1.6 million edible bananas are thrown away each year in Britain- often because they get too ripe for people to eat. Luckily, you can easily avert these bananas from the waste stream by freezing them. Freezing these overly ripe bananas gives you a sweet, creamy addition to your smoothies, or a perfect base for vegan ice cream.
Dairy ice cream uses ingredients like milk, cream, and eggs for the base. These ingredients are all water, land, and resource-intensive compared to plant-based ingredients, and have a higher carbon footprint.
Dairy ice cream also has ingredients like sugar, chocolate, vanilla, and sometimes palm oil. Palm oil is a notably unsustainable ingredient because it drives deforestation in the Amazon, which increases forest fires and carbon emissions.
Buying vegan ice cream will ensure you steer clear from resource-intensive dairy, but it won’t necessarily ensure that you steer clear from palm oil or other potentially impactful ingredients. The best thing you can do to ensure your vegan ice cream is low impact (and package free) is to make it yourself.
To make your vegan ice cream, use frozen bananas and non-dairy milk instead of dairy and eggs. This way, you’re averting bananas from being tossed in the landfill, and you’re indulging in a treat that has a lower impact than traditional ice cream. Plus, it tastes great.
All you have to do is blend together bananas and non-dairy milk until smooth, and then combine the mixture with ice cream toppings of your choice and stick it in the freezer. You’ll have vegan ice cream in no time.
Maddie Vos
is in charge of maintaining the Zero Waste Club community through regular video content. A keen videographer, she wants to spread the message of sustainability to the masses. She currently is living and working in London, and enjoys yoga and art in her free time.
Kayla Guilliams
is the blog manager for Zero Waste Club, combining her love for writing with her passion for all things environmental sustainability. She is currently a student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where she is studying journalism, environmental studies, and food studies in hopes of building a career in environmental activism. You can find her on Instagram as @kaylaguilliams.