SOLE v Aldi.

So, this fine and frosty morning, Furry and I set off, as I have Twittered about, to our local Aldi, to see just how SOLE we could buy. As we were on the way I was mentally composing this post, musing to myself on what sort of acronyms I could come up with, pretty much prepared to call ALDI all sorts of nasty things.

I was getting in touch with my inner pre-schooler, mulling over whether to use "Aldi is a lying poopie-breath" or "Aldi sux big fat jobbies" as a title, when we walked in, and the first thing I was met with was Aldi's range of organic, fair trade tea.

Yes, I know, you just did a double take, didn't you? It's not that acid you dropped at Uni in 1982 finally metabolising, you read that right.

And if that didn't tilt your world along the "most unlikely words ever to be heard in the same sentence" axis, guess what? The tea is $2.19 for 50 bags.

You can find the range of teas (green and black) right next door to their organic honey. Produced on Kangaroo Island, honey with honey made by the world’s only remaining pure strain of the Ligurian honeybee.

Do you need time to remember that this post is about Aldi, and re-read that paragraph again?

Oh, and the honey is 500g for $5.49

I bought some organic yoghurt ($2.99 for 500g) and some non-organic but awesome looking muesli, as well as sundry other household items.



Is it SOLE?

Sustainable? I didn't see much evidence of supporting sustainable producers.

Organic? Well, far be it from me to believe labeling, calling something "organic" does not make it so, but a quick check on their web site does indeed prove that their organic range is NASSA certified. So yes, it is most definitely Organic.

Local. Their corn is from Thailand, their dry biscuit range made in Denmark from Danish and Imported ingredients and their soy is a product on Indonesia. HOWEVER, a quick tour of their web site shows that 100% of their meat, 97% dairy and 95% of their fruit and veg are Australian sourced. I imagine pretty much the same percentages as Slaveways et al. Like all grocers, the key to shopping local is caveat emptor, READ THE LABELS, and you'll be fine.

Ethical? Now here's where I was prepared to really get stuck into Aldi, I mean ANY large chain spewpermarket being ETHICAL?? Clearly I have been inhaling too many organic lentils, but I hate to tell you.

Aldi is.

Aldi is the first and only supermarket to introduce a national pricing policy, something consumers have been calling for Safeway/Coles to do for years. Adli's policy is "all people, wherever they live, should have the opportunity to buy everyday groceries of the highest quality at the lowest possible price."

That said, Aldi has also been awarded an ecoBIZ accreditation by the Queensland Government for its environmental policy, which included planting only local, native, drought tolerant plants at Aldi stores.

Oh, and they stock certified organic and certified fair-trade coffee. At. Aldi.

So, in these tight and uncertain times, it is still possible to shop as SOLE-ly as possible AND save some $$$, and while I will I still can prove that buying fruit from out local farm gate and local meat from the butcher is still the cheapest way to shop, Aldi, much to my suprise, now has a place in my weekly shopping ritual

Food Wastage.

- Australians are still wasting $6 billion of food each year - enough to feed the entire nation for three weeks. - Current research suggests the majority of food thrown away is fresh fruit and vegetables. - Meat, fish, bread, dairy produce, rice and pasta are all in the ‘top’ most wasted foods. - The two main reasons for food wastage is that people ‘cook or prepare too much’ or ‘don’t use food before its use-by date’. - A 2005 study by The Australia Institute estimated that food waste was costing Australians $5.3 billion per year. - The Australian 2006 National Greenhouse Gas Inventory report stated methane emissions from solid waste disposal on land were equivalent to 13.2 million tonnes of carbon dioxide. - According to CSIRO data, dumping a kilogram of beef wastes the 50,000 litres of water it took to produce that meat; throwing out a kilogram of white rice will waste 2,385 litres and wasting a kilogram of potatoes costs 500 litres.

“Australians throw away food because we forget about it,” says Jon Dee, environmentalist and founder of Planet Ark. “We leave it lingering in the depths of our fridges and cupboards, unused and unloved. When we do use it, we use too much and even then we don’t use the leftovers.” “It’s an approach to food that anathema to older generations. Their cooking of leftovers was the earliest form of recycling. They used up every scrap of food, because they valued it. Today that attitude has changed but it’s vital that we change it back.” “When food waste rots in landfill it produces methane, a greenhouse gas 23 times more potent than the CO2 pouring out of your car’s exhaust,” explains Jon. “If we don’t mend our wasteful ways, we’ll be eating ourselves out of an environment that can sustainably support future generations of Australians.”

I put my hand up. I'm guilty. I throw away those too-brown bananas when I probably should make banana cake. But the equivalent of 1 bag out of 5?? And here I was feeling all holier-than-thou because at least I compost them!!! Or feed the left overs to the pups.

That's madness!! Ethically AND financially!

Statistics show Sydneysiders are the worst food waste offenders, with some bins containing nearly 50 percent food. Victorians and South Australians are throwing out approximately 40 percent and in the ACT, a November 2007 study found that homes were throwing out 4.2 kilograms of food every week – up from 3.7 kilograms in 2004.

I am going to have a good hard look at my food wastage, in the light of these CSIRO stats and report back.

What are YOU doing to minimise your food wastage?

ED TO ADD: The best suggestions of how to minimise food wastage posted here as comments, may be published on The Notebook website next month and will be eligible to win a prize!

Get commenting!

Come and spend an hour in my tower, with no power!

Ok, it's a cheesy title, but I couldn't resist combining a bad 70's pick up phrase with an agent of social change.. I'm kinda like that.

Anyhoo.. Earth Hour.

It started with a question: How can we inspire people to take action on climate change?

The answer: Ask the people of Sydney to turn off their lights for one hour.

On 31 March 2007, 2.2 million people and 2100 Sydney businesses turned off their lights for one hour - Earth Hour. If the greenhouse reduction achieved in the Sydney CBD during Earth Hour was sustained for a year, it would be equivalent to taking 48,616 cars off the road for a year.

With Sydney icons like the Harbour Bridge and Opera House turning their lights off, and unique events such as weddings by candlelight, the world took notice. Inspired by the collective effort of millions of Sydneysiders, many major global cities are joining Earth Hour in 2008, turning a symbolic event into a global movement.

For more info go here.

As part of my family's commitment to SOLE and all that it entails, we'll be taking 3 of the kids into Melbourne (Yeah, I know.. carbon emissions.. but the 4th kid has a function in town, and we made the decision to stay in the city for the duration of the party, and then pick her up, rather than make 2 return trips).

Before we leave, we're turning off all out appliances at the wall (except fridge and freezer), and we're packing a SOLE picnic dinner to have in town. We have spoken to the kids about Earth Hour and why we're doing it.

I am hoping to find out if there are any candle powered events in town, at Birrarung Mar or Fed Square. I'd appreciate it if anyone knows it there is anything on in town, otherwise we'll just find a park, or have our picnic in Fed Square. Any Melbournites are welcome to bring a basket and join us!

So, what are YOU doing for Earth Hour??