Sorry, but I have to break into my own podcast with an important bulletin!! I discovered a moth infestation in my kitchen this past week, forcing me to throw out several packages of flour, grains, and sugar and waste the carbon emissions that went into producing them. So I want to ask you to pest-proof your pantry for the planet and share several tips on how to do so, including a recipe for a magic household spray.
Five tips to pest-proof your pantry
- Seal off all entry points—small holes in your cabinets, leaky windows, and such. Bonus: this will save energy as we head into fall.
- Put food in pest-proof containers. Here, it’s important that they’re airtight, so you can wash out and reuse old glass jars, or splurge on fancy Mason jars if you like. Glass is better than plastic, as it’s harder for little teeth to get through.
- Wipe food off all your surfaces. I found an interesting recipe for a “magic spray” in my smarticular planner that does the job. You want 30g of sodium carbonate, 50g organic dishwashing liquid, 60ml 25% vinegar essence, and 1,75 liters water. To make it, put the sodium carbonate and a splash of water in a large pot. Bring it to a boil and remove from heat. Stir in the rest of the dishwashing liquid and the vinegar, then the rest of the water. After it cools down, put it in a spray bottle and go to town. Check out the original recipe (in German) at Smarticular.
- And obviously: don’t store food on the floor or leave food around on the counter or in the sink.
- Finally, while you’re at it, take note of anything that’s especially old or that you don’t plan to use in the near future. Challenge yourself to eat it, or make it into something edible, by the end of the month. I found a vegan chocolate cake mix a neighbor recommended to me several months ago, so I’m going to make brownies with it in the next week or two.