Along with sustainable sailing, green boating, and ocean conservation, you've probably heard the term "zero waste." And on the surface, for me, at least, zero waste sounds impossible. Surely, we sailors have to generate some trash, some garbage, some waste, right? But cruisers, and especially liveaboards, are already striving to produce the least amount of food waste and trash possible, and not just for environmental reasons.
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We’re not coastal cruisers, we’re inland sailors…but we make an effort to buy base ingredients in bulk, and pack them in refillable storage containers. At first, it was to minimize the amount of “stuff” on our little Tanzer, but it became obvious that it was also a garbage issue when we stopped at a restaurant near our own Village docks (Coxsackie, NY) and saw the public trash and recycling cans OVERFLOWING on Sunday morning. It was all chip bags, beer cans, 12 pack cartons, take out boxes from restaurants, and microwavable meal containers. It wasn’t our neighbors leaving this mess, it was our boating guests! We love our fellow sailors and cruisers, but it really is an issue.