I'm surprised there's been no mention in the article or comments of gardening to grow one's own food. Gardening (generically encompassing both in-the-ground vegetable gardens and alternative growing methods such as greenhouse, hydroponics, and indoor grow stations in the basement etc.) inherently limits waste, encourages you to eat exactly as much as you grow, and allows sustainable replenishment of the soil, the atmosphere, and the general ecosystem.
Of course, if you fill your yard with nothing but squash plants and harvest a ton of squash every fall, that's a bit of an extreme counter-example because you're not likely to eat that much squash, but even then you're going to give it away or sell it at the local farmer's market.
But for the average food grower/amateur homesteader, you'll gradually develop a self-adapted menu of homegrown foods which you will be very pleased to consume as soon as they are ready, free of nasty chemicals and ripeness inhibitors, and full of nutrients that have not been lost in the production, transportation, and storage phases that commercial produce must necessarily undergo.
You will eat locally grown produce that is adapted to your region, when and if it comes to maturity, and waste will not be your main concern, but rather the opposite -- if you have 12 potato plants, and they each produce 5-10 potatoes in August, you will accommodate the bounty by building a rack in the basement to store them over the winter -- literally a root cellar, which is what basements were originally for.
Plus, it's fun, and vastly educational for children. Nothing is more satisfying than having your child help build the raised beds and plant the seeds, then seeing the seedlings come up and develop into mature plants that provide bounty for the dinner table. Experiencing the full cycle also encourages them to eat their vegetables. Raising egg chickens is also highly fulfilling and rewarding.
Lawns are largely wasted in our society. When I visited Hungary a couple of decades ago, newly freed of Communism, every back yard had a garden, a chicken coop, as well as larger farm animals such as pigs and goats. Sadly, this level of self-sufficiency has probably diminished as their society has developed and moved to the Western model of centralized food production and distribution.
Growing your own food means next to zero waste, and what clippings and husks and greens remain after the harvest are recycled into the compost bin or straight into the bed. If you have chickens, a lot of this material, such as tomato skins, carrot ends, etc., are eagerly devoured. In return for your generosity, the chickens provide high quality fertilization of your yard and garden, and as a bonus they eat insects including ticks.
Of course, if you fill your yard with nothing but squash plants and harvest a ton of squash every fall, that's a bit of an extreme counter-example because you're not likely to eat that much squash, but even then you're going to give it away or sell it at the local farmer's market.
But for the average food grower/amateur homesteader, you'll gradually develop a self-adapted menu of homegrown foods which you will be very pleased to consume as soon as they are ready, free of nasty chemicals and ripeness inhibitors, and full of nutrients that have not been lost in the production, transportation, and storage phases that commercial produce must necessarily undergo.
You will eat locally grown produce that is adapted to your region, when and if it comes to maturity, and waste will not be your main concern, but rather the opposite -- if you have 12 potato plants, and they each produce 5-10 potatoes in August, you will accommodate the bounty by building a rack in the basement to store them over the winter -- literally a root cellar, which is what basements were originally for.
Plus, it's fun, and vastly educational for children. Nothing is more satisfying than having your child help build the raised beds and plant the seeds, then seeing the seedlings come up and develop into mature plants that provide bounty for the dinner table. Experiencing the full cycle also encourages them to eat their vegetables. Raising egg chickens is also highly fulfilling and rewarding.
Lawns are largely wasted in our society. When I visited Hungary a couple of decades ago, newly freed of Communism, every back yard had a garden, a chicken coop, as well as larger farm animals such as pigs and goats. Sadly, this level of self-sufficiency has probably diminished as their society has developed and moved to the Western model of centralized food production and distribution.
Growing your own food means next to zero waste, and what clippings and husks and greens remain after the harvest are recycled into the compost bin or straight into the bed. If you have chickens, a lot of this material, such as tomato skins, carrot ends, etc., are eagerly devoured. In return for your generosity, the chickens provide high quality fertilization of your yard and garden, and as a bonus they eat insects including ticks.