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If these things are in your freezer, toss them out

Out of space in your freezer? Make room by ditching these items that are no longer any good to you. Smelly ice cubes There’s nothing refreshing about taking a big gulp of ice water and tasting the garlic you put in the freezer last week. Once ice cubes have taken on the scents around them, they’ll never get rid of them. Toss those and start fresh. If this is a problem you have found yourself facing, it might be time to invest in ice cube trays with lids – they can help preserve the ice cubes’ freshness and keep them odour-free. Forgotten freezer meals Look at you with your freezer full of healthy freezer meals! It’s great to plan ahead but don’t get overambitious with your meal prep. Prepared freezer meals should be eaten within three months. Try a first-in, first-out approach, and keep track of your freezer’s contents using labels. Stale coffee beans Storing ground coffee in the freezer can preserve freshness but be mindful of how long those beans have been sitting in there. Coffee beans absorb moisture, as well as the various tastes and smells around them, so make sure to use them within three months. Freezer-burned veggies How long has that bag of frozen mixed veggies been sitting in the back of your freezer? If it survived your last move, it’s time to toss it. Frozen veggies can be kept in the freezer for about three months – or shorter, if freezer burn has crept in. Thawed meat We love keeping a supply of chicken freezer meals on hand for busy weeknights. Once meat like chicken begins to thaw, though, it starts to grow bacteria. If your freezer isn’t functioning at the optimal freezer temperature, the meat inside can start to thaw without anyone the wiser, which can be unsafe. Freezer-burned meat Most commonly, though, it’s freezer burn you should fear. Given enough time, it will render your meat dry and tasteless. If you notice small ice crystals in the packaging, or can’t remember how long the meat has even been in the freezer, it’s time for it to go. Tightly sealing your meat before freezing it is a good way to ward off freezer burn. Old deli meat Deli meat is one of those items that is very convenient to have on hand, but which spoils quickly. The good news is that you can definitely freeze deli meat. Even with proper preparation, however, it can only last up to two months in the freezer. After that, even if it remains safe to eat, it won’t taste very good. Just as with other meats, deli meat should be tightly sealed and wrapped before it’s frozen. Pastries with creamy filling Once you’ve gone to the trouble of making a heavenly cheese danish from scratch, the last thing you want to do is throw away the leftovers. But pastries and other treats with cheese or creamy filling don’t keep well in the freezer; in fact, many of the foods that cannot be frozen are dairy products. Toss those cheese danishes after a month (or just eat them to avoid this problem altogether). Unrecognisable leftovers We love finding creative ways to repurpose leftovers; they just won’t last in the freezer forever. Most leftover dishes will keep for two to six months in the freezer. If they’ve been sitting for a while and you can’t remember what the food was in the first place, pitch it and start over. Old ice cream Most of us don’t have the problem of ice cream lasting too long in our homes but if you happen to have more self-control, you may find yourself in this predicament. If your tub of ice cream is older than three to four months, it’s time for it to go. So grab a bowl and a spoon before time is up! If you have a new large tub, try dividing it up and storing it in individual serving containers to help preserve that fresh flavour. Freezer-burned bread If you have more fresh bread than you know what to do with, and don’t want it to go stale before you have a chance to enjoy it, then popping it in the freezer is a great idea. But bread only lasts in the freezer for about six months. After that, freezer burn will likely have ravaged its good taste and texture. If you find a loaf in the back of the freezer that’s been there for who knows how long, then it needs to go. To keep it fresh as long as possible, make sure to wrap it tightly in a layer of plastic wrap, and then in a layer of foil or freezer paper. Pro tip: slice your bread before freezing, so you only ever have to remove what you need. Image credits: Getty Images This article originally appeared on <a href="https://www.readersdigest.co.nz/food-home-garden/home-tips/if-these-things-are-in-your-freezer-toss-them-out?pages=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Reader's Digest</a>.

Home Hints & Tips

Garbage truck driver received shock of his life when he discovered two kids sleeping in the bin

A garbage truck driver was not expecting to find two sleeping children when he looked inside a bin he was about to empty. Dave Pyne, who has been on the job for 16 years, said it was his “sixth sense” that made him check the recycling bin before discarding the contents in the back of his truck. The 65-year-old, from Holywell in North Wales, told local media he “couldn’t believe” what he saw. “Inside were two young kids sleeping, a boy and a girl,” he said. According to Pyne, the children looked close to nine or 10 years old before explaining that he woke them up and they were so petrified that they ran away. “I reported it to social services, but I never heard anything back,” he said. “Sometimes we find blankets and belongings or fresh food wrappers. I encourage everyone I work with to always check the bin. “You would never forgive yourself if you didn’t and there was a person inside.” He said if thrown inside the garbage truck, the person would be crushed by a blade.

Family & Pets

Whales and dolphins found in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch for the first time

Scientific research doesn’t usually mean being strapped in a harness by the open paratroop doors of a Vietnam-war-era Hercules plane. But that’s the situation I found myself in several years ago, the result of which has just been <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12526-019-00952-0">published</a> in the journal Marine Biodiversity. As part of the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlIXcq2ijZQ">Ocean Cleanup’s Aerial Expedition</a>, I was coordinating a visual survey team assessing the largest accumulation of ocean plastic in the world: the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. When the aircraft’s doors opened in front of me over the Pacific Ocean for the first time, my heart jumped into my throat. Not because I was looking 400m straight down to the wild sea below as it passed at 260km per hour, but because of what I saw. This was one of the most remote regions of the Pacific Ocean, and the amount of floating plastic nets, ropes, containers and who-knows-what below was mind-boggling. However, it wasn’t just debris down there. For the first time, we found proof of <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12526-019-00952-0">whales and dolphins in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch</a>, which means it’s highly likely they are eating or getting tangled in the huge amount of plastic in the area. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is said to be the largest accumulation of ocean plastic in the world. It is located between Hawaii and California, where huge ocean currents meet to form the North Pacific subtropical gyre. An estimated <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5864935/">80,000 tonnes of plastic</a> are floating in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Our overall project was overseen and led by The Ocean Cleanup’s founder Boyan Slat and then-chief scientist Julia Reisser. We conducted two visual survey flights, each taking an entire day to travel from San Francisco’s Moffett Airfield, survey for around two hours, and travel home. Along with our visual observations, the aircraft was fitted with a range of sensors, including a short-wave infrared imager, a Lidar system (which uses the pulse from lasers to map objects on land or at sea), and a high-resolution camera. Both visual and technical surveys found whales and dolphins, including sperm and beaked whales and their young calves. This is the first direct evidence of whales and dolphins in the heart of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. <a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/296602/original/file-20191011-188797-8wu2a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/296602/original/file-20191011-188797-8wu2a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="" /></a> Mating green turtles in a sea of plastics. photo by Chandra P. Salgado Kent, Author provided Plastics in the ocean are a growing problem for marine life. Many species can mistake plastics for food, consume them accidentally along with their prey or simply eat fish that have themselves eaten plastic. Both beaked and sperm whales have been recently found with heavy plastic loads in their stomachs. In the Philippines, a <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-47608949">dying beaked whale</a> was found with 40kg of plastic in its stomach, and in Indonesia, a dead <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/s/sperm-whale/">sperm whale</a> washed ashore with 115 drinking cups, 25 plastic bags, plastic bottles, two flip-flops, and more than 1,000 pieces of string in its stomach. The danger of ghost nets The most common debris we were able to identify by eye was discarded or lost fishing nets, often called “ghost nets”. Ghost nets can drift in the ocean for years, trapping animals and causing injuries, starvation and death. <a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/297849/original/file-20191021-56220-k3ttsu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/297849/original/file-20191021-56220-k3ttsu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="" /></a> Crew sorts plastic debris collected from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch on a voyage in July 2019. EPA/THE OCEAN CLEANUP Whales and dolphins are often found snared in debris. Earlier this year, a young sperm whale almost died after spending three years <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2019/01/digit-sperm-whale-saved-from-rope-entanglement-ghost-net-fishing-gear-off-dominica/">tangled in a rope from a fishing net</a>. During our observation we saw young calves with their mothers. Calves are especially vulnerable to becoming trapped. With the wide range of ocean plastics in the garbage patch, it is highly likely animals in the area ingest and become tangled in it. It’s believed the amount of plastics in the ocean could <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-43477233">triple</a> over the next decade. It is clear the problem of plastic pollution has no political or geographic boundaries. While plastics enter the sea from populated areas, global currents transport them across oceans. Plastics can kill animals, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969718346072?via%3Dihub%22%22">promote disease</a>, and <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/322703874_Plastic_waste_associated_with_disease_on_coral_reefs">harm the environment, our food sources and people</a>. The most devastating effects fall on communities in poverty. New research shows the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-22939-w">rapidly growing</a>, posing a <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12526-019-00952-0">greater threat to wildlife</a>. It reinforces the global movement to reduce, recycle and remove plastics from the environment. But to really tackle this problem we need creative solutions at every level of society, from communities to industries to governments and international organisations. To take one possibility, what if we invested in fast-growing, sustainably cultivated bamboo to replace millions of single-use plastics? It could be produced by the very countries most affected by this crisis: poorer and developing nations. It is only one of many opportunities to dramatically reduce plastic waste, improve the health of our environments and people, and to help communities most susceptible to plastic pollution.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/122538/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/chandra-salgado-kent-679930">Chandra Salgado Kent</a>, Associate Professor, School of Science, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/edith-cowan-university-720">Edith Cowan University</a> This article is republished from <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/whales-and-dolphins-found-in-the-great-pacific-garbage-patch-for-the-first-time-122538">original article</a>.

Travel Trouble

Garbage man saves 25,000 books and creates a library

What do you do with a book you no longer want? Give it to a friend? Sell it? Donate it? Well, for many people, the easiest option is simply to toss it into the bin. Sadly, this means countless perfectly good books are being unnecessarily discarded rather than being put to good use and given to those who need them most. That’s exactly what José Alberto Gutiérrez from Bogota, Colombia is trying to fix. For the past 17 years, the 55-year-old garbage man has been saving books from going into landfill. His collection began with a copy of Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy and has since exploded to a staggering 25,000 books, which take up the entire ground floor of his home. Naturally, such a vast number of books didn’t go unnoticed by his neighbours. Visitors began to stop by and asked to borrow a book or two for their kids and soon enough, Gutiérrez had a full-blown library on his hands. Dubbed “La Fuerza de las Palabras” (“The Strength of Words”), the community library now delivers books, organises pickups, organises events and donates books to disadvantaged children. “I grew up, here and I can tell you it got me a Ph.D. in marginalisation and poverty. Kids here don’t have a place to study; instead, they have to start working early,” he told <a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2017/05/bogota-bibliophile-trash-collector-rescues-books-170522084707682.html" target="_blank">Al Jazeera</a>. For Gutiérrez, the whole aim is to break that cycle of poverty. “The whole value of what we do lies in helping kids start reading.” The project has been so successful, in fact, that plans have been made to build a real, brick-and-mortar building to house the extensive collection. “Lots of people mocked me,” he recalled. “They would laugh when they found out about my project. But now 20 years later, they are amazed. My dream is to exchange my garbage truck for a truck full of books, and travel the country.” Image credit: Fernando Vergara/AP.

Books

3-year-old meets her hero garbage man

Most 3-year-olds turn to superheroes, princesses and even their parents for inspiration, but a little girl in the US has a slightly more unconventional personal hero – the local garbage man. Brooklyn Andracke’s fascination began when the garbage man, Delvar Dopson began beeping his horn and waving every time he passed her house, where she waited at the window. Brooklyn and her mother started a new daily ritual, going outside to watch her hero drive past. However, on April 7 (which also happened to be her birthday), Brooklyn decided to show her appreciation by offering Dopson one of her cupcakes. “She was literally starstruck,” Brooklyn’s mother told the <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/entry/little-girl-cupcake-garbage-man_us_5719c563e4b0d0042da8ce94?section=australia" target="_blank">Huffington Post</a>, and it seems her hero was too, left speechless by his young admirer’s act of kindness. A week later, Dopson gave Brooklyn a belated birthday present: a Frozen toy set. Watch the video above, you’ll just love the duo’s unlikely friendship. Source: Inside Edition Related links: <a href="/news/news/2016/04/mother-discovers-going-to-be-grandma-video/">Mum discovers she’s going to be a Grandma</a> <a href="/news/news/2016/04/two-year-olds-goodbye-to-grandma/">2-year-old’s adorable farewell to his grandma</a> <a href="/lifestyle/family-pets/2016/04/a-letter-to-by-new-granddaughter/">A letter to my baby granddaughter I’ve yet to meet</a>

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