Elizabeth Trueman

After doing Research Paper 2 on my desired career as a dentist, I became even more cognizant of the amount of waste the dental field generates, and how important it is to dispose of it properly to limit its negative effects on the environment. I currently work in an orthodontist's office, and I am shocked almost every day at how much we have to dispose of. We make clear aligners in our office (like Invisalign) by 3d printing resin models of the patients' teeth, and creating templates from those to make the aligners out of a plastic material. Because we want the patients' teeth movement to be gradual to protect them from bone loss, we need to make multiple models of their teeth that show each step in their treatment plan, and we then keep the models until they are done with their series in case they need replacements. Once they finish their course of treatment, we dispose of all of their models, which ends up being quite a lot of plastic waste, in addition to the aligners that the patients no longer wear because they have surpassed them in their treatment. Although many patients prefer this over getting the metal braces, I have realized that it generates significantly more waste because they are essentially made to be thrown away. To put it into perspective, each patient who uses Invisalign is in treatment for about a year, which is 52 weeks of aligners, one per arch, therefore it is 104 aligners being disposed of and 104 resin models being disposed of per patient.  

All of these materials are recyclable, but oftentimes the models are thrown in the trash or hazardous waste, where it is not necessary for them to go, and adds even more to our landfills. Unfortunately, also, the resin that we use for 3d printing cannot be melted down to be reused for future models, which is a tough pill to swallow when it comes time to throw out patients' old models. Moving forward, I want to make sure that our office recycles these old models, and I also want to emphasize to patients that they should recycle their aligners once they are done with them. Although this doesn't address the systemic issue, it at least will cause the office and our patients to be more mindful of their disposal techniques. 

This week, after complaining to my parents about how I never know what to cook or get tired of the meals I have been making repeatedly, my parents send me a coupon code for a free box through HelloFresh, one of the more popular meal-prep delivery companies. I had been pretty hesitant about it, mostly because I'm vegetarian and didn't really think it would be worth it to get meals without meat that basically just consist of vegetables and rice or variations of the sort, but decided to just go with it because it was free. 

When I got my box delivered to me, I saw on the outside of the box that it advertised that "100% of our carbon emissions are offset" and "you're reducing your food waste by at least 25%." These seemed to be some pretty loaded claims, so I opened the box to see what was inside and if they were really advertising truthfully. The box comes with two, two-serving meals in it, surrounded by pretty big layers of ice packs and insulation, which say "recyclable" all over them. The pouches that the meals come in are paper bags, which seem to be compostable as well except for the stickers that label the meals and hold the bag shut. When I opened the bag, however, I found all of these little plastic packages that held each individual ingredient besides the vegetables. This meal was a southwestern black bean soup, which had a lot of spices and other ingredients, all in separate plastic packaging. This made me much more skeptical of the brand and made me wonder what their actual initiatives are to make this service sustainable, so I looked into their website to figure it out. 

Through looking at their website, the main support for their sustainability claim is that they are reducing the average food waste by 82% because they are providing proper quantities for the number of meals they are sending in their boxes, so that none of the actual food is wasted. They also say that of their 1500 suppliers, "many" of them are domestically sourced, so they are reducing the amount of transportation that is required to get the food to your door. But what does "many" mean? Why is the language so vague? Also, it doesn't seem that there is any effort made to provide local ingredients based on where you are ordering from, so there is really no way to know whether my ingredients came from the central valley or Mexico. 

Overall, I thought the food that they provided was good, but nothing I couldn't make on my own or purchase the ingredients for when I walk to the grocery store, which I could purchase in proper quantity for my own needs. I also don't think I would fork over all of that money to be getting these meals frequently, because each box comes with a ton of wasted packaging that I could minimize by shopping mostly in the produce section. 

Since the beginning of the quarter, I have been trying to eat mindfully for almost every meal and reading all your posts, and I've definitely found that this is something I want to continue for the foreseeable future.  I have found that doing this has translated to my daily life outside of just eating, as I now feel much more comfortable not doing anything at all when I want to relax. I oftentimes would use my phone or laptop as a crutch during the times where I wanted to relax or just felt awkward not doing anything, but would hardly ever feel any sort of benefit from it (if anything, it made me feel less relaxed). Now, when I eat mindfully, I can let my mind wander in a way that is productive and allows me to think about things I have potentially neglected thinking about, and taking that time to think allows me to be so much more productive when I resume my activities. I also feel that I am much more connected with the world around me now because I can take time to acknowledge and appreciate everything about my food-eating experience, including the sustenance and the environment. 

As an avid coffee drinker, I have been trying to make more sustainable decisions when it comes to my daily cup. As easy and convenient as it is to make a single cup of coffee using my keurig, I found that I was creating so much waste by using them every single day and continuing to buy more and more pods. Recently, I have started making my coffee using a french press and the canister of beans that I can repurpose once I finish them, and it has honestly created a nice and relaxing routine to start my day when I pour in the hot water and watch it steep while I prepare my breakfast, or sit to take a moment to set my intentions for the day before the hustle and bustle of being a college student. How do you all enjoy your morning cup? Does anyone have any ideas for alternatives to keurig pods or ways to repurpose them on those days where I need my quick fix and cant even spare the time for my french press? 

Hey guys, I read that some of you guys have been interested in trying out a vegetarian or semi-vegetarian diet, so I wanted to put you all on one of the most elite vegetarian dishes, spaghetti squash! Making spaghetti squash is so easy to make because you can just throw it in the oven and do something else in the meantime, and it is super versatile and can be a base for anything, not just a replacement for spaghetti noodles (although that is always great too). It also can be stored super easily since the skin stays in tact. Tonight, I made spaghetti squash taco boats, and I think it has been one of my favorite variations so far.

If you're anything like me, you don't like to follow recipes because you have a complex that your culinary capabilities cannot be hindered by a recipe, but here is a rough outline of what I do to make it enjoyable for me!

To make the squash:
1. preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
2. cut off both sides of the squash and cut lengthwise, then scoop out all of the seeds (if anyone has any ideas of how to use them please let me know)
3. brush the meat of the squash with olive oil, and season with salt, pepper, and whatever seasoning your heart desires (I added paprika, cumin, and some red pepper for the taco boats but usually do garlic, basil and oregano if I'm doing a more spaghetti-like variation)
4. place the squash cut side down on a baking sheet and put in the oven for 20-30 minutes depending on how big the squash is -- you can tell it is ready when you can easily form spaghetti-like strands by scraping it with a fork

While the squash is in the oven, you can prepare your filling. I kind of like to experiment and try to use up as many items from my fridge as possible, so this time for the taco boats I used soyrizo, onions, black beans, corn, and zucchini. I sauteed all of that together until the zucchini was tender.

Once the squash is ready, take it out of the oven and scrape with a fork until you have what looks like a bowl of spaghetti, then dump your concoction in the bowl, top with cheese, and put back in the oven for another 10-15 minutes until the cheese is melted and a little bit crisp (melted, crispy cheese makes everything better). Take it out of the oven, cool, and enjoy! Below is a picture of what I made -- tastes much better than it looks!

Hey everyone! Excited for this quarter with you all :-)