In conventional agriculture, a lot of fruits, vegetables, grains and other foods are grown with pesticides. Pesticides are a mix of substances –usually chemicals– that are used to control the growth of the plant and help them grow without any kind of pest (weeds, insects, germs, small animals such as rodents, and even other crops).
You might be wondering: Are pesticides harmful for our health? And for the environment?
Well, Pesticide levels in conventional produce are almost always below their safety limits. But even if these measures are taken, pesticide effects could be harmful when built up for both humans and the environment.
But no worries, I have some good news to tell you. There are possible ways to eat delicious foods without pesticides. In this blog, I will tell you more about this. But first, let’s get deeper into pesticides.
Recently, the 2020 European Union report on pesticide residues in food was released. This document takes a number of samples for 12 food products to be analyzed by EU Member States. These food products were: carrots, cauliflowers, kiwi fruit, oranges, onions, pears, potatoes, dried beans, rice, rye, bovine liver and poultry fat.
Can you guess which ones had the highest number of pesticides? Well, let’s take a look:
It’s sad to read that this crunchy orange vegetable that is so versatile contains more than 7 different pesticides.
Tied with carrots, 7 different pesticides were found in these essential multilayered bulb: onions.
Probably the most popular fruit among all citrus. 13 different pesticides were found in this product.
Soft and juicy, 14 different pesticides were found in fruit. How sad.
Last but definitely not least, one of the most consumed grains in the world. There were found 15 different pesticides were found in rice. Oops, right? Well, at least you can eat pearl barley from Ekoto as an alternative! As a side-effect, it is also grown more local, within Europe, and has much more of a noticeable flavour.
It’s quite disappointing reading this information, but I assure you we can take action to avoid buying and consuming food with high levels of pesticides.
How?
Buy organic. Buy local. Buy seasonal foods.
Let me explain you. If you buy certified organic products, then it means it’s verified that the food was grown without any pesticides, GMO’s or chemicals. This is the most trustworthy way of making sure that your food hasn’t got any pesticides, but I understand that for many reasons, it’s not always an option. That’s why buying local and seasonal are good alternatives too. If you know your local farmer, then it’s easier to know which processes they use. Also, buying seasonal foods might show that the life cycle of the food is respected (so that ideally, less chemicals or pesticides are needed to grow that food). Have you ever wondered why you can find strawberries in the supermarket during December? Hmm doubtful.
Oh, and don't forget that at Ekoto you can find a variety of foods that are grown organically (yes, we’re in the process of obtaining the certification).
I hope this was interesting to read, and mostly, useful for your next buying decisions. Your choices matter!
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Possibilities are limitless when it comes to pickling. From cucumbers and onions, to ginger and even hot chili peppers. All of these vegetables and more can be pickled. Through this preservation process, food gets crunchy, sour and salty, adding a special flavor to any dish. Besides representing a great culinary experience, did you know that pickling is a zero waste practice you can start doing at home?
Pickling is a way of preserving food that consists of extending the life of the food (usually vegetables) through the process of marinating them in brine (a solution of salt and liquid with a very high salinity content). The process basically consists of submerging vegetables in the brine (there are many ways you can create it, but the main ingredients are water, vinegar, and spices) and let vegetables soak up the brine over time (minimum 48 hours) until they’re ready to be eaten.
There are many methods you can use to pickle vegetables, it’s all about experimenting and finding your best fit. But besides the versatility of flavors you can reach by pickling, I would say that the greatest advantage of pickling is that vegetables can be kept this way for months! So if you don’t know what to do with a vegetable that has been in your fridge for some weeks, maybe it’s time to try pickling! This way, you could avoid food waste and at the same time, have some food ready to eat for a long time.
Anyone can make this process from home and turn it into a zero waste experience. How? Let me tell you.
Taking into account these 2 considerations, pickling is a very simple zero waste action you can start putting into practice. Why not try this method next time?
Your existence has an impact on planet Earth. That’s a fact. And to be honest, achieving a completely zero waste lifestyle is nearly impossible. But no worries, the good news is that you can minimize your negative environmental impact by starting to implement some easy habits in your day-to-day decisions. It’s all about decisions. And today you decided to read this blog so I'll show you some practical tips that you can use to start adopting to live more sustainably. And remember you can always adjust them to your personal lifestyle.
RELATED: Packaging
Probably you’ve already asked yourself some questions such as: How can I help the environment with my daily actions? What can I do for zero waste?
Well, I’m glad to tell you that questioning yourself is the first step towards a zero waste lifestyle. The key is to make the unconscious, conscious.
Dare to rethink! All changes start here.
So here the first tip is: Take a dive into your garbage bins. What? Yep.
Take your time to identify what’s in there. Classify your waste if possible. This exercise is extremely helpful to decide where to start making changes. Notice, what product is generating so much unnecessary waste? I’d recommend writing down the types of waste on a list, from the biggest amount of waste generated, to the minimum. Then, you can select the top 3 and focus on that. You can try to redo this exercise on different days, to get better results. After this, you might have a better understanding of your relation with waste.
Now you’re ready for tip #2.
Now that you've identified which type of waste you generate the most, the challenge is to choose only one product’s waste. For example, you identified that plastics are the most generated type of waste at home, but digging deeper, you realize that a big amount of those plastics comes from packed veggies. Well, you’ve found your starting point! In that case, you should focus on thinking on alternatives for buying veggies in a more sustainable way.
And, why choose only one type of waste? There are many things you can do to go zero waste, but starting with one simple and concise action will give you clarity, with the aim of doing it without getting frustrated. This will trigger your reward system and give you the persistence to continue in the future resulting in more positive changes.
We’re almost there! Now it’s time to change a habit.
So, in order to know what to do, you can answer some simple questions that might help you to transition from waste to zero waste:
By answering these questions, you’ll have a concrete action to implement in your lifestyle to live more sustainable. You can start with only one type of product, and progressively start with others.
This exercise is great, not only for zero waste beginners, but for any person interested in making positive changes in their lifestyle, and of course, in the environment.
If, after doing this exercise, you discover you don’t want to keep buying packed, ultra-processed, polluting, genetically modified products from the supermarket, then remember Ekoto is always a good idea. Here you can find veggies, grains, oils, teas, seeds, pulses, and more products, coming directly to you from the producer. Fresh, healthy, local, and of course in line with a zero waste life-style!
If you got any questions, we hope you reach out to us! :)
Are you ready to join change?
This is a simple post to say that we only just started and that we want to do better! Better experiences for you, lower carbon footprint, more convenience with shopping, adding more products, improve packaging, be more transparent... Anything really!
We encourage you to be critical on the companies you buy things from. Of course with respectful messages, as we are only humans after all.
So, please reach out to us on socials, via our contact form or by replying to this blog post!
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All we do, is with the best intention to create a better world for our children. We think this should be a core value in life, and to increase the impact beyond our personal value, we simply launched Ekoto! :)
We believe that full transparency in every step of our chain is your right to know and our commitment to really apply the best practices currently possible and seek to innovate to do even better.
Most conventional businesses now write a broad story about the goodwill and the few good things they are doing already (often also out of own financial interest) and the story will be filled with empty corporate statements.
We will instead keep it short and bullet point everything.
Please note: We never claim to be perfect and as we are a young company, we can still improve on heaps of things. And we will!
At Ekoto sustainability is at the core of everything we do. Though, the word "sustainable" is being used so often that it is slowly losing it's truthful meaning. We use our expertise on agriculture, food and energy when choosing which way to go. Looking beyond the often mention carbon dioxide.
As mentioned earlier, we are not perfect and we may never be. Though, we will work as hard as we can to leave no footprint behind, we say no to harmful materials and we help producers become sustainable.
Transparency is key to make a positive impact!
Though, if something is still unclear, we hope you reach out to us! :)
Are you ready to join change?
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When you open up your package from Ekoto, you will see a lot of brownish colours. Not because we love the colour of dirt and shit, though we think it looks a bit more authentic ;). It is because most of our packaging is made from unbleached Kraft paper. The box, refill food packaging and filing material are all made of this Kraft paper.
To bleach paper, many chemicals are needed, which we find utterly unnecessary. Kraft paper is not bleached and is therefore still its natural brown colour.
Of course trees are being used in the process, but as paper and carton is one of the best recycled materials in Europe (88% - Netherlands, 71.6% - Europe), only a limited amount of new wood fibers have to be added to the creation of new paper.
Our German supplier, Greenbox, only supplies the sustainable option of every packaging type. It is one of the very few climate neutral packaging companies out there. Though their products have a reduced climate impact, they still have net carbon emissions. Greenbox offsets the surplus of carbon by reforestation, sustainable forest management and by ensuring financial incentives for the protection of forestland in Tamil Nadu, India. Herewith it ensures carbon neutrality from the cultivation of the raw resources till the delivery of the packaging at Ekoto's warehouse.
To ensure a long shelf life of our products, we always recommend storing the products in sealable containers. At Ekoto we offer storage jars made of glass, which is a sustainable option when reused over and over again and transport of this heavy product is limited.
If you are looking to buy swing-top jars anyways to store our products, you may as well buy our products straight in the jar itself. This combines two shipments into one and saves packaging material. To make the purchase of a filled jar more attractive than the purchase of an empty one, we discount the full jars to the same price as you would buy it at the big blue Swedish box.
We did think of putting text and our logo on the jars, but after all, we like the idea of keeping it modular, so that the jar can fulfill other tasks as well.
The decision to use glass over plastic or steel has multiple aspects to it. Of course the aesthetics of glass is great. These jars do not have to be stored behind closed doors compared to plastic packages cramped with marketing texts. As the glass allows you to see the product, a label is not really needed anymore, and your kitchen will not be overflowing and seeking your attention. Though, we will still make sure you receive a label.
Many countries around the globe have separate glass recycling programs. As glass can be recycled infinitely and as it saves energy and materials, producers are tempted to make the extra effort to recycle glass. Ekoto's swing-top jars always contain a minimum of 65% recycled glass.
But after all, the glass jars can be used over and over again. And to increase the lifespan of our swing-top jars, we advise to take the steel parts off, before putting the jars in the dish washer and to wash the steel and rubber by hand without using any soap.
What packaging do you think we should add to our assortment?
Do you have packaging design ideas and would you like to work on it with us, always feel free to reach out to us and who knows what we can achieve together! :)
Or if you have ideas, complaints or recommendations in general, please talk to us! :)
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