Zero waste, plastic-free, MoneySaving Christmas

Former_MSE_Andrea · 17 November 2017 at 11:16AM

So, I've finally got round to writing something I've planned to blog on for a while but never quite got to it. I may as well write a thread on it then turn it into an MSE blog when I get a moment...

I'm obviously a MoneySaver! I'm also very much trying to reduce my family's impact on the environment so trying to be zero waste and reduce our plastic use at source.

But since I started down the zero waste and plastic free path I've found there's a big clash between these and MoneySaving.

My principles are especially being tested now Christmas is coming.

Eg if I hadn't stocked up on a load of cheap wrapping paper in January I'd be wrapping presents in beeswax wraps so it can be re-used!

I get the odd strange look from cashiers when my tomatoes are rolling about all over the place on the supermarket belt because I didn't want to buy the ones in plastic trays.

But those individual ones often cost so much more

When I talk to other "ordinary" folk who don't think like this I feel I'm a bit over the top so I'm hoping there are more likeminded souls on the Green and Ethical board that are trying to do the same, have found the same obstacles and have found some useful solutions... and that can tell me I'm not alone!

Nonnadiluca · 18 November 2017 at 4:23PM

You are not alone! I am fighting a losing battle against waste in general and plastic waste in particular, but I keep on fighting and am making some progress. Christmas does present a real challenge though doesn't it? Foodwise, everything will be made from scratch, meat from the local butcher and veg from the excellent local greengrocer both of whom are used to me bringing my own containers: I have made drawstring bags from old voile curtains for fruit and veg,( these are good for the supermarket as the cashier can see what's in them and they weigh almost nothing. I have been complimented on the idea many times) . Presents, that's the real challenge. For my Son in law I have ordered a small cask, 5 litre, of his favourite beer from a local brewery, all other adults will get something edible and/or handmade, wrapped in fabric if I can manage it! The grandsons are the most difficult, I think it will be nigh on impossible to manage a plastic light xmas for them but, as ever, I will do what I can.
I am really struggling with my waste from week to week though ; I have no idea where it all comes from. There are just the two of us and two dogs, we make all meals, bread, biscuits and cakes from scratch, I use soap nuts and white vinegar for laundry and buy 5 litres of Ecover wul for the dishes, we compost anything compostable and reuse anything we can. In spite of this, we still have a recycling bag full every week and a non recyclable bag every two weeks. Any suggestions for reducing this would be greatly appreciated, I would love to be one of those households which produces a carrier bag of rubbish a year, not that I have a carrier bag obviously!!!

Nonnadiluca · 18 November 2017 at 5:33PM

You've got me thinking now! Instead of selection boxes,( Cadbury contains palm oil, which I don't buy, as well as the packaging), I will make stockings from some red velvet which was left over from my daughter's sofa reupholstery, and fill them with favourite treats which have better green credentials. I think I will also make some tote bags and the aforementioned veg bags as extra gifts: hopefully they will save a few plastic bags being used in the future, and the tote bags can be used for gift bags.
I'm on a roll now and will probably come back and post any other ideas, mostly so I don't forget them!

Former_MSE_Andrea · 20 November 2017 at 1:21PM

Nonnadiluca wrote: »

You are not alone! I am fighting a losing battle against waste in general and plastic waste in particular, but I keep on fighting and am making some progress. Christmas does present a real challenge though doesn't it? Foodwise, everything will be made from scratch, meat from the local butcher and veg from the excellent local greengrocer both of whom are used to me bringing my own containers: I have made drawstring bags from old voile curtains for fruit and veg,( these are good for the supermarket as the cashier can see what's in them and they weigh almost nothing. I have been complimented on the idea many times) . Presents, that's the real challenge. For my Son in law I have ordered a small cask, 5 litre, of his favourite beer from a local brewery, all other adults will get something edible and/or handmade, wrapped in fabric if I can manage it! The grandsons are the most difficult, I think it will be nigh on impossible to manage a plastic light xmas for them but, as ever, I will do what I can.
I am really struggling with my waste from week to week though ; I have no idea where it all comes from. There are just the two of us and two dogs, we make all meals, bread, biscuits and cakes from scratch, I use soap nuts and white vinegar for laundry and buy 5 litres of Ecover wul for the dishes, we compost anything compostable and reuse anything we can. In spite of this, we still have a recycling bag full every week and a non recyclable bag every two weeks. Any suggestions for reducing this would be greatly appreciated, I would love to be one of those households which produces a carrier bag of rubbish a year, not that I have a carrier bag obviously!!!

When those of us that are aware of the issue still have trouble, wondering where on earth the packaging is coming from, it's almost disillusioning to think how much packaging people don't think about when they're not "aware" of the issue.

I was so happy Blue Planet highlighted it last night but so sad to see how it had to be highlighted. I'm in Zero waste and plastic free facebook groups and follow relevant accounts so I knew it was coming up in one of the episodes but it was still devastating to watch.

Fabulous to see people's reactions are being highlighted in the papers today though and hopefully that whale calf's life won't have been in vain!

Former_MSE_Andrea · 20 November 2017 at 1:22PM

Nonnadiluca wrote: »

You've got me thinking now! Instead of selection boxes,( Cadbury contains palm oil, which I don't buy, as well as the packaging), I will make stockings from some red velvet which was left over from my daughter's sofa reupholstery, and fill them with favourite treats which have better green credentials. I think I will also make some tote bags and the aforementioned veg bags as extra gifts: hopefully they will save a few plastic bags being used in the future, and the tote bags can be used for gift bags.
I'm on a roll now and will probably come back and post any other ideas, mostly so I don't forget them!

Please do! And please post a photo of the stockings - "before" and "after" shots would be great!

Emmala · 23 November 2017 at 4:51PM

Interesting thread! I’ve been thinking about this quite a bit recently, after seeing the photo of the seahorse with his (her?) tail coiled round a cotton bud. It really got me thinking about beauty/cosmetic products in particular as the vast majority are contained in some form of plastic, so even by making a conscious decision to use less plastic, it’s challenging to do so from a consumers point of view, because the decisions about packaging have already been made by the manufacturer. So I know not to buy products with micro beads, or cotton buds with plastic stems, but what if I want products in glass (as I’m more confident that these will be recycled than plastic)? There aren’t many glass options out there, even among more ‘green’ beauty companies.

We recycle a lot here already, but in June our bin collections changed from weekly to fortnightly which forced me to think even more about recycling as much as possible to make the bins as efficient as possible. I have a basket on the landing for recycling so that we aren’t tempted to chuck bottles or loo roll tubes in the bin, and this has helped a lot. I’ve been pleased to see that plastic has been in the news recently as I think much more needs doing at the top of the chain. My New Years resolution is definitely going to be to reduce, reuse and recycle much more consciously.

Nonnadiluca · 24 November 2017 at 1:02PM

I agree, it is difficult to buy beauty products that aren't packaged to the hilt in plastic. There are a lot of tutorials for home made lotions and potions on t'interweb, 'Going zero waste' blog has quite a few so maybe that's an avenue to explore. I use coconut oil as a body moisturiser, (If you have a Lidl near you they sometimes have organic coconut oil, in a glass jar, at a great price: I got 500ml for£3.99). I find it a bit too much for my face though so I am going to try rosehip oil which I have read is good. A friend makes eye serum with coffee grounds so I'll give that a go as well. Please share if you find/make anything good.

amandaatnumber7 · 1 December 2017 at 7:27AM

Back in October I had planned a plastic free Xmas, but now at the start of December reality has set in.
I don't have the time to make as much as I wanted (I work part time and study) And I had to have time off work in September for surgery and didn't have enough leave so we're entering the silly season with tightened purse strings. Zero waste can be costly, as mentioned its more expensive to buy loose carrots/toms etc than the ones in a plastic bag and the weekly shop is my biggest expense. Children's toys are all plastic wrapped in plastic. I'm trying to make thoughtful purchases that fit in my budget. Some wooden toys, some plastic (lego) and I'm not doing stocking stuffers. My younger boys gift from Santa is a ticket to Adventure World.
I'm glad I found this thread

Former_MSE_Andrea · 1 December 2017 at 11:42AM

Emmala wrote: »

Interesting thread! I’ve been thinking about this quite a bit recently, after seeing the photo of the seahorse with his (her?) tail coiled round a cotton bud. It really got me thinking about beauty/cosmetic products in particular as the vast majority are contained in some form of plastic, so even by making a conscious decision to use less plastic, it’s challenging to do so from a consumers point of view, because the decisions about packaging have already been made by the manufacturer. So I know not to buy products with micro beads, or cotton buds with plastic stems, but what if I want products in glass (as I’m more confident that these will be recycled than plastic)? There aren’t many glass options out there, even among more ‘green’ beauty companies.

We recycle a lot here already, but in June our bin collections changed from weekly to fortnightly which forced me to think even more about recycling as much as possible to make the bins as efficient as possible. I have a basket on the landing for recycling so that we aren’t tempted to chuck bottles or loo roll tubes in the bin, and this has helped a lot. I’ve been pleased to see that plastic has been in the news recently as I think much more needs doing at the top of the chain. My New Years resolution is definitely going to be to reduce, reuse and recycle much more consciously.

That Seahorse image has been really powerful and I think it's also helped spread the message even with people not so envronmentally aware.

I rarely buy make-up (I'd rather overpay my mortgage) so I don't have the plastics/glass issue so much there but I'm choosing glass over plastic when I buy food and drink eg mayonnaise, cordials etc. It's sad that yogurts are much cheaper in plastic pots than glass - at least as far as I've seen - if anyone sees any cheaper let me know.

I'm really pleased to have found a greengrocers in my new town that is happy to put my fruit and veg straight in my bag for life or in a paper bag if need be.

It also happily takes back its own egg cartons so they can be re-used - a bonus considering their eggs are double yokers too! :T

Former_MSE_Andrea · 1 December 2017 at 11:47AM

Nonnadiluca wrote: »

I agree, it is difficult to buy beauty products that aren't packaged to the hilt in plastic. There are a lot of tutorials for home made lotions and potions on t'interweb, 'Going zero waste' blog has quite a few so maybe that's an avenue to explore. I use coconut oil as a body moisturiser, (If you have a Lidl near you they sometimes have organic coconut oil, in a glass jar, at a great price: I got 500ml for£3.99). I find it a bit too much for my face though so I am going to try rosehip oil which I have read is good. A friend makes eye serum with coffee grounds so I'll give that a go as well. Please share if you find/make anything good.

I'm afraid I don't use beauty products so the home-made recipes aren't my thing.

Saying that, though, I've switched from shower gel to handsoap. When the soap i already have runs out I'll only buy new ones that come in cardboard packaging. I tried to have a sneak peak at the Homesense section of soaps a couple of months ago to see which ones have plastic packaging inside the boxes and which are just box. Am I possibly taking this a bit far? :rotfl:

I've tried to convince the rest of the family to use soap recently but they're refusing. As I had several old ikea soaps hanging around I mushed them up in warm water, turned them into a liquid and poured them into a hand gel dispenser. The family's been using it no problem :rotfl:

Former_MSE_Andrea · 1 December 2017 at 11:52AM

amandaatnumber7 wrote: »

Back in October I had planned a plastic free Xmas, but now at the start of December reality has set in.
I don't have the time to make as much as I wanted (I work part time and study) And I had to have time off work in September for surgery and didn't have enough leave so we're entering the silly season with tightened purse strings. Zero waste can be costly, as mentioned its more expensive to buy loose carrots/toms etc than the ones in a plastic bag and the weekly shop is my biggest expense. Children's toys are all plastic wrapped in plastic. I'm trying to make thoughtful purchases that fit in my budget. Some wooden toys, some plastic (lego) and I'm not doing stocking stuffers. My younger boys gift from Santa is a ticket to Adventure World.
I'm glad I found this thread

I'm really glad it's helping :T

I live in a town with a lot of charity shops so they've been great for cheap kids' stocking fillers that don't come in plastic and help a good cause at the same time - it's a complete win win!

Could you try that perhaps?

It also means, when the kids eventually get bored with them, I won't have wasted much money on them and they'll get recycled at the charity shop or a future school Christmas Fayre toy tombola

Zero waste, plastic-free, MoneySaving Christmas

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