle, the braiser has two short handles making it more compact for storage. Both are extremely fuel efficient and can replace oven cooking in many instances. At 2-1/2 quarts, they’re the ideal size for smaller recipes and side dishes, and especially handy for couples, small families, and empty nesters. You can use them as a regular skillet, or cook under pressure. The waffle-texture base lets you brown in little or no fat. After browning, you can finish thick chops, small roasts, and chunky chicken pieces by locking on the lid and cooking under pressure.

Another bonus: Pressure cooked vegetables retain more nutrients than cooking by other methods. Weeknight rescue dishes are especially easy. I often make risotto in minutes, without all that pesky stirring at the stovetop; or brown a pork tenderloin, then pressure-braise until perfectly pale pink in the center. If you’re considering replacing a worn out skillet, the Kuhn Rikon Pressure Braiser or Fry Pan make more sense. They’re more versatile, save fuel, and though they come with a ten year warranty, I have a feeling these babies will probably last a lifetime. (By the way, this is not the same thing as a pressurized fryer, the kind used in fried chicken restaurants.)

• Kuhn Rikon Duromatic Pressure Braiser

Capresso Kettle Boils Water Better

An electric tea kettle always makes my list of handy, green appliances, because it boils water with less fuel than a cooktop, shuts off automatically, and it’s not just for tea. The best ones also boil water faster than water on a stove, are cordless and the heating elements are completely self-enclosed (meaning almost no fuel is wasted, unlike on a gas or electric range). The Capresso H2O Plus Water Kettle does all of this, and more.

It sports a glass carafe, so you can see the progress without lifting the lid (and it’s fun to watch the bubbles: like an aquarium without the fish). It holds a manageable amount, letting you boil from 2 to 6 cups. We drink a lot of tea, so we use it daily, but I also use it whenever I need hot water in the kitchen: to rehydrate dried mushrooms, tomatoes, and soups; or to jumpstart a pot of water for pasta, steamed vegetables, or potatoes. It’s one of my handiest kitchen appliances, in its snazzy black and silver design.

• Capresso H2O Plus Water Kettle

Top Chop: Architec Cork Cutting Boards

Cutting boards get greener, and handsomer, everyday. The latest model to cross my countertop is the Architec Cork Cutting Board. According to the company, it’s made of small particles of cork adhered together using heat and pressure, like traditional wine corks.

Cork comes from the bark of oak trees in Spain, Portugal and China, a sustainable and renewable green material, produced with minimal environmental impact. The cork is hand-harvested by gently peeling the bark off the tree, leaving the tree intact and ready to produce again. In the kitchen, cork is naturally antibacterial and easier to clean.

Cork is a wonder of nature. Each cubic inch of cork is made up of over 625 million 14-sided cells. Suberin, a natural substance, makes it impermeable to gases, liquid, dust and odors, and it is naturally fire retardant. Its ability to recover from compression means it doesn’t suffer marring like most woods do, while being gentle on the knife blade.

The Cork Cutting Board can be used for all cutting and carving needs, from fruits to vegetables to raw meats and cooked roasts. Wash by hand with non-antibacterial soap, dry before storing, and season with mineral oil about every ten uses. The Architec Cork Cutting Board comes in two sizes: Large (12 by 18 inches) and Small (9 by 12 inches). A round aluminum insert located in the corner of the board serves as a handle. Suggested retail prices: $29.99 (large), $19.99 (small). They are sold at specialty and online retailers including Crate and Barrel stores and architecproducts.com.

Greener Valentines

If you’re considering sharing a Valentine’s Day moment this year, paint your roses green.

Start with “To Pull a Thorn from the Side of the Planet.” (May require free registration.) This New York Times article reports on florists and growers who specialize in organic flowers. To which many people ask, “Why would it matter? We’re not eating them.” Clearly, we still need to reach out to those missing the message that pesticides can be harmful to the planet and other living things.

But there’s more to the issue of organics when it comes to earth-friendly, commercially grown flowers. As with food, which is better: local conventional or organic transported? Beaucoups of bouquets burst from South American soil, then travel outwards to florists worldwide, cutting a swath of transportation carbon along the way. But, as the Times article asks, “what is greener: large loads of flowers transported over long distances efficiently or a smaller number grown locally, but requiring a heated greenhouse and a trip to a farmers’ market in a pickup truck?”

The article also taps into related issues: better worker conditions on certified farms in South America; California’s growers who shun pesticides by growing in hydroponics greenhouses; and online sources for USDA certified organic flowers.

Of course, flowers are just one consumable associated with Valentine’s Day. You’ll find plenty of romantic meals and sweet treats at GlobalGourmet.com’s Valentine’s Handbook, and there’s a whole world or organic, fair-trade chocolates to savor. So whatever you do, if you make your February 14 footprint a little (or a whole lot) greener than you did last year, we’ll all be feeling the love.

Epicurean Cutting Surfaces: Hip, Green, and Good for Cooks

Epicurean’s eco-friendly cutting boards may be a chef or cook’s new best friends, and they’re ultra design-sexy. My first pick: Their brilliantly conceived Modular Sets (they link together like a jigsaw puzzle). I use the two board set that fits together to measure 29×11 inches, which creates a surface that’s extra long but not too wide. It’s great for whole fish or big pieces of meat, or just to have a lot of space for pushing piles of chopped food around. If you want a wider board, they also make a 29×15-inch Modular Set Cutting Surface. But wait, there’s more: one side of the boards is flat and smooth; flip them over and you have a juice groove on one piece, and a juice run (parallel deep grooves, handy for draining liquids into an adjacent sink). From flat to groovy, you can flip the boards into a variety of configurations that fit your specific needs.

They make dozens of other boards, in natural, nutmeg or slate, or nutmeg with slate accents, in all sizes:

*Epicurean Cutting Surfaces 21-by-15-Inch Carving Series*

Carving Series Cutting Board, Slate/Nutmeg Core

Carving Series Cutting Board, Natural/Nutmeg Core

Carving Series Cutting Board, Natural

Some are thin enough to tuck nicely into a drawer, others are thicker, with roast-grabbing details. The Epicurean Carving Series (think turkeys and roasts) looks like art (especially the two-tone version): It’s got a central rhombus studded surface to hold meat in place; an inner canal to trap much of the juice; and an outer juice groove to prevent the rest from pouring onto the countertop. It even fits most dishwashers.

What makes Epicurean’s boards so eco-friendly? Besides being made in the USA from sustainably harvested trees (and being better for sanitary cutting in many ways than traditional wood or plastic boards), they’re made of layers of paper which are soaked in a food-safe resin and cured to create a solid sheet. The layers of paper are bonded with each other to create solid, durable boards, with a handsome warm, natural look. Features: bacteria-resistant, dishwasher-safe (approved by the National Sanitary Foundation/NSF), stain-resistant, and the company itself is dedicated to green initiatives in every phase of the business, from their offices, to their power, to their materials.

Full List of Epicurean Cutting Boards

Equal Exchange Nuts and Berries: Meet Your Growers!

On the goodness scale, Equal Exchange’s almonds, pecans, and cranberries float to the top: They’re not just organic and Fair Trade Certified, but they’re domestic Fair Trade, from small growers right here in the U.S. Check out their cool “Track Your Snacks” feature:

First, go to Equal Exchange’s track-your-snacks page, type in the use-by date on the back of the package, and you’ll see exactly which farm in their collective grew your food. (My almonds came from Big Tree Organic Co-Op in Carmel; a co-op of black Georgia farmers grew the pecans; and the cranberries came from Monika and Keith Mann’s organic bogs in Buzzard’s Bay, Massachusetts.) Compared to conventional competitors, these products really do taste distinctively better. Look for:

Tamari-Roasted Almonds—Some snack almonds can be so heavily processed or flavored with additives that they taste artificial. Not so with these babies. They actually taste like almonds, lightly salted with the flavor of tamari (for an extra umami kick). No other ingredients.

Roasted, Salted Pecans—Just pecans, sunflower oil and salt. Delicate and utterly tasty.

Dried, Sweetened Cranberries—Organic cane juice and cranberries. Spoiler alert: A happy ending; you’ll never go back to Ocean Spray.

Equal Exchange Nuts and Berries

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