Unless you already do cook everything from scratch, you’ll cook more when you decide to cut down on—or eliminate—your waste. That’s because you’ll cut packaged, processed food from your diet and replace these food-like substances with home-cooked versions.

I can do without a lot of stuff in my life—piles of clothing, cosmetics, the latest gadgets. But I can’t do without food. So I cook. Recently, a couple of interviewers have said to me, “Cooking is so much work!” I didn’t know how to respond. I don’t see a way around cooking, unless you can afford to hire a personal chef. Don’t get me started on Blue Apron and the amount of trash companies like it generate. The popularity of meal kits makes me lose faith in humanity.

My Buddhist neighbor best explained the need to cook. She told me that at the monastery she used to live in, she…