Food pouches (and other single serving food products) should only be used aboard a boat in direst circumstances.
Yes they have been sold to you as the ultimate in convenience. What the marketers fail to mention is that they are also one of the most polluting products on the planet, and one of the most resource depleting as well. And aboard a boat, they fill up your very limited trash space really quickly. Imagine what they’re doing to landfills.
Trash is a far bigger issue aboard a boat than most land based people realize. If you operate as you would at home you’ll fill the boat’s trash bin in a day. And in summer weather, the trash starts to stink. The long-time method of dealing with the problem is to throw it overboard.
But the days when we could blithely pitch trash into the sea and expect the ocean to deal with it are over. Not only are there too many of us, but we can no longer pretend our trash has no effect on the oceans. You’ve probably heard about the huge garbage patches of plastic debris at sea. Do you really need to be told not to add to the problem?
On Land or at Sea, Limit Your Trash Production: Start with Refillable Food Pouches
The first way to limit your trash production is to not buy pouches, Keurig cups, or single servings of anything. But yes, it is helpful to be able to hand a whiny child a squeezable, unspillable, tasty packet of pureed fruit and go on with your work. So check out the refillable food pouches. There many types to choose from.
Get a different type or color for each child so they always know which is theirs. Fill a few each morning and pop them in the icebox. Pull one out as the need arises. Treat them as you would your child’s toothbrush – keep them clean, replace two or three times a year. You’ll cut down on an unbelievable amount of trash.
There are many styles of refillable food pouches to choose from. Here are three that I like.
Recycling Food Pouches
There are recycling programs starting up for single serving containers such as food pouches. So if you must use them, please consider taking part.
TerraCycle, the company that started by packaging their plant food in reclaimed soda and water bottles, is now a huge recycling force. Check out the many recycling options from TerraCycle, including a couple for recycling food pouches.
Naan is the perfect bread for a small boat Naan saved lunchtime aboard my boat. A standard loaf of sandwich bread is soft. So when your cupboards are smaller than the size of the loaf, you’re gonna end up with some strange shaped toast. It’s not the end of the world, but eventually you get…
The Smart Boat Cook will Learn to Limit Trash If the cruising sailor isn’t careful, packaging trash can overwhelm a small boat, taking up a lot of valuable space, and creating a situation where every time you want to do anything you have to move it out of your way. This problem isn’t limited…
From Scientific American Observations: Overfishing and pollution have pushed life in the high seas to the brink of collapse, according to a new report from the Global Ocean Commission. “The oceans are a failed state,” David Miliband, co-chair of the commission, told Reuters. … The report warns that a combination of technology and big fuel…
We Really ARE Leaving Whidbey When we run into friends these days they say, “I thought you’d be gone by now.” Almost. Almost. On July 25th Tom and I are setting off eastward to start our living aboard life. At least that’s the plan as of now … We’ve sold, given away and stored most…
We missed several deadlines in our planned move from Whidbey Island to Boston to live aboard our boat. Missing a deadline can be frustrating, but it sometimes gives you an opportunity to do something you didn’t think you’d have time for. For instance, Tom got the chance to win the belt sander race at Frontier…
Even a Floating Home Needs an Office We all need some kind of home office where we can work on and keep track of the bits of paper that flow in and out of our lives. We need a place to keep the laptop and its peripherals. Some offices are large, some offices are small,…
