Finally figured out something that I could have used back in New Mexico: how to clean greasy dishes. Water and fuel are scarce in the desert, and heating up water to remove lipids is simply too wasteful. So I kept leaving my dirty dishes until I had no more clean ones, then did what was necessary.
The new method: the two-rag system. One is for grease and food residues, the other just for dust. Use the greasy rag first, then leave it, and the dishes, in the sun for a while. Then wipe the dishes with the dust rag. Good enough! And no resources wasted. Once every few weeks you can wash the rags.
Just because I have flowing water here in Los Cardones doesn't mean I got wasteful. I have a 5-gallon bucket under the kitchen sink spigot, and collect all the water. A few times, or at least once, a day I dump it at the base of the tree or on my container garden. And I'm finally practicing Joe Jenkins's method of aerobic composting. If it weren't next to impossible to buy foods in bulk here using my own containers, I could get close to a zero-waste lifestyle.
last updated 2021-03-10 12:34:44. served from tektonic.jcomeau.com